Industry mourns the loss of esteemed dermatologist to the stars, Dr Fredric Brandt
Dermatologist to the stars, Dr Fredric Brandt, died on April 5 at his home in Coconut Grove, Florida.
Miami police ruled Brandt’s death as a suicide after a friend found him hanging by a yellow cord in his home. Dr Brandt’s publicist, Susan Biegacz told the NY Times that he had been dealing with depression for some time and had been devastated by the parody of him on the comedy series “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”.
The Tina Fey comedy series presented on Netflix portrays a blonde wispy-haired plastic surgeon whose face is paralyzed by fillers, and is thought to have been based on Dr Brandt. However, for all his flamboyance, Dr Brandt was an esteemed physician. With clients such as Marc Jacobs, Calvin Klein, Madonna and Tomas Maier, he became known as the ‘Baron of Botox’.
Dr Patrick Treacy MBCAM, chairman of the Irish Association of Cosmetic Doctors, said, “I was saddened to hear of the news of the tragic death of Dr. Frederic Brandt last night and aware that the world of cosmetic dermatology will not be the same without him. He was in many ways the Karl Lagerfeld of our medical aesthetic world, prolific and intuitive, a post-modernist with an individual almost iconic American sense of aesthetics and style.” Dr Brandt was born in June 26, 1949, in Newark, where his parents owned a sweet shop. Developing an early interest in science, he graduated from Rutgers University and furthered his education with a medical degree from Hahnemann Medical College. Opening his own private practice in Miami in 1982, and with an eponymous named skincare line and a relationship with Madonna, Dr Brandt’s practice started bringing in a celebrity clientele.
Dr Treacy added, “For the many celebrities to came to his door he defined a new direction in facial aesthetics, creating an elegance that reflected the highest pinnacle of our innate symmetric appreciation of faces across cultures –the cherubic physiognomy of babies. He was a pioneer who created his own cosmetic brand, launched his own radio show yet took time out of his busy schedule to lecture to his colleagues. He was aspirational and innovative and changed an industry that was surgically banal and sometimes lacking in identity before his guidance. He will be missed.”
