Jack LaLanne, the physical fitness icon who used the power of television to advance his commitment to the advancement of exercise and nutrition, died January 23, 2011, at his home in Morro Bay, California. He was 96.

According to news reports, the cause was respiratory failure due to pneumonia.

LaLanne, who once joked that “I can’t afford to die. It would wreck my image,” stressed the importance of a low-fat diet and regular exercise decades before fitness caught on among average Americans.

The son of French immigrants, Jack LaLanne was born in San Francisco on September 26, 1914. He spent his early years on his parents’ sheep farm in the central California city of Bakersfield.

The family later relocated to the Bay Area, and in his teens, he said, he was scrawny, acne-plagued high-school dropout with diet heavy on sugar and sweets.

His personal transformation to a life of health and physical discipline occurred in 1929, when his mother took him to a women’s club for a lecture by Paul Bragg, a nutritionist who advocated the benefits of brown rice, whole wheat and a vegetarian diet.

In thrall to Brag’s message, the young LaLanne changed his eating habits, adopted an exercise regimen. He went on to graduate from a chiropractic school, but instead of working an a chiropractor he became a zealot for healthy living.

In 1936, in Oakland, he opened a health studio that included weight-training for women and athletes—two groups that did not lift weights at the time due to the contention that weight training made athletes slow and “muscle bound” and made women look masculine.

That first gym, Jack LaLanne Physical Culture Studio, eventually grew into a chain of more than 200 clubs. After the company was acquired by Bally Corp., the club were renamed Bally Total Fitness.

LaLanne also published books on exercise and nutrition, and endorsed juicers and vitamin supplements. But perhaps his most enduring impact came from his television program, The Jack LaLanne Show, which premiered in 1951 as a local program in the San Francisco area. In 1959 the popular daytime show went nationwide.

Audiences will recall the impression LaLanne made in his signature short-sleeved jumpsuit, which accentuated his muscles, accompanied by ballet slippers. With his endlessly upbeat patter and simple exercises, LaLanne made staying in shape seem attainable, even as he stressed the tenets of dedication and discipline. The show continued into the mid-1980s; in the early 2000s it returned in reruns on ESPN Classic.

LaLanne, who well into his senior years maintained a daily routine of weightlifting and swimming, was known for celebrating his birthdays with remarkable feats of physical endeavor.

In 1957, when he turned 43, he performed more than 1,000 push-ups in 23 minutes on the television show You Asked For It. At 60, he swam the mile-and-a-half distance from Alcatraz Island to Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco while handcuffed, shackled and towing a boat filled with a half-ton of sand. At 70, handcuffed and shackled again, he towed 70 boats, carrying a total of 70 people, a mile and a half through Long Beach Harbor.

He is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.

On September 12, 2003, LaLanne had the distinction of being interviewed by the Television Academy Foundation’s Archive of American Television. During the two-hour interview, conducted in Morro Bay by Archive director Karen Herman, LaLanne spoke about his youth as a gawky teenager, and how his interest in bodybuilding transformed him into an internationally known fitness guru.

He also chronicled the founding of his gym and the creation and development of his syndicated Jack LaLanne Show. He talked about the production and format of the long-running show, as well as the origins of many of its signature elements and marketing promotions.

In addition, he discussed his guest appearances on other series, including The Ed Sullivan Show and You Bet Your Life.

The entire interview is available online here.