LEGEND LOST

Fitness Guru Richard Simmons Dead at 76

Simmons had written a message to thank fans for their birthday wishes less than 24 hours ago.

Fitness legend Richard Simmons died at the age of 76 on Saturday, his representative confirmed to ABC News.

Law enforcement sources told the outlet that police and fire officials responded to a call from his housekeeper just before 10 a.m. Saturday and pronounced him dead at the scene.

There is no foul play suspected, but a cause of death has not been released.

Just a day ago, Simmons posted on Facebook to thank fans for all their birthday wishes, saying “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.”

Since all but disappearing from the public spotlight around 2014, rumors have swirled about the state of Simmons’ health and well-being. The former fitness guru mostly used Facebook to keep in contact with his fans and clear-up headlines about his life off TV.

When news that a biopic of his life was in development starring Pauly Shore, Simmons took to Facebook to rebuke the film, writing, “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.”

Then in March after questions again ramped-up about Simmons’ health after a cryptic post, Simmons revealed that he had basal cell carcinoma, a common form of skin cancer that can be fatal if left untreated.

“I have some news to tell you. Please don’t be sad. I am… dying. The truth is we all are dying. Every day we live we are getting closer to our death,” he wrote in the March post. “Why am I telling you this? Because I want you to enjoy your life to the fullest every single day. Get up in the morning and look at the sky… count your blessings and enjoy.”

Simmons apologized and said he was “sorry for the confusion.”

“Sorry many of you have gotten upset about my message today. Even the press has gotten in touch with me,” he wrote. “I am not dying.”

Simmons first broke onto the scene in the 1970s when he opened a series of gyms. He then started making his own fitness videos in the 1980s. They were a huge hit, largely due to Simmons’ infectious enthusiasm and positivity.

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