Jane Fonda Pays Tribute to Richard Simmons After His Death

'I hope he felt the love so many were sending him these last years. I hope it made him happy,' the actress wrote.

By Allison Schonter

Jane Fonda is mourning the loss of Richard Simmons. The '80s fitness icon died at his home on July 13, just one day after his 76th birthday, with Fonda joining the chorus of celebrities and fans paying tribute to Simmons online.

"Richard Simmons always wanted people to feel good and be happy," Fonda, 86, wrote on Instagram on Sunday alongside a photo of herself and Simmons. "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."

Describing Simmons as a "generous" person, Fonda, who was also an icon of 1980s workout videos and fitness, said Simmons "gave of himself, of his time, to make people happy." She recalled how he "once popped out of a huge cake at the launch of some Jane Fonda WORKOUT event. That was generous." In another memory, Fonda said Simmons "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."

The Grace and Frankie actress and Simmons eventually fell out of touch after Simmons withdrew from public life beginning in 2014. Fonda said she "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," she concluded her post. "I read he died peacefully in his sleep in his very white home. Rest in Peace, Dear Richard."

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Numerous outlets reported Saturday that the Los Angeles Police Department responded to responded to Simmons' home that day after his housekeeper called 911 after she found Simmons dead. Law enforcement sources told TMZ that no foul play was suspected and Simmons' passing is being treated as a natural death. No cause of death was shared, though Simmons announced earlier this year that he was diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma. He had been posting on his official Facebook page up until his birthday on Friday, July 12.

Born Milton Teagle Simmons in New Orleans on July 12, 1948, and later adopting the name Richard while growing up, Simmons was best known for his weight-loss programs and line of aerobics videos, Sweatin' to the Oldies. In a statement, his longtime manager, Michael Catalano, told PEOPLE that Simmons "touched the lives of millions of people. He personified inclusion and acceptance of all people and never cast judgment when someone he was helping faltered."

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