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Richard Simmons

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The world's biggest fitness guru was born July 12, 1948, in New Orleans, Louisiana. A severely overweight child, Simmons battled obesity for a number of years, becoming dependent on diet pills and adopting unhealthy weight loss programs. He briefly lived in Italy, before relocating to Los Angeles in 1973, where he opened an innovative exercise studio that catered to the severely overweight.

In 1979, Simmons enjoyed a brief stint on the popular daytime soap opera General Hospital, but soon decided to concentrate solely on building a fitness empire. The following year, he launched his own talk show The Richard Simmons Show, which enjoyed four seasons on the air. 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.

Over the years, 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.

Recently, Simmons established exercise programs for the physically challenged, which he documented in the book Reach for Fitness: A Special Book of Exercises for the Physically Challenged. His other writings range from cookbooks (Richard Simmons:Never Say Diet Book and The Richard Simmons' Farewell to Fat Cookbook: Homemade in the U. S. A.) to self-help guides (Richard Simmons' Never Give Up: Inspirations, Reflections, Stories of Hope) to an autobiography (Still Hungry After All These Years: My Story).