Richard Simmons, popular 1970s and 80s fitness guru, has died, law enforcement sources confirmed to NBC News. He was 76. Simmons was found unresponsive in his home in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles the morning of July 13, according to two law enforcement sources.
L.A. Fire and Los Angeles Police Department officials responded to a call at 1 p.
m. ET, according to officials. Simmons was pronounced dead at the scene.
The cause of death is pending. Simmons' 76th birthday was just a day earlier on July 12, when he thanked fans and loved ones on for the celebratory wishes. "Thank you.
..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," he wrote in a post, before signing off, "Love, Richard." Reminiscing on his birthday, Simmons told in a recent interview that this year, he’s “grateful that I’m here, that I am alive for another day.” In March, Simmons shared to that he had been the most common form of skin cancer.
"There was this strange looking bump under my right eye. I had a tube of neosporin which I would put on I the morning and the evening..
..it was still there.
It was time to call my dermatologist," he said of his skin cancer discovery in the post. Simmons continued, "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.
" In the Facebook post, Simmons explained that doctors attempted to burn the skin twice to remove the cancer, but some cancerous cells remained. The third time doctors performed the procedure, he said at the time that they had successfully removed all the cancer cells. A day before revealing his skin cancer diagnosis, fans began to fear for his health when Simmons made another Facebook post writing that he was "dying.
" “I have some news to tell you. Please don’t be sad. I am .
...
dying,” Simmons began the post. “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. 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.
” At the time Simmons reminded followers of the importance of diet and exercise in terms of health, as well as the relationships to loved ones. “There is something else very important that you must do. Tell the ones that you love that you love them.
Hug those people and children who you really care for. A big hug really goes a long way,” he wrote. “If you have time I want you to listen to a terrific song.
It is by Tim McGraw it is called Live Like You Were Dying. Live today and don’t forget to pray. Love, Richard.
” Simmons rose to fame by opening gyms nationwide and through his energetic fitness videos released during the 70s and 80s, including “Sweatin’ to the Oldies” and “Party off the Pounds.” Becca Wood is a news and trending reporter for TODAY Digital based in New York City. Follow her on Instagram and Twitter.
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