No, and no...

6) I became obese during my early childhood and adolescence. At the age of 15, I weighed 182 pounds, and I eventually reached a peak of 268 pounds.

Chris Farley

Not Cris Farley.

7.) I had a falling out with both David Letterman (too many pranks) and Howard Stern (too many insults).

8.) My trademark attire is candy-striped Dolphin shorts and tank tops decorated with Swarovski crystals.

Richard Simmons

Soupy Sales

Yes.

More clues:
Exercise studios of the day favored the already fit customer, so there was little help for those who needed to gain fitness from an otherwise unhealthy state. I established gyms, and my interest in fitness helped me lose 123 lb (56 kg).

I began to draw media attention due to the success of my health club that began with my appearance on Real People.

David Letterman once sprayed me with a fire extinguisher while I was dressed as a turkey. It triggered an asma attack.

Wow!

That guess was a complete goof.

If you’ll allow me to interject a funny (but true) story:

Years ago, when I was musical director for The Mamas and The Papas, we were scheduled to perform live on the Good Morning America show at their TV studio in New York City. They put us up in the Plaza Hotel the night before. We had to be dressed and ready in the TV studio at the ungodly hour of 6:30 am.

While we were backstage in our dressing rooms, Richard Simmons walked in. (Yes, wearing his trademark tank top and hot pants). He was also scheduled to appear on the show, and wanted to introduce himself. His first shock was the fact that all of us were smoking cigarettes. He had a small hissy fit about that one! We all thought that was quite normal ... it's how we lived back then ... but he did his best to convince us how bad it was for our health.

Then Richard discovered John Phillip's bottle of Scotch ... and he almost had a conniption! I can't tell you how red-faced and excited he became ... he just couldn't fathom the idea that anyone would be hitting hard liquor so early in the morning! Eventually he just ran out of things to say, and stormed out of the room.

I found the following while looking up news on Richard Simmons. Food for thought and all...

Friendship isn't therapy. Holy moly, people, if you never believe anything else you read on the Internet, believe that friendship isn't therapy and therapy isn't friendship. When you're asking both "weren't these friendships?" and "weren't these therapeutic relationships?" you are diagnosing in real time the problem with the direction such things can go. Without professional structure and rules, it's not therapy. Without reciprocity, it's not friendship.

Here is the article I took it from: https://www.npr.org/2017/03/21/520943717......25186414

This one is a suggestion from my younger son:

1. I was born in Edinburgh.

2. My father was an alcoholic and died after many years of psychiatric illness.

3. My early education was at Jesuit schools in Lancashire and in Austria.

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle.

Bingo!

That one was too easy, or else you're too brilliant!

No, it's more a matter of great minds think alike. I've had Sir Arthur all set and ready to go! These would have been my clues:

1. One of my given names was Ignatius.
2. My parents were both of Irish Catholic descent.
3. When I was a child, my family dispersed due to my father’s alcoholism.
4. Three years later, we came together again and lived in squalid tenements.
5. Fortunately, from age 9, some wealthy uncles supported my education in England.
6. Later I was sent to study in Austria, where I began to drift away from Catholicism.
7. One of the main subjects I studied in college was medicine.
8. While at university I started publishing academic articles and writing short stories.
9. Upon graduation from college, I was employed as a ship’s surgeon.
10. My many literary works include fantasy and science fiction stories.
11. I also wrote plays, romances, non-fiction and historical novels.
12. I had a longstanding interest in mystical subjects and was initiated as a Freemason.
13. My most famous fictional character was a private detective.

I'd be very curious to know what your additional clues would have been, S2000!

Well . . . I would have mentioned that he shared a christian name with one of the Café members, and that he shared a surname with one of the Café members.

I hadn't thought a lot beyond that; you didn't give me a chance.

You're up!

Oh . . . and my first guess is Fred Flintstone.

1. I grew up in New York's Lower East Side.
2. I learnt my skills at a facility for filtering and purifying water.
3. Later I gained employment at a club on 55th Street in New York.

Johnny Weismuller?

Copy cat!

Debbie Harry

Alan Truscott