Also known as “Baron of Botox”, Brandt was famous among the stars, counting celebrities including Kelly Ripa, Madonna and Stephanie Seymour as clients and friends.
Miami police spokeswoman Frederica Burden said Monday officers found Brandt’s body at his home in the Coconut Grove section of Miami about 9:15 a.m. Sunday after a friend contacted them. Burden said Brandt apparently hanged himself and that foul play is not suspected. An autopsy is planned, however.
Brandt’s longtime publicist, Jacquie Tractenberg, said he had suffered from depression for years. Recently, she said, he had been upset by a thinly veiled portrayal of him by actor Martin Short on the Netflix show, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.”
“It definitely bothered him. It was a very mean portrayal,” she said, but she added: “He didn’t kill himself because of that one particular show.”
Brandt was an American physician, researcher, lecturer, author and radio host. He specialized in cosmetic dermatology. Among the first to use botulinum toxin (“botox”) and fillers, Brandt had played a pivotal role in getting numerous fillers and botulinum toxins approved by the FDA for cosmetic use in the United States. Brandt hosted a radio show called Ask Dr. Brandt on SiriusXM radio. The doctor, whose patients included celebrities such as Madonna, was once referred to as the “Baron of Botox” and “King of Collagen”.
