Latest news with #LennySimmons
Daily Mail
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Inside Richard Simmons bittersweet final act: Star was 'so excited' to tell his story on Broadway before passing
It's been nearly a year since Richard Simmons died the day after his 76th birthday from a fall and underlying coronary disease, and his close ones are reflecting on his life. The reclusive aerobics guru retreated from the spotlight after closing his Beverly Hills exercise studio Slimmons in 2016, but he made a virtual comeback during the COVID-19 pandemic and began posting new encouraging audio messages for fans. According to Richard's older brother Lenny Simmons, he was also busy writing songs for a potential Broadway musical about his life with one of Madonna 's favorite songwriters, three-time Grammy nominee Patrick Leonard. 'He was so excited,' Lenny told People on Thursday. 'And [he] would always read us the lyrics, in poetry form, of the last song he had written for Patrick.' Simmons' publicist for decades, Tom Estey, spoke to him the day before he passed away to wish him happy birthday shortly after he had slipped in the bathroom of his $6.9M Hollywood Hills estate (now on the market) but failed to seek medical attention. 'The last day, he didn't feel well,' Estey admitted to the mag. '[But] when we reconnected, it was a completely different Richard. He was in a very happy and content place. He did know that people missed him and he missed them, but he never took his eye nor his heart off them.' The flamboyant fitness expert's manager for years, Michael Catalano, said he 'found some peace in coming back and reconnecting with all people he had not spoken to in years.' In his final Facebook message to fans, Richard (born Milton) thanked them: '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.' Last year, Simmons' live-in caretaker/driver of 36 years - Theresa Reveles Muro - petitioned to become co-trustee of his estate and claimed Lenny had pressured her to turn down the role after his death. Muro accused Lenny of colluding to 'pillage Richard's assets and legacy' with Michael, whom he allegedly despised according to multiple emails she provided in legal filings. In October, Theresa asked the court to suspend Lenny's authority to sell or exploit Simmons' personal effects, name, image, likeness, or other intellectual property pending resolution of the appointment petition. In his final Facebook message to fans, Richard (born Milton) thanked them: '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' The Sweatin' to the Oldies star - who once topped the scales at 268lbs - helped humanity lose approximately 12M lbs during his eighties/nineties hey day: 'He cried with them and he laughed with them, and he was never judgmental.' Richard published 12 fitness book and hosted his own KTLA talk show The Richard Simmons Show from 1980-1984, which won four Daytime Emmy Awards. Among Simmons' last onscreen appearances were guest judging a 2014 episode of ABC's Sing Your Face Off and playing a dramatized version of himself on ABC soap General Hospital in 2013.
Daily Mail
04-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Richard Simmons home hits the market for eye-watering sum nearly a year after he died at the home at age 76
The palatial Hollywood Hills mansion owned by the late Richard Simmons is now on the market for nearly $7,000,000. The gated, colonial-style home located above the Sunset Strip has been listed for $6,999,999. Simmons died at the home last year, just one day after celebrating his 76th birthday. The reclusive fitness guru resided at the home with his devoted friend and house manager, Teresa Reveles, and abruptly stopped making public appearances in 2014, sparking concern from fans. According to the home's listing, which is being held by John A. Lucy of Keller Williams Hollywood Hills, the property was built in 1937 and boasts an array of amenities, including a maid's suite, pool, pool house, updated kitchen, music room, and terraced side yard. Simmons was found in his home by his longtime housekeeper on July 13, 2024 - just one day after celebrating his 76th birthday. A cause of death was revealed back in August, with the Los Angeles Coroner's office informing Simmons' brother Lenny that the death had been 'accidental due to complications from recent falls and heart disease as a contributing factor.' 'The toxicology report was negative other than medication Richard had been prescribed,' family spokesperson Tom Estey told People. 'The Family wishes to thank everyone for their outpouring of love and support during this time of great loss.' Lenny had previously told People that he didn't want 'people to be sad about my brother,' but rather to 'remember him for the genuine joy and love he brought to people's lives.' 'He truly cared about people. He called, wrote and emailed thousands of people throughout his career to offer help,' Lenny said. Simmons had fallen in the bathroom of his home on Friday, July 12 - which marked his 76th birthday - and Reveles had attempted to persuade him to seek immediate medical help, but he declined because it was his birthday, TMZ previously reported. Simmons said he didn't want to go anywhere, informing her that he might go on July 13. Reveles helped him safely get back to his bedroom, where she found him unresponsive the following morning on the floor at around 10 a.m., according to the outlet. He was later pronounced dead on the scene. 'When I saw him, he looked peaceful,' she told People last July of finding Simmons. She noted his hands were balled into fists, prompting her to believe he died of a heart attack. 'That's why I know it was a heart attack. I had a heart attack a few years ago, and my hands did the same.' Simmons was a legendary fitness guru who grew up in the French quarter of New Orleans before settling in California. He weighed 268 pounds when he graduated from high school, his website said. His own story of struggling with weight loss, where he tried everything from fad diets to laxatives before settling on exercise and better lifestyle choices, inspired millions to do the same. Simmons became a master of many media forms, sharing his hard-won weight-loss tips as host of the Emmy-winning daytime 'Richard Simmons Show' and author of best-selling books and the diet plan Deal-A-Meal. He also opened exercise studios and starred in exercise videos, including the wildly successful 'Sweatin' to the Oldies' line, which became a cultural phenomenon. Simmons' daytime show was seen on 200 stations in America, as well as in Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Japan and South America. His first book, 'Never Say Diet', was a smash best-seller. He was known to counsel the severely obese, including Rosalie Bradford, who held records for being the world's heaviest woman, and Michael Hebranko, who credited Simmons for helping him lose 700 pounds. After winning a legion of fans with his infectious enthusiasm and positivity, Simmons stepped away from the limelight in 2014. TMZ founder Harvey Levin later said the fitness icon doesn't spend all his time at his home. 'We found out he likes going to the beach, he'll go shopping, he'll just go out and get air,' he told Good Day in 2022. In 2022, Simmons' spokesperson Tom Estey provided a statement to the New York Post saying that he was 'happy, healthy and living the life he has chosen to live.'
