Celebrity Dermatologist Reportedly Commits Suicide, Was ‘Devastated’ By Martin Short Impersonation

Celebrity dermatologist to the stars Dr. Fredric Brandt reportedly committed suicide at his Miami mansion on Sunday. He was 65.

Brandt–whose celebrity clients included Madonna, Kelly Ripa, Stephanie Seymour, and Jane Holzer–was reportedly found dead by a housekeeper at his Coconut Grove mansion, according to the Miami Herald. Herald reporter Lesley Abravanel told the Daily Mail that sources close to the doctor said he had hanged himself.

According to Abravanel, Brandt was “devastated” after being satirized on an episode of the Netflix comedy series The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. In the episode, Martin Short plays a plastic surgeon with physical features similar to Brandt, who “reinflates” his face after it is dented by a punch and prescribes a “toenail resizing” for ditzy socialite Jacqueline Voorhees, played by Jane Krakowski.

Brandt’s publicist, Jacquie Tractenberg, said in a statement that Brandt was suffering from an “illness,” but did not disclose the circumstances surrounding the doctor’s death. Abravanel tweeted that “Sources close say that illness was depression.”

The New York Post published a comparison between Short’s Dr. Grant (pretentiously pronounced “Franff”) and Dr. Brandt last month.

“In [series creator Tina] Fey’s world, Short’s demented doc has improbably smooth skin and white-blond hair like Brandt, but is a “board certified D, DS, DDSOBGYN” according to a sign in his waiting room,” wrote the Post‘s Ian Mohr.

Dr. Brandt described his work in a 2014 profile for the New York Times. He said it was his personal and professional mission “to keep people working and feeling vital and good about themselves.”

“I’ve been kind of a pioneer in pushing the limits to see how things work and what the look would be,” he told the paper. “Would I change anything I’ve done? I might not have used as much Botox, because you don’t want to look quite as frozen.”

Wendy Lewis, a cosmetic surgery consultant known as the Knife Coach, told the Times in the same profile that Brandt gained his world-famous reputation by turning down clients when other doctors most likely would not.

Brandt’s publicist told the New York Post that the doctor’s friends and family were “devastated” by his death.

“I worked with him for over 2o years and he was an amazing man, not only was he a brilliant doctor, but he was the kindest human being,” Tractenberg told the paper.