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Who Is Richard Simmons? Everything To Know About 80s Legend's Life And Career Amid Skin Cancer Diagnosis
Richard Simmons, the American fitness personality and recluse guru, gained popularity for his fitness and weight loss regimens. Here is everything you need to know about him:
Richard Simmons, the American fitness personality, is widely known for his vibrant, flamboyant, and active demeanor. He has advocated weight-loss regimens, most notably with his Sweatin' to the Oldies series of aerobics DVDs. The fitness personality recently gained headlines after a concerning social media post about his health. Here is everything you need to know about him, from his life and legacy to his health battle:
ALSO READ: Is Richard Simmons Dying? Spokesperson Reveals He’s ‘Healthy And Happy’ After Cryptic Post
Who is Richard Simmons?
American fitness personality and public figure Richard Simmons was born to Leonardo Douglas Simmons Sr. and Shirley May on May 12, 1948, in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is also known by his other name, Milton Teagle Simmons. His parents were in the entertainment industry, and he was brought up in the French Quarter in New Orleans.
Simmons has an older brother named Leonard Jr. Their father grew up Methodist and began his career as a master of ceremonies before moving on to thrift stores, whereas their mother was Russian Jewish and worked as a traveling fan dancer before becoming a store cosmetics salesperson. Simmons eventually switched to Christianity and enrolled at Cor Jesu High School. He studied at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, later graduating from Florida State University with a Bachelor of Arts in art.
Moving on towards his professional life, Simmons has a net worth of $20 million (as per celebrity net worth). He moved to Los Angeles in the 1970s and worked as the maître d'hôtel at Derek's, a Beverly Hills restaurant. He took an interest in fitness. Exercise studios of the time preferred the already fit customer, leaving little assistance for those who wanted to improve fitness from an otherwise ill state. He opened gyms, and his enthusiasm for fitness helped him lose 123 pounds (56 kg).
He eventually founded his own exercise facility, The Anatomy Asylum, which focused on healthy nutrition in appropriate portions and fun exercise in a supportive environment. Simmons began to gain media recognition as a result of the success of his fitness club, which began with his appearance on Real People, where he was shown working. He told customers he had helped them lose weight. He then appeared in guest appearances on Battlestars, Body Language, Super Password, Win, Lose, or Draw, Match Game (ABC), Hollywood Squares (syndicated), and Nickelodeon's Figure It Out.
Simmons' positive fan reactions led to a four-year recurrent role as himself on General Hospital. This, combined with his appearance at retail malls to teach workout courses, drew additional media attention. Simmons had two series in the early 1980s: Slim Cookin and the Emmy-winning talk show The Richard Simmons Show, both of which focused on personal health, fitness, exercise, and healthy cuisine.
The Richard Simmons Show gathered thousands of exercise fans, including SAG/AFTRA actress Lucrecia Sarita Russo, who reportedly drove an entire bus full of women from Pam's Figure Tique for a boisterous workout on the show. Throughout his decades-long career, he promoted health and exercise and later expanded his activities to include political advocacy, such as in 2008 when he supported a measure mandating noncompetitive physical education in public schools as part of the No Child Left Behind Act.
What happened to Richard Simmons' health?
Richard Simmons hasn't been seen publicly since February 2014. By March 2016, suspicions and expressions of concern concerning his well-being had emerged in the media. Simmons and his spokesman both dismissed the concerns, claiming that he just decided to be less visible in public. After almost a decade of being away from the public eye, the fitness personality gained attention once again after his concerning social media post about dying.
On Monday, Simmons shared a post on Facebook in which he wrote, “I have some news to tell you. Please don’t be sad. I am dying. Oh, I can see your faces now. The truth is, we are all dying. Every day we live, we are getting closer to our death.”
He then explained why he was writing this post and said that he wanted everybody to live healthy and happily. He then revealed his favorite song in the same post, which is Live Like You Were Dying by Tim McGraw. See the post below:
After a while, Simmons shared another post where he shared that he has skin cancer. The 75-year-old recluse guru shared another Facebook post in which he revealed he had skin cancer. He started the post with a little metaphor: “Mirror mirror on the wall, what’s that blemish that is so small? There was this strange-looking bump under my right eye. I had a tube of neosporin, which I would put on in the morning and evening. It was still there. It was time to call my dermatologist.” He then explained how the entire process took hours and that it was recommended to see a cancer specialist immediately.
Simmons continued and wrote, “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. He comes back about 20 minutes later and says the C word. You have cancer.”
Simmons shared the whole experience of how he found out that he had cancer and how painful and sad it was.
Disclaimer: All amounts mentioned in the article are sourced from public platforms. In some cases, celebrities or their teams give their inputs too, which we incorporate if provided by them. We take all efforts to share possible accurate numbers, however unless otherwise mentioned they are all approximates. We are open to feedback and suggestions on editorial@pinkvilla.com.
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