Richard Simmons Dead at 76

2:46 PM PT -- We're told Richard Simmons fell in the bathroom in his home, though it's unclear if that's where the housekeeper found him.

LAPD's elite Robbery Homicide Division responded to his house because this is a high-profile death though they still do not suspect foul play.

2:10 PM PT -- Law enforcement sources say Richard took a fall last night, which may be connected to his passing.

Richard Simmons -- the legendary fitness guru -- has died at 76 ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... police and fire responded to a call from his housekeeper just before 10 AM Saturday and pronounced him dead at the scene. We're told no foul play is suspected at this time, and cops are investigating it as a natural death.

Shockingly, RS posted multiple times on Facebook recently ... including thanking fans for all the birthday wishes he received.

Simmons was born in New Orleans, Louisiana back in 1948 ... later attending Florida State University where he got a Bachelor's degree in art before he moved to Los Angeles in the '70s.

Starting out as a waiter in Beverly Hills, Simmons opened up a series of gyms for customers who weren't already in incredible shape.

He opened The Anatomy Asylum -- later renamed Slimmons -- which originally included a salad bar ... as a main tenant of Simmons' exercise philosophy revolved around healthy eating. Slimmons closed in 2016.

He released dozens of fitness tapes and DVDs including favorites like "Sweatin' to the Oldies," "Party off the Pounds," "Blast Off," "Pump and Sweat" "Tonin' Uptown," "Tonin' Downtown," and many more.

Simmons also made the jump into mainstream acting ... often appearing as himself in shows, as he famously did in 72 episodes "General Hospital" -- a recurring role he kept on for about four years beginning in 1979. He returned to the show in a cameo appearance back in 2013.

Richard's other well-known credits include "What Women Want," "Hercules: Zero to Hero," "All My Children," "Evening Shade," "The Larry Sanders Show" and more. Richard was also a prolific writer, publishing a series of healthy eating cookbooks.

Fans gravitated toward Richard for his positive, flamboyant energy ... though in his later life he stepped away because of the demands of keeping up his persona in the spotlight and a double-knee replacement he had -- topics we dove into in our documentary "TMZ Investigates: What Happened to Richard Simmons."

Cops responded to his house for a welfare check in 2017 ... but later issued a statement saying the star was doing fine and just wanted to be left alone to go about his business.

That said, Richard never stopped trying to help fans. We broke the story back in May ... Simmons told us over the phone he was returning hundreds of fan emails each day and making 15 to 20 calls to help fans who were struggling.

This came a few weeks after Richard posted an audio message for fans, letting them hear his voice again after so many years out of the spotlight ... he added he'd found his life's purpose -- helping people.

Richard used social media more often in recent months ... especially when it came to the biopic Pauly Shore's been working on about Simmons' life. Remember, back in January Richard said he wasn't interested in collaborating on the biopic, reiterating multiple times he wasn't involved.

Shore later said Richard wished him luck on the project ... so, unclear exactly how Richard felt about it in the last few months of his life.

We last caught up with Richard on the street back in 2014 ... and, he had a whole host of helpful hints for our viewers on how to get fit.

Richard was 76.

RIP