Remembering Jack LaLanne - American fitness, exercise, and nutritional expert

Workout junkies of all ages are crediting TV exercise guru Jack LaLanne with bringing fitness to the masses. LaLanne died Sunday at his Morro Bay home after a brief battle with pneumonia. He was 96.

Long-time dancer Linda D’Angelo owns Curves gym in Eagle Rock. The 39-year-old says most of her members are seniors who grew up when it wasn’t fashionable for women to lift weights.

“Well, you just didn’t work out,” she says. “Like, people just didn’t have gym memberships. It was an exclusive thing and now, it’s like everybody does. So it’s definitely something that I feel he was responsible for, is bringing fitness to everybody at all economic and age and fitness levels.

LaLanne remembered.
LaLanne opened his own health spa in Northern California before World War II – years before Americans became fitness savvy.

In 1951, he launched one of the country’s first exercise programs on TV, inspiring housewives to pull up a dining chair and do leg-lifts. It was broadcast nationally for three decades and motivated millions of Americans to eat better and exercise more.

Hollywood honored LaLanne about nine years ago with a star on the Walk of Fame. It’s near the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.