SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:
American pop culture lost three household names over the weekend.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Yeah, Richard Simmons was a fitness personality known for his tank top, his short shorts and his enthusiasm on TV. He died Saturday at age 76. Simmons won daytime Emmys for "The Richard Simmons Show" and sold more than 60 million copies of his workout videos, mostly on VHS tape.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
RICHARD SIMMONS: Up. Oh. Welcome to the disco. Inhale. Now chin up, shoulders back, stomach in, buns tight.
PFEIFFER: In his later years, Simmons rarely spoke or appeared in public. But in 2022, he broke his silence and said through his publicist that he was, quote, "happy, healthy and living the life he has chosen to live."
INSKEEP: We also received news that Dr. Ruth died on Friday at the age of 96. Ruth Westheimer was born into a Jewish family in Germany and was sent to a Swiss orphanage to escape the Nazis. Later she emigrated to the United States and taught university courses on human sexuality.
PFEIFFER: Her media career began in 1980 with a local radio show.
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RUTH WESTHEIMER: Good evening. This is Dr. Ruth Westheimer.
PFEIFFER: Dr. Ruth grew famous for discussing things that had been taboo on TV.
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WESTHEIMER: The way you can talk about reading, writing, arithmetic, you can also talk about sex.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Right.
WESTHEIMER: And if you do it in good taste and if you do it properly, then it can be - everything can be talked about.
INSKEEP: We also lost an actress whose career stretched from the prairie to Beverly Hills.
(SOUNDBITE OF DILLON AND SUPA DAVE WEST SONG, "DILLOUTRO")
INSKEEP: Shannen Doherty died Saturday after years with breast cancer at the age of 53.
PFEIFFER: She was a child star in the early 1980s. She played Jenny Wilder on "Little House On The Prairie." A later generation knew her as Brenda Walsh from "Beverly Hills, 90210."
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "BEVERLY HILLS, 90210")
JAMES ECKHOUSE: (As Jim) Brenda, come back. We need to talk.
SHANNEN DOHERTY: (As Brenda) No, I am finished talking. Now, I'm going upstairs, and I'm going to pack, and then I'm leaving this house. And I don't want either one of you to try and stop me.
INSKEEP: Shannen Doherty spent her last years advocating for cancer and awareness while continuing to act. And she is one of three pop culture stars that we've lost in the last few days along with Ruth Westheimer and Richard Simmons.
(SOUNDBITE OF HANNI LICHT'S "DESENCONTROS") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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