Hallmark Star Mourns Death of Friend & Icon: Taught Me to ‘Live Happily’

Hallmark/Heavy Ashley Williams remembers Richard Simmons.

Hallmark star Ashley Williams opened up on social media about the death of friend and icon Richard Simmons. She shared on Instagram that Simmons taught her to “live happily” and even gave her the strength she needed to have children.

Simmons died on July 13 at the age of 76, TMZ reported. Simmons appeared to have died from natural causes and no foul play was suspected, ABC News reported. According to TMZ, he felt dizzy and fell just before his death, declining to see a doctor because it was his birthday. His housekeeper helped him back to bed after trying to convince him to get medical help, and found him unresponsive on his floor the next morning around 10 a.m.

Williams Attended Simmons’ Dance Classes Twice a Week

Williams shared on Instagram that she first met Simmons at an airport when he slapped a Diet Coke out of her hand.

“He was covered in sparkles and he pranced up to me, a total stranger, and slapped the Diet Coke can out of my hand (down to the floor!) and yelled ‘get that away from your body,'” she wrote.

She said she always struggled with her body, as employers told her to “loswe eight” and that her body was “hard to dress.” But Simmons helped her find confidence when she attended his dance classes every Tuesday and Thursday night.

“He drilled into me the importance of loving my body, above all else,” she wrote. “It was only then that I really felt strong enough to have my kids. He taught me to move. To dance. To laugh. To feel good. That health and wellness didn’t have to be pretty or hot— it could just be fun.”

She added that when he disappeared from the spotlight in 2016, she respected and learned from that decision too.

“He knew I was weird like him and had a bod that loved to sweat,” she recalled. “I watched with respect when he disappeared to take space in 2016. Another critical lesson just as valuable as banishing dieting from my life.”

She said that Simmons helped change her mindset about her body.

“More than anything I have a changed relationship with my body,” she wrote. “If we want to live happily we have to love our body, eat healthy food, and move. That’s it. That’s the key. And when the last two fall apart, as they inevitably will, the first one is always there at the ready— And always with a little bit of Simmons sparkle. This is how I will remember him and remain changed, forever.”

Followers & Friends Responded with Their Own Stories

Followers and friends responded to her post with stories of their own.

One person wrote, “I worked at the original Spago many years ago. And he came to the line and shook our hands and thanked us for our work. Not one other star did that. I will never forget how he treated us like important people. Not just kitchen staff. Blessings Richard Simmons. You changed our lives.”

Another replied, “Did I ever tell you about the time I ran into him at Wolford’s, 6 months pregnant with Tess. He asked to share my sandwich, insisted he buy me something expensive at the shop, and told me my daughter and I would love each@other tremendously, and hold hands at the zoo. I felt like I had met a magical, angel person in the flesh ❤❤❤.”

Hallmark screenwriter Julie Sherman Wolfe shared her own tribute on Instagram, writing: “RIP to a complicated, hilarious, joyful, utterly unique legend.”