Talk:Richard Simmons/Archive 1

message: Is Richard Simmons really African-American?? A brief search of web sources turned up nothing. I'm curious if anyone knows anything for sure? A joke, or does someone know of Creole ancestry?
:NO he is not African-American. I know Richard personally and he is not. I keep taking this out, and it keeps coming back...
::What is WITH this guy that keeps putting that he's African American?  It showed up again today.   I know him personally also.  His mother was of Russian descent, and his father was of Irish descent.  Quit putting in bad info!
:::Weird that people would think that he's black, 'cause he doesn't look it at all.  Is it the curly hair?  Because that really looks more Irish to me.  I'm an Irish-American, and most people in my family have either straight blond hair (like myself), or curly dark red hair.  Roland Deschain 12:14, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Perhaps this frequent confusion has something to do with Eddie Murphy's hilariously spot-on portrayal of him in The Nutty Professor?  -Grammaticus Repairo 23:11, 12 December 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  African-American 

message: He is on college applications.  JK.  Is he homosexual?  I am not trying to be obnoxious, I am curious to know, and understand sexual orientation wouldn't be appropriate for the article page. Taco325i 18:55, 18 August 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Years ago I had the pleasure of spending a few hours with Richard.  He is definitely NOT gay.  Though he is the purrfect gentleman.  Some people just hate that.  Je t'aime ma tigre. Chatte Tigre 15:47, 17 January 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Okay, but then why is there no mention of a wife, girlfriend, etc.? Some more info on the family life would be great. Whether he's gay or not, he certainly fits a lot of the stereotypes of gay people, so a lot of people reading this article are going to be wondering about that. Hermitage 22:58, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: After seeing him on a TV show, that is exactly why I came to this article. Is there any way that question can be put to rest in the article?  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.157.26.39 (talk) 23:01, 31 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I came to this article for the same reason also. 204.113.52.125 (talk) 18:13, 26 November 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Gay or not 

message: What is the Wikipedia policy concerning measurement abbreviation. I added the paragraph about Mr. Simmons' weight. I can understand a policy of no plural for SI measurement (kg), which I would assume properly would be (Kg), but I don't understand one user's edit of "lbs" to "lb". Is this a stylistic difference between British and US American English, or some standard as measurements. A search for "lbs" at Wikipedia yields many results. I also am a believer that a lot of information is never too much, which is why I also added Mr. Simmons' weight in stone. As long as his weight is listed in either the SI or the Imperial/Customary system, I don't see why my addition of British colloquial usage should have been removed.
Another thing I don't understand is the encouragement not to list the country of birth or death with regard to the United States of America and Canada. Why should these not be listed in that place when other countries are. A user removed the country of birth due to formatting issues. This seems rather U.S.-Canada-centric to me, and I'm say this as an American. Comments?--Larry G 22:57, 21 Jan 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Measurement abbreviation 

message: Why is this guy / article in the category "Heavy Metal"?  I'm confused.  Is he like one of those super-dense substances like lead or depleted uranium?  Marblespire 20:13, 31 May 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Hahahahahah! I always get the two of them mixed up! -Grammaticus Repairo 23:12, 12 December 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Confused with Gene Simmons 

message: OK... there seems to be a fair bit of it from anon IP's over the past few days. Any solutions? Lochok 11:04, 12 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: This is getting stupid. This is the 3rd day in a row graffiti has had to be removed from this page! I am not a fan of simmons, but this is getting crazy? Is it worth blocking external edits or something? This is happening constantly from anon-ip's Lochok 07:42, 14 February 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Graffiti 

message: We should add something about Richard Simmons acting as a caricature of himself on various shows and public appearances.  He always wears those ridiculous short shorts & glittery tank tops.  And whether or not he is gay, he sure seems to play it on TV.--Thalia42 07:18, 20 May 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Sorry, he denies it, he may be flamboyant, but unless there are factual evidence to the contrary, his denial trumps all. Dominick (TALK) 11:03, 20 May 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Has he denied caricaturing himself? Hmm, no matter, we'd need a source for that too. -Will Beback 21:20, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

text: I'm not arguing about whether he is gay.  I'm simply stating that his flamboyance should be part of the write-up, regardless of his sexual orientation.--Thalia42 00:37, 24 May 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I imagine we can find a source describing Simmons' personna. His own bio talks about his "trademark humor" and his "unique wit, passion and enthusiasm", but those terms don't seem to capture it. -Will Beback 02:02, 26 May 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: there is also the VAST ammounts of internet pictures devoted to this guy. I can't believe they go without mention. I know this isn't encyclopedia dramatica or anything, but yeah... —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 81.151.233.225 (talk) 20:29, 25 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Caricature 

message: This article seems very disorganised - it needs a clean up, with subsections etc.
Subsections will also make it easier for people to edit the page.--82.35.34.157 13:58, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Clean up 

message: I added a reference heading. Looks like the bio info is listed on his official website, but I'm not sure how to cite it. 
It seems the article needs references and reorganization. I'm not too good at that handling such matters yet, or I would do it. KarateLadyKarateLady 20:33, 2 September 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Reference question 

message: There should be some mention of Richard's frequent appearances on Letterman.  Exploding Boy 08:15, 30 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: David Letterman

message: It seems the scene referred to in a "The Simpsons" episode wasnt deleted, it has at least been aired here in Australia.
A bit nitpicky, but still.... where did the deleted thing come from? 125.168.8.148anon
I recognize this Simpsons scene (a very funny moment) and so it's played here uncut in the States. Sometimes in syndication, Simpsons episodes are shortened (to get more time to run ads), but they are shortened by cutting the opening and closing credits. Only rarely are scenes cut from episodes, and there have to be very good reasons to do so, i.e., so the show's produders don't get sued. This scene, which I have seen in this Simpsons episode run in syndication in the States definitely does contain this scene, so I am modifying the article accordingly.
It actually airs as a deleted scene in the 138th Episode Spectacular, not in the episode itself. Editing back to "deleted" scene, with context. Dirtysocks 05:39, 14 December 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Trivia 

message: Except for the first two, the remainders are correct.  He appeared on all the shows listed (the cartoons are easy to verify on any episode guide) and he is good friends with Howard Stern and David Letterman.  It was big news on both shows about him returning after a prolonged absence. -- Death666 14:44, 29 January 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: If the trivia is correct, then it needs to be sourced. There is no source for him having a falling out with Stern. There is no source for him having a falling out with Letterman. There is no source for him studying to become a priest. All of these are potentially controversial and shouldn't be in the article unless they have proper sources. Frise 23:18, 29 January 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I agree that it needs to be sourced, but since none of it is libelous, the appropriate thing to do is to place a  tag on the section, and then do some research to see if you can find sources for some of the statements.  If you find that some of the statements are false, or if you ever see ones that are libelous, then you should remove the statements, but not the whole section.  I hope this helps.  --NMChico24 00:18, 30 January 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Removal of Trivia 

message: The sort of cheery filling in this article might be more admissible in a promotional advertisement, the World Wide Web Shrine of Richard Simmons, or any similar realm, but it isn't here. 
"He is known for his endlessly happy and flamboyant personality" -- is an example example of such pointless elements that pepper this article. It would more appropriate to to remove "endlessly happy" and leave "flamboyant personality" (an attribute which is still contestable.)
I'm removing any other such silly terms and irrelevant references.Navvie 20:06, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Removal of pointless attributes. 

message: Why is the stupidly edited picture in this article not being replaced with the original? Perhaps it takes time to update, but I'm perplexed why no instant update exists for the image, but such faster provisions exist for the article itself.Navvie 20:08, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Image 

message: "The positive reaction to this spot led to a three-year recurring stint, playing with himself, on the American soap opera General Hospital."
I don't know anything about this but it's a joke right....? chochem 18:48, 30 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Absolutely true! I remember it very well! That was back when GH was in its hey day. He taught classes in the disco in the day time. He wasn't on very often - and I doubt it was anything like 3 years (the disco wasn't around that long), but he definitely "made an impression" - particularly since he wasn't very well known at the time. I seem to recall him having a significant reaction scene after Laura was raped in the disco. What a hoot! Thanks for introducing this into the article. It should bring back a lot of memories for readers like myself. Cleo123 07:47, 7 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  I would like to see some references... 

message: 268 lbs for a child is not chubby, its fat.  I don't know if its PC to call him chubby, but the guy was morbidly obese.
Smaru 12:07, 8 June 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  He is not chubby