Richard Simmons death: Fans and celebrity pals pay tribute to TV fitness icon

Beloved fitness icon has died aged 76, after nearly a decade out of the spotlight

Tributes poured in after the death of Richard Simmons (Getty Images for MTV)

Fans and friends of Richard Simmons are paying tribute to the legendary TV fitness instructor after his death at age 76.

The beloved fitness guru died at his home on July 13. TMZ reported on Saturday that his housekeeper had contacted police around 10 a.m. Simmons was pronounced dead at the scene. His cause of death is not immediately known and has not been announced.

The TV personality – who rose to fame for his popular series of aerobic videos, Sweatin’ to the Oldies – had celebrated turning 76 on Friday by thanking fans on social media. “Thank you… I never got so many messages about my birthday in my life! I am sitting here writing emails. Have a most beautiful rest of your Friday,” the post read. “Love, Richard.”

Following news of his passing, many fans and friends of Simmons took to social media to pay tribute to the fitness guru.

“Richard Simmons preached exercise, diet and most of all kindness,” said Richard Roeper, film and TV critic for the Chicago Sun-Times, on X. “He positively impacted thousands and thousands of lives. I’m one of the hundreds and hundreds of TV people who basked in his energy and readily accepted those crazy hugs. Rest well.”

Richard Simmons celebrated his 76th birthday on July 11, one day before his passing (Getty Images)

Hairspray star Ricki Lake posted a photo of herself with Simmons and fellow TV show host Maria Menounos, along with the caption: “My heart is broken with the loss of this super special human. May he RIP. #richardsimmons. I loved him so so much.”

Television and radio personality Sally Jessy Raphael paid tribute to her “dear friend” on X, captioning a photo of them together: “I am completely devastated at the loss of @theweightsaint… we’ve done so many shows together, shared so many laughs and hugs, and I considered him a dear friend who changed so many lives over the years.”

Actor Emerson Collins posted on X: “Saddened to hear of Richard Simmons’ passing, a man whose joy in what he did made it accessible to so many.”

“Years ago I asked him for a photo after we performed on a benefit. It came out so hilariously bad with the green room wall, I cut it out and made a nonsense story with it,” he captioned an amusing series of green-screen photos of himself with Simmons.

Darren Demeterio, who worked as a former booker for the Late Show with David Letterman, took to X to share his own experience with Simmons during his many appearances on the late-night talk show.

“When I worked at Letterman I always looked forward to when Richard Simmons would come on,” he captioned a throwback photo of himself with Simmons. “Always a great guest but more than that always what you saw was what you got. A sweet, positive, kind man. This picture will always make me laugh. Thanks Richard, Rest in Peace.”

Simmons became a fitness sensation in the 1980s shortly after he opened a fitness studio, called The Anatomy Asylum before it was rebranded to Slimmons, in Los Angeles. He made many memorable appearances on TV and radio talk shows, including the Late Show with David Letterman, The Howard Stern Show, General Hospital, The Larry Sanders Show, Arrested Development and Whose Line Is It Anyway.

However, it was his series of high-energy aerobic videos that launched Simmons into celebrity status.

Simmons hadn’t made a public appearance since 2014, which prompted him to give a phone interview to Today in 2016 to put to rest rumors that he was being held hostage by his housekeeper.

The news of his death comes months after Simmons revealed that he was diagnosed with skin cancer.

“I sat in his chair and he looked at it through a magnifying mirror. He told me he would have to scrape it and put it under the microscope. Now I am getting a little bit nervous,” the fitness personality wrote on Facebook in March. “He comes back about 20 minutes later and says the C word. ‘You have cancer.’ I asked him what kind of cancer and he said, ‘Basel [sic] cell carcinoma.’ I told him to stop calling me dirty names. He laughed.”

Earlier this year, Simmons denounced a new biopic about his life starring comedian Pauly Shore. He clarified that he had not signed off on the project and reiterated his desire to “live a quiet life and be peaceful”.