text:  flamboyant, razzle dazzle is what I want to say. I mean, he just like sparkled. He really, really did. Milton Teagle Richard Simmons was born in 1948 in New Orleans. As a young person, he struggled with obesity. People were mean and bullied him because of it. As he said in this documentary on his official YouTube channel. As an overweight kid, I really didn't have anyone to turn to. I had a true compulsion for food.