Richard Simmons facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Richard Simmons
Simmons in 1998
Born	Milton Teagle Simmons (1948-07-12)July 12, 1948 New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Died	July 13, 2024(2024-07-13) (aged 76) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Other names	Milton Simmons Richard Teagle Simmons
Alma mater	University of Louisiana at Lafayette Florida State University (BA)
Occupation	Fitness instructor actor video producer
Years active	1968–2014

Milton Teagle "Richard" Simmons (July 12, 1948 – July 13, 2024) was an American fitness personality and public figure. He was a promoter of weight-loss programs, most prominently through his Sweatin' to the Oldies line of aerobics videos.

Simmons began his weight-loss career by opening his gym Slimmons in Beverly Hills, California, catering to the overweight, and he became widely known through exposure on television and through the popularity of his consumer products. He was often parodied and was a frequent guest of late-night television and radio talk shows, such as the Late Show with David Letterman and The Howard Stern Show.

He continued to promote health and exercise through a decades-long career, and later broadened his activities to include political activism, such as in 2008 in support of a bill mandating noncompetitive physical education in public schools as a part of the No Child Left Behind Act.

Early life

Milton Teagle Simmons was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on July 12, 1948, to Leonard Douglas Simmons Sr., and Shirley May (née Satin). He was born to "show-business parents" and raised in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Simmons had an older brother, Leonard Jr. Their father was raised Methodist and worked as a master of ceremonies and later in thrift stores, while their mother was Russian Jewish and was a traveling fan dancer and later a store cosmetics saleswoman.

Simmons later converted to Catholicism and attended Cor Jesu High School. He attended the University of Louisiana at Lafayette before graduating from Florida State University with a Bachelor of Arts in art.

He became obese during his early childhood and adolescence. He began to overeat and became overweight as early as the age of 4, and by the age of 5, he knew it was perceived negatively. At 15, he weighed 182 pounds (83 kg). As a young man, he considered being a priest. As a young adult art student, he appeared among the "freak show" characters in the Fellini films Satyricon (1968) and The Clowns (1970), and he eventually reached a peak of 268 lb (122 kg).

In an interview with the Tampa Bay Times, Simmons explained he adopted the name Richard after an uncle who paid for his college tuition. His first job in New Orleans was as a child, selling pralines at Leah's Pralines.

Career

Fitness career

Simmons in 1982

Upon moving to Los Angeles in the 1970s, Simmons worked as the maître d'hôtel at Derek's, a restaurant in Beverly Hills. He developed an interest in fitness. Exercise studios of the day favored the already fit customer, so little help was available for those who needed to gain fitness from an otherwise unhealthy state. He established gyms, and his interest in fitness helped him lose 123 lb (56 kg).

He later opened his own exercise studio, originally called The Anatomy Asylum, where emphasis was placed on healthy eating in proper portions and enjoyable exercise in a supportive atmosphere. The business originally included a salad bar restaurant called Ruffage, a pun on the word roughage (dietary fiber), though it was eventually removed as the focus of The Anatomy Asylum shifted solely to exercise. Later renamed "Slimmons", the establishment continued operations in Beverly Hills and Simmons taught motivational classes and aerobics throughout the week. Slimmons closed in November 2016. Slimmons' success led to Simmons' own television series The Richard Simmons Show, which aired from 1980 to 1984 and earned him multiple Emmy awards. Rising interest in aerobics during the 1980s led to the popularization of Simmons' line of fitness videos, particularly his Sweatin' to the Oldies series which became one of the most popular videos during the decade.

In 2010, Simmons stated he had kept off his own 100+ pound (45 kg) weight loss for 42 years, had been helping others lose weight for 35 years, and that in the course of his fitness career, had helped humanity lose approximately 12 million pounds (5.5 million kg). Simmons used the Internet as a method of outreach by running his own membership-based website and also had official pages on numerous social-networking sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and YouTube.

Personal life

Simmons in 2007

Personality

Simmons used his energetic and motivational demeanor to encourage people to lose weight. His high energy level was always featured in his workout videos, and his trademark attire was candy-striped Dolphin shorts and tank tops decorated with Swarovski crystals.

Simmons interacted at a personal level with people using his products. This began by personally answering fan mail he received as a cast member of General Hospital. As of 2008, he personally answered emails and letters and made hundreds of phone calls each week to those seeking his help.

He claimed to have few friends, saying, "I don't have a lot to offer to one person. I have a lot to offer to a lot of people." Aside from his three Dalmatians and two maids, Simmons lived alone in Beverly Hills, California.

In a 2012 interview with Men's Health, he was quoted:

When the king gets depressed, he doesn't call for his wife or the cook. He turns to the little man with the pointed hat and says to the court jester "make me laugh". And I am that court jester.

Retreat from public life

Simmons did not make any major public appearances after 2014, and stopped appearing in public altogether in February of that year. In March 2016, speculation began that he was being held hostage by his housekeeper. In response, on March 14, 2016, Simmons gave an audio interview on The Today Show, denying the rumors. In November 2016, the Simmons fitness gym closed, without any public announcement from Simmons. In February 2017, the podcast Missing Richard Simmons launched, investigating why Simmons left public life so suddenly.

In March 2017, Los Angeles Police Department detectives visited Simmons' home to conduct a welfare check, issuing a statement that Simmons is "perfectly fine" and that "right now he is doing what he wants to do and it is his business." On April 19, 2017, following a hospitalization for severe indigestion, Simmons made his first public comment in over a year, posting on Facebook a photo of himself and the message "I'm not 'missing', just a little under the weather". However, the picture that was included in the post was from as far back as 2013, leading to speculation that the person who posted the message might not actually have been Simmons.

In May 2017, he sued the National Enquirer, Radar Online, and American Media, Inc. for libel and false claims that he was undergoing gender reassignment. In September 2017, Simmons lost the lawsuit, and was ordered to pay the defendants' attorney's fees. The judge ruled, "because courts have long held that a misidentification of certain immutable characteristics do not naturally tend to injure one's reputation, even if there is sizeable portion of the population who hold prejudices against those characteristics, misidentification of a person as transgender is not actionable defamation absent special damages."

In August 2022, in response to continued rumors and a TMZ documentary, What Really Happened to Richard Simmons, claiming that knee problems forced Simmons out of public life, Simmons issued a statement to the New York Post that he "is happy, healthy, and living the life he has chosen to live."

In March 2024, Simmons issued a statement clarifying that he was not dying, after a Facebook post he wrote encouraging people to "embrace every day" drew public concern. Simmons also stated that he no longer had a manager or publicist, and that he had not given permission for a biopic of him.

That same month, Simmons revealed that he had been diagnosed with skin cancer, located underneath his right eye. Simmons later stated on his Twitter page that the cancer diagnosis occurred "so many years ago" and he decided to speak out about it to encourage people to go to the doctor if they see anything unusual on their body.

Death

Simmons died on July 13, 2024, at his home in Hollywood Hills, according to a representative, aged 76. His death appeared to be from natural causes.

Print and other media

Books

Audio

Analog compact cassette

Compact disc

Vinyl record

• Reach (Elektra Records, 1982) – AUS No. 12

Singles

• This Time (Elektra Records, 45 rpm 1983)

Digital compact cassette

• Colors of Your Life (single tape) (Goodtimes Entertainment, BASF 90 Min. 1998)

Visual media

DVD

Video cassette

YouTube

• Fit to Fly
• Hair Do (Official Music Video)

Television/movies

See also

In Spanish: Richard Simmons para niños