(ABC NEWS) – Eccentric fitness guru Richard Simmons, known
for his unrelenting positivity, has died, according to his
representative.
Simmons just celebrated his 76th birthday on Friday.
The Los Angeles Police Department responded to his home after
a 911 call from his housekeeper and found Simmons dead,
according to police sources.
The sources said Simmons appears to have died of natural
causes, and no foul play is suspected.
Josef Edwin "Joe" Weider (November 29, 1920 – March 23, 2013)
Los Angeles (AP) – Joe Weider, a legendary figure in bodybuilding who
helped popularize the sport worldwide and played a key role in introducing
a charismatic young weightlifter named Arnold Schwarznenegger to the
world died Saturday.
Weider’s publicist, Charlotte Parker, told The Associated Press that the
bodybuilder, publisher and promoter died of heart failure at his home in
Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley.
A young Arnold Schwarznenegger (left) and Joe Weider
Charles at 15
Charles Atlas (Angelo Siciliano)
(October 30, 1892 – December 23, 1972)
Atlas developed a bodybuilding method and associated exercise
program that was best known for its landmark advertising campaign
featuring Atlas’s name and likeness; it has been described as one of
the longest-lasting and most memorable ad campaigns of all time.
Before fame, Charles Atlas worked as a leather worker for a time. He
died of heart failure at age 80 after his daily jog on the beach.
Bob Richards
Dr. Bob Richards was a two time Olympic gold medalist for pole vaulting in
1952 and again in 1956, the first athlete to appear on “Wheaties, Breakfast
of Champions” cereal boxes, and was a sportscaster for NBC Television. He
was Ordained in 1946 as a minister in the Church of the Brethren, and elected
to the United States National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1975 and the U.S.
Olympic Hall of Fame in 1983.
Bob Richards as the first Wheaties spokesman
Bob Richards’ 1969 appearance on a Wheaties box, and the Olympian
today. He turned 86 on Feb. 20th.
