Biography:

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.^[1][2]

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.^[3] Simmons had an older brother, Leonard Jr.^[4] 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.^[5]

Simmons later converted to Catholicism and attended Cor Jesu High School.^[6][7][8] He attended the University of Louisiana at Lafayette before graduating from Florida State University with a Bachelor of Arts in art.^[9]

He became obese during his early childhood and adolescence.^[10] 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.^[10] At 15, he weighed 182 pounds (83 kg). As a young man, he considered being a priest.^[11][12] As a young adult art student, he had 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).^[13][10][14]

In an interview with the Tampa Bay Times, Simmons explained he adopted the name Richard after an uncle who paid for his college tuition.^[12] His first job in New Orleans was as a child, selling pralines at Leah’s Pralines.^[11]

Career

Fitness career

Upon moving to Los Angeles in the 1970s, Simmons worked as the maître d’hôtel at Derek’s, a restaurant in Beverly Hills.^[5]: 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).^[15][16]

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.^[17] Later renamed “Slimmons”, the establishment continued operations in Beverly Hills and Simmons taught motivational classes and aerobics throughout the week.^[18] Slimmons closed in November 2016.^[19] Slimmons’ success led to Simmons’ own television series The Richard Simmons Show, which aired from 1980 to 1984 and earned him multiple Emmy awards.^[20] 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.^[21]

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).^[22] 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.^[23]

Credits: