ReportWire

Tag: Richard Simmons

  • Who Was Richard Simmons? Pure Joy | The Mary Sue

    Who Was Richard Simmons? Pure Joy | The Mary Sue

    [ad_1]

    I did not know Richard Simmons, but I loved him nonetheless. Somehow this man, who died at the age of 76 on July 13, 2024, managed to make an indelible impact on generations of Americans in the ’80s and ’90s, and I’m positive it was because he was pure joy to watch.

    What set Simmons apart was his pure enthusiasm and belief that anyone could find freedom through movement of their body. I know this because I used to “Sweat to the Oldies” with my mom and whatever VHS of Simmon’s workout she had gotten from Costco recently. As a child of the ’80s, I was, and still am, well-versed in the fitness videos my parent’s generation consumed. Simmons’ was different. It wasn’t about enduring 30 minutes, so you could force your body into a shape; it’s not. Simmons’ message was that this should be fun—everything should be fun. And it was! That man had an infectious joy, and it came across so well in everything he made for us.

    Despite what I think we all would like to believe, ’90s pop culture was meaner than it is now. Late-night talk show hosts had no problem making their guests the butt of a joke, and they never quite knew what to do with Simmons.

    What I love about the clip above is that you can tell that Simmons is passionate about fitness and never lets a comedic punch land on him, just through sheer force of positivity. I can’t think of another celebrity out there who was like Simmons, who clearly knew that some people tried to make a joke out of his flamboyant personality and (very awesome) public uniform of short shorts and bedazzled tanktops, because he always beat them at their own game by acknowledging the ridiculousness of it all.

    The man was hilarious, too. That’s why it felt like he was everywhere in the ’90s, in particular. Check out his turn as a guest on Whose Line Is It Anyway?

    In 2024, when it seems like every public figure is terminally online, and has their image manufactured within an inch of their life, the refreshing lack of guile that permeates Simmon’s entire public career is almost incomprehensible. There is nothing curated about his presence, either in his workout videos or in these appearances. Obviously, I didn’t know the man, but given that he’d been in the public eye for almost forty years and had never had a whiff of scandal, we can probably make some assumptions that who he portrayed himself to us, was most likely at least a true representation of at least one part of who he was.

    I’m sad Richard Simmons died because it feels like a friend from my childhood died. I’m grateful, though, that he devoted his life to physical fitness as a fun lifestyle (and not to change bodies) and I’m grateful he leaves behind such a wonderful legacy to us all. We should all be so lucky to be thought of as fondly as him when our time comes.

    The Mary Sue is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more about our Affiliate Policy

    [ad_2]

    Kate Hudson

    Source link

  • Richard Simmons, fitness guru who mixed laughs and sweat, dies at 76 – National | Globalnews.ca

    Richard Simmons, fitness guru who mixed laughs and sweat, dies at 76 – National | Globalnews.ca

    [ad_1]

    Richard Simmons, television’s hyperactive court jester of physical fitness who built a mini-empire in his trademark tank tops and short shorts by urging the overweight to exercise and eat better, died Saturday. He was 76.

    Los Angeles police and fire departments say they responded to a Los Angeles house where a man was declared dead from natural causes. Neither provided a name, but The Associated Press matched the address and age to Simmons through public records.

    TMZ was the first to report his death. It has also been reported by other outlets citing unnamed Simmons representatives.

    Simmons, who revealed a skin cancer diagnosis in March 2024, had lately dropped out of sight, sparking speculation about his health and well-being.

    Simmons was a former 268-pound teen who shared his hard-won weight-loss tips as host of the Emmy-winning daytime “Richard Simmons Show,” author of best-selling books and the diet plan Deal-A-Meal, as well as opening exercise studios and starring in millions of exercise videos, including the successful “Sweatin’ to the Oldies” line.

    Story continues below advertisement

    “My food plan and diet are just two words — common sense. With a dash of good humour,” he told The Associated Press in 1982. “I want to help people and make the world a healthier, happy place.”

    Simmons embraced mass communication to get his message out, even as he eventually became the butt of jokes for his outfits and flamboyant flair. He was a guest on TV shows led by Merv Griffin, Mike Douglas and Phil Donahue. But David Letterman would prank him and Howard Stern would tease him until he cried. He was mocked in Neil Simon’s “The Goodbye Girl” on Broadway in 1993, and Eddie Murphy put on white makeup and dressed like him in “The Nutty Professor,” screaming “I’m a pony!”

    Asked if he thought he could motivate people by being silly, Simmons answered, “I think there’s a time to be serious and a time to be silly. It’s knowing when to do it. I try to have a nice combination. Being silly cures depression. It catches people off guard and makes them think. But in between that silliness is a lot of seriousness that makes sense. It’s a different kind of training.”


    Breaking news from Canada and around the world
    sent to your email, as it happens.

    Simmons’ daytime show was seen on 200 stations in America, as well as Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Japan and South America. His first book, “Never Say Diet” was a smash bestseller.

    He was known to counsel the severely obese, including Rosalie Bradford, who held records for being the world’s heaviest woman, and Michael Hebranko, who credited Simmons for helping him lose 700 pounds. Simmons put real people — chubby, balding or non-telegenic — in his exercise videos to make the fitness goals seem reachable.

    Story continues below advertisement

    Throughout his career, Simmons was a reliable critic of fad diets, always emphasizing healthy eating and exercise plans. “There’ll always be some weird thing about eating four grapes before you go to bed, or drinking a special tea, or buying this little bean from El Salvador,” he told the AP in 2005 as the Atkins diet craze swept the country. “If you watch your portions and you have a good attitude and you work out every day you’ll live longer, feel better and look terrific.”

    Trending Now

    Simmons was a native of New Orleans, a chubby boy named Milton by his parents. (He renamed himself “Richard” around the age of 10 to improve his self-image). He would tell people he ate to excess because he believed his parents liked his older brother more. He was teased by schoolmates and ballooned to almost 200 pounds.

    Simmons told the AP his mother watched exercise guru Jack LaLanne’s TV show religiously when he was growing up, but he wasn’t crazy about the fitness fanatic. “I hated him,” Simmons said. “I wasn’t ready for his message because he was fit and he was healthy and he had such a positive attitude, and I was none of those things.”

    Simmons went to Italy as a foreign exchange student and ended up doing peanut butter commercials and bacchanalian eating scenes for director Federico Fellini in his film “Fellini Satyricon.” He told the AP: “I was fat, had curly hair. The Italians thought I was hysterical. I was the life of the party.”

    Story continues below advertisement

    His life changed after getting an anonymous letter. “One dark, rainy day I went to my car and found a note. It said, ‘Dear Richard, you’re very funny, but fat people die young. Please don’t die.” He was so stunned that he went on the starvation diet that left him thin but very ill.

    After the crash diet he gained back 65 pounds. Eventually, he was able to devise a sensible plan to take off the pounds and keep them off. “I went into the business because I couldn’t find anything I liked,” he said.

    When Simmons hadn’t been seen in public for several years, some news outlets speculated that he was being held hostage in his own house. In telephone interviews with “Entertainment Tonight” and the “Today” show, Simmons refuted the claims and told his fans he was enjoying the time by himself. Filmmaker-writer Dan Taberski, one of his regular students, launched a podcast in 2017 called “Missing Richard Simmons.”

    In 2022, Simmons broke his six-year silence, with his spokesperson telling The New York Post that the beloved fitness icon was “living the life he has chosen.”

    Curator Recommendations

    &copy 2024 The Canadian Press

    [ad_2]

    Jacquelyn LeBel

    Source link

  • Richard Simmons, famed fitness guru and personality, dies at 76

    Richard Simmons, famed fitness guru and personality, dies at 76

    [ad_1]

    Richard Simmons, famed fitness guru and personality, dies at 76

    Richard Simmons, a celebrity fitness guru known for his eccentric and energetic personality, has died, according to multiple sources. He was 76.TMZ first reported Simmons’ passing. ABC News confirmed it with a representative of his.Over his decades-long career, Simmons promoted health and fitness through exercise programs, most notably aerobics. His famed catapulted in the 1980s after appearing on several game shows and late-night talk shows. He also owned and operated a series of gyms and released dozens of fitness specials.This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.

    Richard Simmons, a celebrity fitness guru known for his eccentric and energetic personality, has died, according to multiple sources. He was 76.

    TMZ first reported Simmons’ passing. ABC News confirmed it with a representative of his.

    Over his decades-long career, Simmons promoted health and fitness through his exercise programs, most notably aerobics. His famed catapulted in the 1980s after appearing on several game shows and late-night talk shows. He also owned and operated a series of gyms and released dozens of fitness specials.

    This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Richard Simmons, famed fitness guru and personality, dies at 76

    Richard Simmons, famed fitness guru and personality, dies at 76

    [ad_1]

    Richard Simmons, famed fitness guru and personality, dies at 76

    Richard Simmons, a celebrity fitness guru known for his eccentric and energetic personality, has died, according to multiple sources. He was 76.TMZ first reported Simmons’ passing. ABC News confirmed it with a representative of his.Over his decades-long career, Simmons promoted health and fitness through exercise programs, most notably aerobics. His famed catapulted in the 1980s after appearing on several game shows and late-night talk shows. He also owned and operated a series of gyms and released dozens of fitness specials.This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.

    Richard Simmons, a celebrity fitness guru known for his eccentric and energetic personality, has died, according to multiple sources. He was 76.

    TMZ first reported Simmons’ passing. ABC News confirmed it with a representative of his.

    Over his decades-long career, Simmons promoted health and fitness through exercise programs, most notably aerobics. His famed catapulted in the 1980s after appearing on several game shows and late-night talk shows. He also owned and operated a series of gyms and released dozens of fitness specials.

    This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Fitness Guru Richard Simmons Dies at 76

    Fitness Guru Richard Simmons Dies at 76

    [ad_1]

    Richard Simmons, the energetic, frizzy-haired TV personality and fitness coach who made exercise accessible to millions and then became reclusive in recent years, has died. He was 76. 

    Simmons died at his home in Los Angeles on Saturday, one day after his birthday. A representative confirmed Simmons’ death to ABC News. 

    In early 2017, the “Missing Richard Simmons” podcast, produced by a former friend, delved into his life and career history and tried to discover why he had completely retreated from the public view after living most of his life in the public eye. The podcast covered the stories that had circulated questioning whether he was suffering from depression or was possibly under the influence of his housekeeper.

    While other fitness stars like Jack Lalanne, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jane Fonda exhibited impressive physiques and movie-star good looks, Simmons appealed to the average viewer with plucky cheer rather than huge muscles. His neon-hued, sequined exercise wear made him a kitsch icon, although he avoided discussing his sexuality.

    “The Richard Simmons Show,” which featured recipes, exercise routines and celebrity guests, ran from 1989 to 1984 and garnered Daytime Emmys for best direction and best talk show. A series of DVD workouts including “Sweatin’ to the Oldies” sold well for years, bringing his upbeat motivation to viewers around the country.

    Born Milton Teagle Simmons in New Orleans to a showbiz family, he suffered from asthma as an obese teenager. While he was an overweight exchange student in Italy, he had an uncredited part in “Fellini Satyricon.”

    After moving to Los Angeles, Simmons worked as a maître d’ at Derek’s restaurant and began developing an interest in fitness. He was able to lost 123 pounds and in 1974 opened a Beverly Hills fitness studio called The Anatomy Asylum.

    As the studio became more successful, he began making appearances on shows such as “Real People” and had a recurring role as himself on “General Hospital.”

    After his “Richard Simmons Show” went off the air, he stayed in the public eye with guest appearances on numerous shows such as “Whose Line Is It Anyway?,” “CHiPs” and “Arrested Development.” He was also a frequent guest on the Howard Stern radio show and on “Late Night With David Letterman.”

    Simmons was active in charity events, particularly those promoting a healthful lifestyle, and taught classes at his exercise studio. He made himself available for frequent interactions with his many fans, whether they were on movie stars’ homes bus tours, clients of his exercise studio, or passengers on his “Cruise to Lose” cruises. His exercise studio remained in business in Beverly Hills until 2016.

    He is survived by a brother.

     

    [ad_2]

    Michaela Zee

    Source link

  • Pauly Shore Says He’s Starring in Richard Simmons Biopic ‘Whether He Likes It or Not’: ‘Just Another F—ing Bump in My F—-ing Road’

    Pauly Shore Says He’s Starring in Richard Simmons Biopic ‘Whether He Likes It or Not’: ‘Just Another F—ing Bump in My F—-ing Road’

    [ad_1]

    Pauly Shore once again addressed his in-development Richard Simmons biopic that has become a hot topic.

    “I’m also gonna be starring in the Richard Simmons biopic…whether he likes it or not, Richard,” Shore said at his Netflix Is a Joke show at the Comedy Store Friday night in Los Angeles. “Just another fucking bump in my fucking road.”

    Shore’s hour-and-a-half comedy set recounted his life story with a particular focus on growing up in Los Angeles with parents Sammy Shore and Mitzi Shore who co-founded the Comedy Store.

    While the bulk of the set detailed his childhood through to the time he spent on MTV and even at the Playboy Mansion, at the very end he jumped to the present to talk about his current life stage and achievements and to briefly address the ongoing biopic situation.

    The comment comes after a string of social media back-and-forths concerning the biopic that is now in development at Warner Bros. subsidiary the Wolper Organization with writer Jordan Allen-Dutton attached.

    News of the biopic about the fitness icon broke in January with Shore set to star, and soon after, Simmons wrote in a Facebook post, “You may have heard they may be doing a movie about me with Pauly Shore. I have never given my permission for this movie. So don’t believe everything you read.”

    At the Sundance Film Festival in January, the comedian played Simmons in the short film “The Court Jester.” And at the time, Shore told Variety the film was “all about love,” even if it didn’t have Simmons’ blessing. “My come from has always been love. …It’s never been vindictive. I’m not Borat. I’m not ‘let’s make fun of someone.’ It’s the opposite.”

    In April, Simmons posted on X, “I just read that a man that I don’t know is writing my biopic starring Pauly Shore. I do not approve this movie. I am in talks with major studios to create my own biopic with some help. Wait for this movie.”

    Subsequently, Shore said that he had been “up all night crying” in a lengthy Instagram caption on the subject matter. “Richard, you haven’t even heard the pitch. Why don’t you simply let me come over to your house, bring you some warm matzo ball soup and a pastrami sandwich with dark mustard from Canters, rub your feet, and we can listen to the writer, Jordan Allen-Dutton, pitch you our idea?”

    Shore also addressed the separate biopic Simmons seemed to be referencing about himself: “And I also heard the good news that you’re in talks with studios to do a biopic about yourself. That’s amazing! The more movies about you, the better! You deserve it. There should be hundreds made.”

    “Many biopics are made without the subject agreeing to be part of it: Elvis, Stephen Hawking, Marilyn Monroe, Steve Jobs and many, many more. Some of them turned out good, some of them turned out bad. Mine is going to turn out amaze-balls,” Shore continued.

    Despite the backlash from Simmons, the Wolper Organization’s biopic appears to be moving full steam ahead. “While we would love to have [Simmons] involved, we respect his desire to privacy and plan to produce a movie that honors him, celebrates him and tells a dramatic story. We know he is deeply private and we would never want to invade that, however he is an amazing person that changed millions of peoples’ lives, and the effect he has had on the world needs to be recognized,” the Warner Bros. subsidiary previously said in a statement.

    It’s the second year for Netflix Is a Joke, and it runs May 1-12 across various Los Angeles venues.

    [ad_2]

    Julia MacCary

    Source link

  • Pauly Shore to Play Richard Simmons in New Biopic

    Pauly Shore to Play Richard Simmons in New Biopic

    [ad_1]

    Pauly Shore is getting ready to sweat to the oldies, as the actor and comedian will play fitness icon Richard Simmons in a new biopic.

    The film is currently in development at Warner Bros. subsidiary The Wolper Organization, with additional casting underway.

    The film follows an unrelated short film about Simmons from director and writer Jake Lewis. That film, titled “The Court Jester,” will premiere at Sundance on Jan. 19 and also stars Shore as Simmons, as well as Tamra Brown as Ellen DeGeneres and Jesse Heiman as David, a television producer who lost 160 pounds thanks to Simmons, and who tracked his weight-loss journey on the blog “Keep It Up David!” After premiering in Park City, “The Court Jester” will immediately be available worldwide on YouTube.

    “I’m really excited about sharing Richard Simmons’s life with the world,” said Shore in a statement. “We all need this biopic now more than ever. Simmons represented mental health, getting people in shape and being his authentic silly self! Whenever he was on TV you could never take your eyes off of him and he brought such a joy to his appearances that represented nothing but a good time.”

    Simmons was one of the biggest fitness celebrities and exercise gurus ever, and made frequent appearances on talk shows like “Late Night With David Letterman,” “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” and “The Howard Stern Show.” He became a household name due to his flamboyant, eccentric personality and his successful line of “Sweatin’ to the Oldies” aerobics videos.

    Mark Wolper of The Wolper Organization added: “There is an amazing, dramatic and uplifting story to tell about Richard Simmons. My company has been making historical dramas and biopics for over 50 years now … we know what works. We have been dancing around the idea for years, but it never coalesced until several months ago when I saw the press about Pauly Shore being touted by social media as the ONLY person that could play Richard. I saw the picture of them and realized these two are very similar, they both lived or died by how the world perceived them, they both fought to give their fans what they wanted and they both deserve an amazing comeback story! My company has locked Pauly down to play Richard Simmons and we are in serious discussions with a major writer to develop this as a dramatic and heartfelt feature in the tone of ‘Little Miss Sunshine.’”

    The Wolper Organization has produced over 500 films and television projects, which have won two Oscars, 50 Emmys and seven Golden Globes. The studio is responsible for “Roots,” “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory,” “L.A. Confidential” and much more.

    [ad_2]

    Ethan Shanfeld

    Source link