Fitness Guru Jack LaLanne Dies at Age 96

**Curt James** · 01-23-2011, 08:45 PM

Fitness guru Jack LaLanne, 96, dies at Calif. home

He exercised and ate healthy every day of his life, agent says

MORRO BAY, Calif. — Jack LaLanne, the fitness guru who inspired television viewers to trim down, eat well and pump iron for decades before diet and exercise became a national obsession, died Sunday. He was 96.
LaLanne died of respiratory failure due to pneumonia Sunday afternoon at his home in Morro Bay on California's central coast, his longtime agent Rick Hersh said.

LaLanne ate healthy and exercised every day of his life up until the end, Hersh said.

"I have not only lost my husband and a great American icon, but the best friend and most loving partner anyone could ever hope for," Elaine LaLanne, Lalanne's wife of 51 years and a frequent partner in his television appearances, said in a written statement.

Just before he had heart valve surgery in 2009 at age 95, Jack Lalanne told his family that dying would wreck his image, his publicist Ariel Hankin said at the time.

Television staple
LaLanne credited a sudden interest in fitness with transforming his life as a teen, and he worked tirelessly over the next eight decades to transform others' lives, too.

"The only way you can hurt the body is not use it," LaLanne said. "Inactivity is the killer and, remember, it's never too late."

His workout show was a television staple from the 1950s to the '70s. LaLanne and his dog Happy encouraged kids to wake their mothers and drag them in front of the television set. He developed exercises that used no special equipment, just a chair and a towel.

He also founded a chain of fitness studios that bore his name and in recent years touted the value of raw fruit and vegetables as he helped market a machine called Jack LaLanne's Power Juicer.

When he turned 43 in 1957, he performed more than 1,000 push-ups in 23 minutes on the "You Asked For It" television show. At 60, he swam from Alcatraz Island to Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco -- handcuffed, shackled and towing a boat. Ten years later, he performed a similar feat in Long Beach harbor.

He maintained a youthful physique and joked in 2006 that "I can't afford to die. It would wreck my image."
"I never think of my age, never," LaLanne said in 1990. "I could be 20 or 100. I never think about it, I'm just me. Look at Bob Hope, George Burns. They're more productive than they've ever been in their whole lives right now."

Jack LaLanne, seen arriving for his 95th birthday celebrations in 2009,
hosted a workout show that was a TV staple from the 1950s to the '70s.

Praised by Schwarzenegger
Fellow bodybuilder and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger credited LaLanne with taking exercise out of the gymnasium and into living rooms.

"He laid the groundwork for others to have exercise programs, and now it has bloomed from that black and white program into a very colorful enterprise," Schwarzenegger said in 1990.

In 1936 in his native Oakland, LaLanne opened a health studio that included weight-training for women and athletes. Those were revolutionary notions at the time, because of the theory that weight training made an athlete slow and "muscle bound" and made a woman look masculine.

"You have to understand that it was absolutely forbidden in those days for athletes to use weights," he once said. "It just wasn't done. We had athletes who used to sneak into the studio to work out.

"It was the same with women. Back then, women weren't supposed to use weights. I guess I was a pioneer," LaLanne said.

The son of poor French immigrants, he was born in 1914 and grew up to become a sugar addict, he said.
The turning point occurred one night when he heard a lecture by pioneering nutritionist Paul Bragg, who advocated the benefits of brown rice, whole wheat and a vegetarian diet.

"He got me so enthused," LaLanne said. "After the lecture I went to his dressing room and spent an hour and a half with him. He said, 'Jack, you're a walking garbage can."'

Soon after, LaLanne constructed a makeshift gym in his back yard. "I had all these firemen and police working out there and I kind of used them as guinea pigs," he said.

He said his own daily routine usually consisted of two hours of weightlifting and an hour in the swimming pool.
"It's a lifestyle, it's something you do the rest of your life," LaLanne said. "How long are you going to keep breathing? How long do you keep eating? You just do it."

In addition to his wife, he is survived by two sons, Dan and Jon, and a daughter, Yvonne.

From Fitness guru Jack LaLanne, 96, dies at Calif. home - U.S. news - Life - msnbc.com

**Built** · 01-24-2011, 12:13 AM

Heaven is going to be a lot fitter soon.

Mr. LaLanne, at forty:

**MDR** · 01-24-2011, 12:16 AM

Hadn't heard. Looks like he lived a long, healthy life.

**M-Rods** · 01-24-2011, 03:13 AM

RIP Jack, you have inspired so many

**Burr** · 01-24-2011, 04:09 AM

Curt, you did a nice workup on this.

RIP Jack

**AmM** · 01-24-2011, 05:38 AM

By example Jack demonstrated that exercise and proper nutrition improved quality of life. He was a positive inspiration to many.

**I Are Baboon** · 01-24-2011, 05:49 AM

What a pisser. RIP, Jack LaLanne.

**Anna_lev** · 01-24-2011, 05:52 AM

very sad...

**Rodja** · 01-24-2011, 05:59 AM

I saw that this morning and was actually surprised even though he was 96. I wonder what the cause of death was?

**Burr** · 01-24-2011, 06:19 AM

Topm of the thread:

MORRO BAY, Calif. — Jack LaLanne, the fitness guru who inspired television viewers to trim down, eat well and pump iron for decades before diet and exercise became a national obsession, died Sunday. He was 96.
LaLanne died of respiratory failure due to pneumonia Sunday afternoon at his home in Morro Bay on California's central coast, his longtime agent Rick Hersh said.

**JerseyDevil** · 01-24-2011, 06:22 AM

He was a true inspiration, a strength and health legend. Some of this strength feats were unreal. 1000 pushups in 23 minutes? RIP Jack.

**TampaSRT** · 01-24-2011, 07:08 AM

Rip!

**Prince** · 01-24-2011, 11:30 AM

Fitness Guru Jack LaLanne Dies at Age 96 By Elizabeth Weise and Nanci Hellmich, USA TODAY Leaders of the fitness world are remembering Jack LaLanne, who died Sunday at age 96, as a pioneer who set an example all his life that inspired people of all ages. LaLanne, widely considered the founding father of the [...]

Read More...

**fray5** · 01-24-2011, 05:04 PM

Saw this on the news about a half hour ago. Man, was he one cool dude! That's what you call living, what that guy did.

**TooOld** · 01-24-2011, 05:28 PM

**Curt James** · 01-24-2011, 06:56 PM

Rest in Peace, Jack!

**Prince** · 01-24-2011, 06:57 PM

My Memoriam to Jack LaLanne!
Written by Dave Palumbo

JBy now, most of you have heard that 96-year old Jack LaLanne died at his Morro Bay, California home of respiratory failure (due to pneumonia).

But rather than dwell on his death; let's reflect on the life he led, without which there would be no fitness revolution in this country today.

Jack LaLanne was the first guy I ever witnessed doing jumping jacks; or any exercise for that matter. I remember as a kid trying to emulate all the exercises that he performed on his TV show-- the longest running exercise program in television history (1950s to 1970s). My parents thought I was nuts; however, I attributed my immediate attraction to what this funny man was doing on TV to the "bodybuilding genes" that were lying dormant inside all my cells. Jack LaLanne awoke that sleeping giant in me; he piqued my interest in physical fitness through weight training, endurance sports, and healthy eating. Now, at age 42, I'm the guy doing the "crazy" exercises for all the young and impressionable kids out there. You see, life really does go full circle.

The truth of the matter is that most of us in the bodybuilding world don't even realize that Jack was one of the very first bodybuilders to really make a name for himself in the public eye. He spent countless hours down on California's Muscle Beach performing feats of strength and balancing acts with all the other bodybuilders; demonstrating that his ultra-muscular physique (for the time) not only looked good but was quite functional as well. Jack made building your body something that anyone could (and should) do.

LaLanne designed the first leg extension machines, pulley machines with cables, and the weight selector machines that are found at almost every gym in the world. Jack also invented a very popular bodybuilding machine that eventually became known as the Smith Machine. By the 1980s, Jack LaLanne's European Health Spas numbered more than 200 clubs and he, ultimately, licensed all his health clubs to the Bally corporation. Today they are now known as Bally Total Fitness.

Some of LaLanne's impressive feats of strength that still, to this day, baffle me are the following:

1956 (age 42): Jack set a world record of 1,033 push-ups in 23 minutes on the You Asked For Ittelevision show.

1959 (age 45): Jack did 1,000 star jumps and 1,000 chin-ups in 1 hour, 22 minutes and The Jack LaLanne Show went nationwide.

1984 (age 70): Handcuffed, shackled and fighting strong winds and currents, Jack towed 70 boats with 70 people from the Queen's Way Bridge in the Long Beach Harbor to the Queen Mary, 1 mile.

IRON MAN writer Lonnie Teper had this to say about LaLanne's death on his
Facebook page:

"Heard the sad news an hour ago...fitness icon Jack LaLanne has died at 96. I knew him well; IRON MAN co-sponsored his 90th birthday party in Santa Monica, where he told me "I can't afford to die, it would hurt my image."

When a 96-year old guy, who still weight trains and swims 2 hours every day, dies; there's a certain sense of peace and appreciation for the lifestyle he promoted and the iconic image he created that pours forth from your soul. You just, intuitively, know that he lived the good life. Abraham Lincoln once said,

"And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years."

Jack LaLanne was one of the few unique individuals whose "life in years" well-exceeded the "years in his life". He'll be missed!

**Lordsks** · 01-24-2011, 08:34 PM

I thought I remember reading somewhere he invented alot of the exercise equipment you see today. He never put a patient on the ones he built.

**SilentBob187** · 01-24-2011, 10:43 PM

We lost one of the good ones. He was an inspiration for how to live a long and healthy life.

**Anna_lev** · 01-25-2011, 05:18 AM

He was 96 - he proved that fitness can prolong life

**Gena Marie** · 01-25-2011, 10:14 AM

He was such an inspiration to so many. It just goes to show that your passion doesn't have to end with age. RIP

**Momuscle** · 01-26-2011, 12:49 PM

Great guy!

**big60235** · 01-26-2011, 03:23 PM

He has lead a life that only a few could achieve but millions have tried. He has inspired Billion to change the way the live and lead a healthier life style.

**big60235** · 01-26-2011, 03:26 PM

I wonder if his death had anything to do with all the "JUICE" he was on???? Seems like that is a universal excuse.

I know I am a dick - no need to tell me. I just could not help my self.

**Burr** · 01-26-2011, 05:49 PM

He sold a lot of Juice Machines in his life!

**Kagigi** · 01-27-2011, 11:37 AM

Ahead of the times for sure.

**trup9** · 01-29-2011, 08:44 AM

sure hope i can llok like him when im that old

**malfeasance** · 01-29-2011, 09:48 AM

Originally Posted by Built

Heaven is going to be a lot fitter soon.

Mr. LaLanne, at forty:

Wow, I had no idea he looked like that at 40!

**Anna_lev** · 01-31-2011, 05:27 AM

he really looks grate at the photos!

**Glycomann** · 01-31-2011, 06:24 AM

I wonder if he was up to date on his vaccinations. He died from pneumonia. There are vaccines against the most common forms in older people. Sounds like he was still healthy until he got sick. He was sort of Mr. everything natural so I am guessing no vaccines.

Thread: Fitness Guru Jack LaLanne Dies at Age 96

Thread Tools

Display

Jack LaLanne, Rest in Peace