Jane Fonda already had two Oscars when she became a fitness phenom in the early 80s.
The only person as famous in the field was Richard Simmons, who passed away this weekend after battle with cancer and a long, strange period of being a reccluse after a long celebrity career.
On Instagram, Jane fondly recalls Simmons from their workout heyday:
Richard Simmons always wanted people to feel good and be happy. He would go out of his way to make people happy. I often wondered if maybe nobody had made him happy when he was a little boy.
He was generous. He gave of himself, of his time, to make people happy. He once popped out of a huge cake at the launch of some Jane Fonda WORKOUT event. That was generous.
He found out I was in a store where he was so he quickly bought some small trinket and ran across the store, shouting at the top of his lungs in that unmistakable voice, to let me know he was coming. That was generous.
I saw him last when I took him and a boyfriend of his to lunch at the Polo Lounge. The relationship was new and he was proud. I never saw or heard from him again and, like many thousands of others, I’ve mourned his absence from my life.
I hope he felt the love so many were sending him these last years. I hope it made him happy. I read he died peacefully in his sleep in his very white home. Rest in Peace, Dear Richard
