Jack LaLanne dies at Morro Bay home

January 23, 2011

Jack LaLanne, former fitness celebrity, nutritional lecturer and body builder, died Sunday at his Moro Bay home from respiratory failure due to pneumonia. [TMZ]

LaLanne, 96, inspired viewers of his popular 1950s through 1970s exercise show to work out and trim down.

At 22, LaLanne opened his own health spa and gym in Oakland. He is credited with designing the world’s first leg extension machines and pulley machines using cables, now a standard in the fitness industry.

Up until his death, Lalanne continued to workout every day and eat nutritional foods.

“It is most gratifying for me to see that everything that I was preaching and advocating for over 75 years has come to fruition,” LaLanne says on his web site.“Then I was a crackpot and a charlatan, today I am an authority.”