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Fans and celebrities pay tribute to fitness star Richard Simmons, who has died aged 76

Fans and celebrities have shared tributes to fitness guru Richard Simmons, who died yesterday (July 13) – a day after his 76th birthday.

Simmons first rose to fame in the 1970s with his vivacious and colourful exercise videos. Since then, he’s been enshrined in American pop culture as a flamboyant fitness personality, having opened gyms, promoted health products, and appeared in film and television as himself or in acting roles.

ABC News confirmed Simmons’ death via a representative after a 911 call was made by his housekeeper. In March, Simmons issued a letter to fans via X/Twitter – it began with “Please don’t be sad. I am ….dying. Oh I can see your faces now. The truth is we all are dying. Every day we live we are getting closer to our death.”

He followed it up with a Facebook post on March 19, revealing to the public that he had been diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma, a type of skin cancer. Per ABC News, Simmons appears to have died of natural causes. Mere hours before his death, Simmons posted his final tweet, accompanied by a picture of himself dressed as Liza Minnelli: “Hello gorgeous! Please don’t rain on my parade.”

Upon the news of his death, fans and celebrities took to social media to share their tributes to Simmons – many who celebrated his infectious and inclusive presence as a fitness personality, others who remember his wild and thoroughly candid television appearances on shows like The Late Show with David Letterman and Whose Line Is It Anyway?.

“I feel sorry for gay kids who didn’t grow up watching Richard Simmons,” wrote Jimmy Kimmel Live! writer Louis Virtel. “Before you even knew the word “gay” you had this guy teaching you the joys of tiny shorts, screaming because you’re having such a good time, and throwing on Martha & the Vandellas.”

Television actor Emerson Collins called Simmons “a man whose joy in what he did made it accessible to so many,” sharing a picture of himself with Simmons that he has since used to doctor famous photos as memes.

Pauly Shore, who infamously announced he’d star in a biopic about Simmons in April before it got refuted by the man himself, wrote his own words in tribute.

“I hope you’re at peace and twinkling up in the heavens. Please give my mother Mitzi and my father Sammy a big hug and a kiss for me. You’re one of a kind, Richard,” he writes.

Many fans have shared their most memorable moments of seeing Simmons on television screens. For one, his numerous appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman – where he once entered the set suspended in the air with angel wings, and another where he appeared in a chicken costume and got sprayed with a fire extinguisher by Letterman.

Others brought up his involvement on improv comedy TV show Whose Line Is It Anyway?, where he once showed up as a surprise guest.

Whose Line castmember and comedian Colin Mochrie praised Simmons in his own tribute for being “adventurous, giving and filled with fun” on the show.

“He was the main reason this sketch, in my humble opinion, is one of the funniest things that ever appeared on TV. RIP sir, and thank you,” he wrote.

See other fan and celebrity tweets about Richard Simmons, where some pointed out the unfortunate timing of the news, which broke minutes before the Trump rally shooting.