[R.I.P] Jack LaLanne

countingcrow · Jan 23, 2011

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110124/ap_on_sp_ot/us_obit_jack_lalanne

LOS ANGELES – 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.

"He was amazing," said 87-year-old former "Price is Right" host Bob Barker, who credited LaLanne's encouragement with helping him to start exercising often.

"He never lost enthusiasm for life and physical fitness," Barker told The Associated Press on Sunday. "I saw him in about 2007 and he still looked remarkably good. He still looked like the same enthusiastic guy that he always was."

LaLanne (pronounced lah-LAYN') 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."

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.
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Mr. Brightside · Jan 23, 2011

RIP+ This guy was a true inspiration to fitness enthusiasts.

Lil Pun · Jan 23, 2011

Is this the guy with the juicer?

droxford · Jan 23, 2011

WOW! I thought that guy was gonna live another 5 years!

esteban · Jan 23, 2011

I know God has a special place for you Jack, you inspired me to live a healthy lifestyle all my life. I used to watch you on tv and excercice with you when I was just a kid.
R.I.P my dear friend and hero!

QdoubleA · Jan 23, 2011

CNN had the headline up for about 30 minutes, then decided it wasn't bringing in enough viewers and put up an ad instead, ridiculous.

Yonkers · Jan 23, 2011

RIP. Man was a machine.

SwoLy-D · Jan 23, 2011

Q.E.P.D. el señor LaLanne.

Heaven is more FIT.

Shroopy2 · Jan 23, 2011

Great guy. If there is ONE thing you can advocate to people and make a living in, its to keep good health.

Since I'm getting back into fitness now, I'll look for a juicer in LaLanne's name

(RIP)

Fatty FatBastard · Jan 23, 2011

Shroopy2 said:

Great guy. If there is ONE thing you can advocate to people and make a living in, its to keep good health.

Since I'm getting back into fitness now, I'll look for a juicer in LaLanne's name

(RIP)
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It's a pretty slick device, but the fresh produce can get expensive. You'd be amazed how little juice you can squeeze from a turnip.

YaosDirtyStache · Jan 23, 2011

I guess he ran out of juice.

RIP sir, loved your style.

david_rocket · Jan 24, 2011

Rest in peace Mr. LaLanne.

giddyup · Jan 24, 2011

esteban said:

I know God has a special place for you Jack, you inspired me to live a healthy lifestyle all my life. I used to watch you on tv and excercice with you when I was just a kid.
R.I.P my dear friend and hero!
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I did the same thing. Then I'd watch "The Liberace Show." No kidding.

Relentless · Jan 24, 2011

96 is an incredible feat.

RIP

finalsbound · Jan 24, 2011

RIP...an inspiration.

MoonDogg · Jan 24, 2011

Jack LaLanne is and will always be, a stone cold badass. RIP.

Qball · Jan 24, 2011

MoonDogg said:

Jack LaLanne is and will always be, a stone cold badass. RIP.

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Tbh, that looks a bit akward.

MoBalls · Jan 24, 2011

He was RIPPED.

RIP Jack.

Major Malcontent · Jan 24, 2011

I am not so into the gym/health scene. But you have to give this man props for his force of will and his honesty (if it tastes good, spit it out).

Seems like it was a good long life! I would say RIP, but I am not sure Jack wants any part of the next world if it involves too much resting.

BetterThanI · Jan 24, 2011

QdoubleA said:

CNN had the headline up for about 30 minutes, then decided it wasn't bringing in enough viewers and put up an ad instead, ridiculous.
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I don't know how ridiculous that is: the guy was 96 years old, I would wager a great many of us thought he was already dead (I know I did). Add to that the fact that he hasn't really been relavant for quite some time, and the last time we saw him was in an informercial years ago, and you have a death that, while very sad, isn't exactly big "news", no disrespect to what he did and all he accomplished.

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[R.I.P] Jack LaLanne

countingcrow Contributing Member

Mr. Brightside Contributing Member

Lil Pun Contributing Member

droxford Member

esteban Member

QdoubleA Member

Yonkers Contributing Member

SwoLy-D Contributing Member

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Fatty FatBastard Member

YaosDirtyStache Member

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giddyup Contributing Member

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