Jack LaLanne is Dead - Society Throws Up Arms, "Doesn't Know What to Do" - Polidicks

[img]http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20110124/capt.67dca7be95844878b54178b233900284-6fa0db050dfa4da7a06383b9c885ed4f-0.jpg?x=400&y=320&q=85&sig=O2IvG.f267sY5C4R6.HmzQ--[/img] [quote]LOS ANGELES – Jack LaLanne, the fitness guru who inspired television viewers to trim down, eat well and pump iron for decades before diet and exercise became a national obsession, died Sunday. He was 96. LaLanne died of respiratory failure due to pneumonia Sunday afternoon at his home in Morro Bay on California's central coast, his longtime agent Rick Hersh said. LaLanne ate healthy and exercised every day of his life up until the end, Hersh said. "I have not only lost my husband and a great American icon, but the best friend and most loving partner anyone could ever hope for," Elaine LaLanne, LaLanne's wife of 51 years and a frequent partner in his television appearances, said in a written statement. He maintained a youthful physique and joked in 2006 that "I can't afford to die. It would wreck my image." Former "Price is Right" host Bob Barker credited LaLanne's encouragement with helping him to start exercising often. "He never lost enthusiasm for life and physical fitness," the 87-year-old Barker told The Associated Press on Sunday. "I saw him in about 2007 and he still looked remarkably good. He still looked like the same enthusiastic guy that he always was." LaLanne (pronounced lah-LAYN') credited a sudden interest in fitness with transforming his life as a teen, and he worked tirelessly over the next eight decades to transform others' lives, too. "The only way you can hurt the body is not use it," LaLanne said. "Inactivity is the killer and, remember, it's never too late." His workout show was a television staple from the 1950s to the '70s. LaLanne and his dog Happy encouraged kids to wake their mothers and drag them in front of the television set. He developed exercises that used no special equipment, just a chair and a towel. He also founded a chain of fitness studios that bore his name and in recent years touted the value of raw fruit and vegetables as he helped market a machine called Jack LaLanne's Power Juicer. When he turned 43 in 1957, he performed more than 1,000 push-ups in 23 minutes on the "You Asked For It" television show. At 60, he swam from Alcatraz Island to Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco — handcuffed, shackled and towing a boat. Ten years later, he performed a similar feat in Long Beach harbor. "I never think of my age, never," LaLanne said in 1990. "I could be 20 or 100. I never think about it, I'm just me. Look at Bob Hope, George Burns. They're more productive than they've ever been in their whole lives right now." Fellow bodybuilder and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger credited LaLanne with taking exercise out of the gymnasium and into living rooms. "He laid the groundwork for others to have exercise programs, and now it has bloomed from that black and white program into a very colorful enterprise," Schwarzenegger said in 1990. In 1936 in his native Oakland, LaLanne opened a health studio that included weight-training for women and athletes. Those were revolutionary notions at the time, because of the theory that weight training made an athlete slow and "muscle bound" and made a woman look masculine. "You have to understand that it was absolutely forbidden in those days for athletes to use weights," he once said. "It just wasn't done. We had athletes who used to sneak into the studio to work out. "It was the same with women. Back then, women weren't supposed to use weights. I guess I was a pioneer," LaLanne said. The son of poor French immigrants, he was born in 1914 and grew up to become a sugar addict, he said. The turning point occurred one night when he heard a lecture by pioneering nutritionist Paul Bragg, who advocated the benefits of brown rice, whole wheat and a vegetarian diet. "He got me so enthused," LaLanne said. "After the lecture I went to his dressing room and spent an hour and a half with him. He said, 'Jack, you're a walking garbage can.'" Soon after, LaLanne constructed a makeshift gym in his back yard. "I had all these firemen and police working out there and I kind of used them as guinea pigs," he said. He said his own daily routine usually consisted of two hours of weightlifting and an hour in the swimming pool. "It's a lifestyle, it's something you do the rest of your life," LaLanne said. "How long are you going to keep breathing? How long do you keep eating? You just do it." In addition to his wife, he is survived by two sons, Dan and Jon, and a daughter, Yvonne.[/quote] ;C R.I.P. He was 96. Fun tip: He's the reason you did jumping jacks in Elementary School P.E. He was such a bad ass... This was him a year ago [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkdYrAQJu6g[/media]

He probably lived long, and fucked lots. R.I.P.

NOOOOO FUCK He was like the last remaining totally awesome person to have the same birthday as me [editline]24th January 2011[/editline] This dude is closer to the basis for chuck norris jokes than chuck norris is [editline]24th January 2011[/editline] This guy was the [i]definition[/i] of badass. 1984 (age 70): Handcuffed, shackled and fighting strong winds and currents, towed 70 boats with 70 people from the Queen’s Way Bridge in the Long Beach Harbor to the Queen Mary, 1 mile.

[QUOTE=JohnnyMo1;27625041]NOOOOO FUCK He was like the last remaining totally awesome person to have the same birthday as me [editline]24th January 2011[/editline] This dude is closer to the basis for chuck norris jokes than chuck norris is [editline]24th January 2011[/editline] This guy was the [i]definition[/i] of badass. 1984 (age 70): Handcuffed, shackled and fighting strong winds and currents, towed 70 boats with 70 people from the Queen’s Way Bridge in the Long Beach Harbor to the Queen Mary, 1 mile.[/QUOTE] Holy shit, why am I only hearing about this guy now.

I heard about this on the phone with my friend and I hung up because I was so distraught [editline]23rd January 2011[/editline] I called him back [editline]23rd January 2011[/editline] Now I'm high [editline]23rd January 2011[/editline] Still R.I.P.

We'll miss you Jack :smith:

Oh fuck not this guy. :( I loved this guy. I even bought his juicer. RIP Jack.

I thought it was cute when he said he was most proud of his wife.

I'm sorry to say this, he sounds like an amazing man, but I don't know who this is :/

God damn, and I once heard him speaking on talk radio, what a great man he sounded to be. RIP.

Here I was expecting him to live to 120. Damn

A man who is this great dying can only start a chain of celebrity deaths.

aww that sucks

[QUOTE=Maegord;27626272]A man who is this great dying can only start a chain of celebrity deaths.[/QUOTE] People don't die due to other people dieing, thats not how dieing works.

Nice, awesome guy, sad that he died. But for some reason, I just don't like fitness crazed types, and I have a feeling he's the reason.

[QUOTE=JohnnyMo1;27625041]1984 (age 70): Handcuffed, shackled and fighting strong winds and currents, towed 70 boats with 70 people from the Queen’s Way Bridge in the Long Beach Harbor to the Queen Mary, 1 mile.[/QUOTE] Fuck off, there is no way.

Wow, that interviewer kept cutting him off.

The only time I've ever heard of Jack Lalanne before [img]http://cn1.kaboodle.com/hi/img/2/0/0/33/8/AAAAAq9XGwgAAAAAADOFMw.jpg?v=1171842362000[/img]

[QUOTE=GodKing;27626638]Fuck off, there is no way.[/QUOTE] [url]http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HJwzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=zDIHAAAAIBAJ&pg=4111,2340193&dq=jack+la+lanne+queen+mary&hl=en[/url] It's in the video in the OP too. Oh apparently wikipedia forgot to mention he was handcuffed and shackled while he did it.

I just heard about this because my father works out often and put this up on his facebook: [quote]In memoriam of Jack Lalanne, I pushed myself extra hard in the weight room tonight. R.I.P Sir. You were a class act.[/quote] :smith:

How the fuck? I can't fathom the boat thing, I just don't understand how that's possible. This guy is fucking amazing, no doubt about it.

Guy sounds like a regular Bruce Lee. It's a shame when such inspiring people die.

Lived till 96... Well, time to start eating healthy.. Already going to the gym RIP.

[img]http://www.healthhabits.ca/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/jack-lalanne-at-71.jpg[/img] RIP, this guy was fucking amazing.

probably giving god the workout of his life right now

A bunch of people at the gym I go to put in a moment of silence for Jack. It brought a tear to my eye. RIP

Its funny that at 96 I'm sure he could have kicked any of our asses :v: RIP

[QUOTE=Timebomb757;27644046]Its funny that at 96 I'm sure he could have kicked any of our asses :v: RIP[/QUOTE] All of them at once, I presume.

if HE died in just his 90's What hope do I have

[QUOTE=TheTalon;27644787]if HE died in just his 90's What hope do I have[/QUOTE] He didn't die of age, he caught pneumonia :frown: [editline]25th January 2011[/editline] Thing is, he looks younger than my 60 year old grandmother.