Richard Simmons died at the age of 76

2:46 PM PT — Were told Simmons fell in the bathroom of his house. The LAPD’s elite Robbery Homicide Division responded to his home because this is a high-profile death, although they still do not suspect foul play.

2:10 PM PT — Law enforcement sources say Richard fell last night, which may be related to his death.

Richard Simmons, the legendary fitness guru, has died at the age of 76… TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ that police and firefighters responded to a call from his housekeeper just before 10 a.m. Saturday and pronounced him dead at the scene. We’re told there is no foul play at this time, and police are investigating it as a natural death.

Shockingly, RS recently posted several times on Facebook… including thanking fans for all the birthday wishes he received.

Simmons was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1948… and later attended Florida State University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in art before moving to Los Angeles in the 1970s.

Simmons started as a waiter in Beverly Hills and opened a series of gyms for clients who were not yet in top shape.

He opened The Anatomy Asylum – later renamed Slimmons – which originally included a salad bar… because Simmons’ exercise philosophy revolved around healthy eating. Slimmons closed in 2016.

He has released dozens of fitness tapes and DVDs, including favorites like “Sweatin’ to the Oldies,” “Party off the Pounds,” “Blast Off,” “Pump and Sweat,” “Tonin’ Uptown,” “Tonin’ Downtown” and more much more. more.

Simmons also made the leap into mainstream acting…he often appeared as himself on shows, as he famously did in 72 episodes of “General Hospital” – a recurring role he continued in for about four years starting in 1979. He returned to the show. in a cameo appearance in 2013.

Richard’s other notable credits include ‘What Women Want’, ‘Hercules: Zero to Hero’, ‘All My Children’, ‘Evening Shade’, ‘The Larry Sanders Show’ and more. Richard was also a prolific writer and published a series of cookbooks on healthy eating.

Fans were drawn to Richard because of his positive, flamboyant energy… although he stepped away in later life due to the demands of keeping his personality in the spotlight and a double knee replacement he had – topics we explore in our documentary entered “TMZ Investigates: What Happened to Richard Simmons.”

The police came to his house for one support in 2017 … but later released a statement saying the star was doing well and just wanted to be left alone to do his thing.

That said, Richard never stopped trying to help fans. We broke the story in May…Simmons told us on the phone that he was sending hundreds back of fan emails a day and fifteen to twenty phone calls to help fans who were struggling.

This came a few weeks after Richard posted an audio message for fans, so they could hear his voice again after so many years out of the spotlight… he added that he had found his life’s purpose: helping people.

Richard has been using social media more often in recent months… especially when it came to the biopic Pauly Coasthas been working on about Simmons’ life. If you remember, in January Richard said yes wasn’t interested when collaborating on the biopic, reiterating several times that he was not involved.

Shore later said Richard wished him luck about the project…so it’s unclear exactly how Richard felt about it in the last few months of his life.

We last met Richard on the Street in 2014… and he had a whole host of useful tips for our viewers on how to get fit.

Richard was 76.

REST IN PEACE