Simmons, Richard
Name |
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Birthname | Milton Teagle Simmons | ||||
born on | 12 July 1948 at 11:18 (= 11:18 AM ) | ||||
Place | New Orleans, Louisiana, 29n57, 90w05 | ||||
Timezone | CST h6w (is standard time) | ||||
Data source |
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Astrology data | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Biography
American guru in the multimillion dollar industry of diet and physical fitness. Simmons developed an extremely popular diet and exercise program for the overweight American. Extremely overweight himself as a kid, he went the usual route of popping diet pills and crash diets. He briefly lived in Italy before relocating to Los Angeles in 1973, where he opened his first studio. He made an attempt at acting, getting a stint on the soap "General Hospital" in 1979, before focusing entirely on building a fitness empire.
He launched his own talk show, "The Richard Simmons Show," 1980, which lasted four seasons. He successfully marketed his image to the public, while writing self-help books, creating the "Deal-A-Meal" food maintenance program, and producing the Sweatin’ to the Oldies line of exercise videos.
Simmons has become a staple on late night television, bringing his irreverent humor and indefatigable energy to "The Tonight Show" and "Late Night with David Letterman." With a rigorous touring schedule that includes 250 personal appearances each year, he continues to promote physical well-being to millions of loyal followers.
His books include "Reach for Fitness: A Special Book of Exercises for the Physically Challenged," "Richard Simmons’ Never Say Diet Book" and "The Richard Simmons' Farewell to Fat Cookbook" and the "Richard Simmons' Never Give Up: Inspirations, Reflections, Stories of Hope." His autobiography is titled, "Still Hungry After All These Years: My Story."
The fitness guru allegedly slapped a man on March 24, 2004 at a Phoenix airport after the fellow made a remark about Simmons’ exercise videos. The man shouted, "Hey, everybody, it’s Richard Simmons. Let’s drop our bags and rock to the ‘50s." Simmons was cited for a misdemeanor assault and claimed that the slap was merely playful, according to the police report. He allegedly told the victim "it’s not nice to make fun of people with issues."
Relationships
- associate relationship with Entertainment: General Hospital (born 1 April 1963). Notes: Played himself, 1979-1982
Events
- Family : Change residence 1973 (Moved to L.A.)
- Work : Gain social status 1979 (Appeared in General Hospital)
- Work : Begin Major Project 1980 (Began his own TV show)
Source Notes
Sy Scholfield quotes his autobiography, "Still Hungry -- After All These Years: My Story," Good Times/ Harpercollins, 1999, p. 11.
Categories
- Traits : Personality : Gregarious/Extrovert
- Traits : Personality : Juggles lots at once
- Vocation : Business : Entrepreneur (Diet/fitness guru)
- Vocation : Business/Marketing : Product Marketing (Self-marketing specialist)
- Vocation : Writers : Autobiographer
- Vocation : Writers : Textbook/ Non-fiction (Self-help, dieting, cookbooks, fitness)
- Notable : Extraordinary Talents : For Leadership
- Notable : Famous : Top 5% of Profession
- 1948 births
- Birthday 12 July
- Birthplace New Orleans, LA (US)
- Sun 20 Cancer
- Moon 10 Libra
- Asc 8 Libra
- Traits : Personality : Gregarious/Extrovert
- Traits : Personality : Juggles lots at once
- Vocation : Business : Entrepreneur
- Vocation : Business/Marketing : Product Marketing
- Vocation : Writers : Autobiographer
- Vocation : Writers : Textbook/ Non-fiction
- Notable : Extraordinary Talents : For Leadership
- Notable : Famous : Top 5% of Profession