On Sunday, Dr. Frederic Brandt committed suicide at his home in Coconut Grove, Florida, according to Miami police. The 65-year-old dermatologist was much sought-after by celebrities and other patients for his encyclopedic knowledge and mastery of anti-aging techniques — W magazine once dubbed him the "Baron of Botox."
"For all his apparent flamboyance, his fondness for outlandish designs from labels like Comme des Garçons, and his stellar clientele — including supermodels, trophy wives, industrial titans of either sex, and Madonna — Dr. Brandt was an esteemed physician," writes Guy Trebly at The New York Times.
Brandt had been suffering from depression, according to publicist Susan Biegacz, and in recent weeks had been "devastated" by Martin Short's character, Dr. Sidney Grant (Franff), in Tina Fey's Netflix series, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmitdt. The character has some notable physical and professional resemblance to Brandt, and the show "held the character to ridicule by flaunting an exaggerated speech impediment due to the overdoing of plastic surgery," The Miami Herald reports.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Still, "he did not commit suicide because of the show," said another Brandt publicist, Jacquie Tractenberg. "The show didn't help. It was mean. He felt bullied. It was mean-spirited picking at the way he looked for no reason at all. But he suffered from depression before that." Miami Herald celebrity columnist Lesley Abravanel has a remembrance of Brandt, with footage of Short's character, in the video below. —Peter Weber
-
How are ICE’s recruitment woes complicating Trump’s immigration agenda?TODAY’S BIG QUESTION Lowered training standards and ‘athletically allergic’ hopefuls are getting in the way of the White House plan to turn the Department of Homeland Security into a federal police force
-
What is a bubble? Understanding the financial term.the explainer An AI bubble burst could be looming
-
France makes first arrests in Louvre jewels heistSpeed Read Two suspects were arrested in connection with the daytime theft of royal jewels from the museum
-
Hungary’s Krasznahorkai wins Nobel for literatureSpeed Read László Krasznahorkai is the author of acclaimed novels like ‘The Melancholy of Resistance’ and ‘Satantango’
-
Primatologist Jane Goodall dies at 91Speed Read She rose to fame following her groundbreaking field research with chimpanzees
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
