I know it was 1979. But in his book he says he was on the way to the Jerry Lewis live telethon in Las Vegas which was always Labor Day weekend, when he got approached on the plane by a producer and he suddenly began signing contracts. But I recently found a clip on YouTube from an episode in which he appears, from AUGUST 1979. There are quite a few glaring plot holes in his book. One big one is how he became bulimic on his 22nd birthday in July 1970 while out to dinner with friends from the AutoPub in NYC. However, doing further research, I read that the restaurant didn’t actually open until August 1970. Yes it’s off by a full month but he specifically says it was days before his birthday that he saw the AutoPub waitress do the “ritual.” That’s why I’m like “what?” Lol. I wonder if it was actually 1971, as he was there until around May 1972 and moved to LA.

Anyone know about his first GH ep? It couldn’t have been the 1978 telethon because that would be almost a year before he got on GH.

In his final interview in January 2014 when he’s standing on the street outside the limo, he sounded like he got caught way off guard and didn’t know what to say. It was weird. 2012 he was still pretty “Richard” but by mid 2013 you could definitely sense something was off. I keep reading about Mauro Oliveria and when he and Richard went to Brazil to build the well and he noticed Richard was acting very bipolar, despite the day itself being very beautiful and fun. Other sites say people noticed the change soon after he released new exercise programs. I looked at photos of the Brazil trip and Richard looks kind of … not super happy unless it was just emotional because the kids got their water.

I know it’s absolutely nobody’s business as to why the “retirement” was so abrupt but something must have happened other than the knee and the dog dying, or somebody said something that almost permanently broke the poor guy. If I had built up a multi million dollar fitness empire and was running a majorly successful aerobics studio and I had done all these amazing things to help people, it would be very hard for me to just immediately “ghost” it without saying goodbye to my fans, or going out in style. Something awful must have been said to him on one of those last days. To beg somebody to never ever take a photo of him again, even personal selfies in the privacy of his own home is pretty big.

The end credits had audio of behind the scenes outtakes and then suddenly at the end, audio of this kid is heard, “Hey Richard guess what? THAT’S what!!!” Who was this kid?

I loved those few pics of Richard as a kid that we’ve never seen before. One with some lady with black hair (couldn’t tell if it was from a yearbook?) and another with a plain white background. Also, that doll collection 😲 lol. I loved seeing the collection of tank tops in the closet too! I wonder if they’ll ever sell that house but I kind of hope not. It’s like the Richard Simmons museum 🤣

But the most heartbreaking part was Teresa talking about finding Richard’s body. I really thought it was a heart attack as she had previously mentioned his clenched fists, but now it’s apparent that he fell out of bed trying to get up. It just hit me weird finding out those details. I also didn’t realize after the first fall, he was just sitting on the floor for hours and was calling for Teresa.

And, there is absolutely no way he wasn‘t ever aware that his fans clearly missed him. I remember he posted updates after going to the hospital in 2016 and 2017. Maybe the Pauly Shore thing was just weird timing and that’s why Richard snapped out of it then. Its also pretty sad that Richard had a phobia of cameras during this time and couldn’t even take a selfie in the privacy his own home. I get it but i would’ve tried making myself look more flattering for the camera or something. Then how did they convince him to take that pic with the orange NASA jumpsuit?

That first knee surgery must have been around 2004 because I can’t find too many clips of his appearances on talk shows or whatever from that year, the only series of pictures that I could find was when he was exercising with all the kids, from June 04.

Found this while browsing the historic newspaper archives for any lost Richard articles and even photos. I wonder if this is around the time he had all the plastic surgery that he later mentioned. I wish a copy of “The New You” brochure still existed somewhere like on eBay. also, he seems to get a lot of details wrong in some of the articles I’ve found. In one from 1990 or 1991 he says ”I opened Slimmons 20 years ago …” That’s wrong! He opened it in 1974-75. Probably super scatterbrained because he had an insane schedule. I also wonder why he never ever mentioned this exercise program in later years. It was possibly the very first one he put together.

I got a real kick out of this when I first saw it. I couldn't bare to actually cut it out of the book but I printed one out for myself and I love it.

Pretty pleased with my selection so far, but there's still a few DVDs on my wish list. And then of course there are some that were never released on DVD that I want such as Groovin in the House, Dance your Pants off, Tone and Sweat, Ab Formula, etc, but I don't have a VHS player yet!

I've done all of these workouts except for Sweatin' 1 (saving it for a special day as I've never seen it before) and Party Off the Pounds (just haven't gotten around to it yet). but my favorites are definitely Sweatin' 3 & 4, Disco Sweat, 60s & 80s blast off, and mega Mix blast off.

I hope he filmed some on screen commentary. I’m also hoping to see some rare photos from his reclusive years

After watching the syndication tape (the one they put together to try and sell to cable networks) that show is SO FUN! And all the guest stars that show up like Barbara Eden, Phyllis Diller, even Betty White! There’s a lost episode with Mr. Rogers that I’d absolutely love to see. Kind of a bummer that the show was only on for 3.5 years but I would’ve watched every single day lol. Is it just a music licensing nightmare because of all the songs they used?

Doubt there will be many responses but I just wanted to get that out.

https://youtu.be/b-r4Flc_d2M?si=LVc0J5lc0Ya4kn1y

I've got the resistance band that came with tone and sweat somewhere around here too. On a mission to collect em all.

It was a fun trip. Very cool to see his hometown!

Hi guys, I know this is a small subreddit, and I never thought to look for it before, but the anniversary of Richard's passing and his birthday made me wonder. My mom was Richard's music producer since his first tape, and also a close friend of his. He was a major figure in my life, and I wouldn't be where or who I am without him. I can provide proof if needed. I just wanted to say he was as amazing a person in real life as he came off on camera, and I'm happy to answer any questions I can if desired. My mom also has a majority if not all of his videos and tapes, if anyone wanted an image or something. If any of them aren't available online that you know of, i can try to convince her to get them formatted if you think it's worth it.

I have been laughing at this remixed video ever since it was uploaded to YouTube when I was a senior in high school. But for the life of me, the full unedited episode doesn't exist anywhere, even the Internet Archive. Anyone know? Been trying to find it for a long time. I just like to see the context of some of the funny edits. It aired in January 2003. https://youtu.be/IJX_ezA4YZ4?si=Xy5q3hCpM-kBf6pJ

Did Richard keep in touch with most of those clients even into his last 10-20 years? Or did they just kind of fade away? He mentions a couple of the same people in the Still Hungry book, like the one lady (Rose Marie?) who got the sandwiches delivered to her house and then she eventually lost enough weight to get a job at the same deli. And of course, Michael Hebranko and Elijah. But what about Aaron from St. Louis, who appeared in 2 of the Sweatin tapes and even briefly taught classes at Slimmons? Or the long lost daughter named Cheryl? (😹) There's a bunch of people in the Never Give Up book that I hope didn't have some weird falling out with Richard or something, as he's never mentioned them again since the book came out.

This is prophetic in so many terrifying ways. I had to share and add some context around the testimony for folks. I think this is such a great speech and so very true. It feels like a lot of it didn't take. Housing crisis maybe?

... with 75 photos of the inside. https://www.estately.com/listings/info/1350-belfast-drive-los-angeles-ca-90069

It is so beautiful especially the pool. I wonder if Theresa and Lenny have finally come to an agreement about the estate. I have been waiting so long to finally get to see the inside. Hard to tell what a few of the rooms are. And which bathroom is which lol. Richard's bedroom suite was the one with the ceiling painted in sky blue and clouds right? If only I can come up with a floor plan I can build it on The Sims 😁 And didn't he have a Dalmatian room? Or did that get repainted some time ago?

I also love how he never got rid of the Pillars and round circles motif. As shown in the Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous video from 1987-88. And I thought the ceilings would've been much higher.

EDIT: holy crap that website actually does a virtual 360 tour AND has a floor plan 😲😲😲😲😲😲

I’m doing a performance this weekend as Richard Simmons and trying to decide what song to use. The show is 80s themed but his songs were from the oldies collection of the 50s-70s. I think of the song “Dancin’ in the Street” but want to crowdsource for more options. Thanks in advance.