Richard Simmons recalls being rear-ended by Katharine Hepburn: 'A car hit me from the back'
“I told her not to worry about it and drove off.”
Richard Simmons is looking back at some of his favorite (literal) Hollywood run-ins.
The fitness guru posted a lengthy thread on X (formerly Twitter) that was filled to the brim with charming little anecdotes about meeting screen legends like Lana Turner and Charlton Heston, as well as the time Katharine Hepburn ended up hitting his car.
“There was something special about Katherine [sic] Hepburn. It was how she talked and held her head high,” Simmons wrote. “I saw her in a lot of movies but my favorites are African Queen and Guess Who is Coming to Dinner.”
“When I moved to Los Angeles I was at a gas station filling up and…..a car hit me from the back,” he continued. "I got out to see what happened. Ms Hepburn got out of her car and said. ‘I am sorry. I will pay for the damage to your car.’”
But Simmons didn’t mind the late actress crashing into his life. Instead, he added, “I told her not to worry about it and drove off.”
He also recalled his experience dabbing the sweat from the late Charlton Heston’s face at a dinner event. “During one Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Charlton [sic] Heston was king of a parade called Endymion. I was on the float behind him,” he wrote. “After the parade, all the floats rode into the convention center. They were serving a dinner on round tables with white tablecloths.”
Simmons explained that he and Heston were seated next to each other for the meal. “It was very hot in the center and Charlton was sweating so much,” he added. “I took my napkin and wiped the sweat on his brow and face.”
Rodrigo Vaz/FilmMagic; John Bryson/Getty
Richard Simmons, Katharine HepburnSimmons also shared that he personally offered to carry Lana Turner’s groceries to her car.
“Then, there was Lana Turner. My favorite movies of hers were The Postman Always Rings Twice and Imitation of Life,” he noted. “Years later I was walking into a specialty grocery store and Lana Turner was walking out with a small bag of items. She was wearing a lilac silk blouse with black pants and a Gucci belt I have some memory huh?”
It was then that Simmons asked if he could help her to her car, to which she reportedly replied, “No thank you. You are a nice gentleman.”
Read Simmons' full list of quirky interactions with Vincent Price and more in the thread above.
Want more movie news? Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free newsletter to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more.
Related content:
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.
