Sunday memorial for Dr. Fredric Brandt expected to draw capacity crowd to Miami temple

Dr. Fredric Brandt’s suicide last Sunday led to an outpouring of grief from clients — celebrity and otherwise — of his Coral Gables and New York dermatological offices.

A capacity crowd of 600 to 700 people is expected to fill Temple Israel of Greater Miami, 137 NE 19th St., at 11:30 a.m. Sunday for a memorial service, said Rabbi Tom Heyn.

“Mostly clients, he had thousands of friends, mostly from New York,” Heyn said of the doctor who also had a popular line of skin care products. The temple received numerous calls midweek once the service’s location was revealed. “A lot of people are talking about planning to attend.”

But if your name isn’t Madonna, Kelly Ripa or Stephanie Seymour who were some of his celeb clients, or any number of his local patients or associates who might be expected to attend, don’t expect a seat inside.

“The official word is that it’s a private service,” Heyn said, after consulting with Brandt’s longtime assistant Maggie Moloney. “The media will be asked by the police not to go inside.”

Joy Behar, former cohost of The View and a guest on Brandt’s canceled SiriusXM radio show, Ask Dr. Brandt, told The Daily News that she had seen the popular dermatologist last month. He was upset about the satellite program’s cancellation, she said he told her. But the end of its run, and a satirical Netflix program that featured a character played by Martin Short that some say spoofed Brandt mercilessly, was not the cause of his suicide, Behar said. That point was also made by his publicist Jacquie Tractenberg on Monday in a Miami Herald interview.

“He was the leading pioneer for cosmetic dermatology… his life was dedicated to making his patients look better. He made it fun to have needles stuck in your face,” Tractenberg said.

Brandt was discovered Sunday morning hanging in his house by a friend who was there on a suicide watch.

“Who knows what causes these things?” Behar told the Daily News. “He might have been manic depressive for all I know.”

This story was originally published April 9, 2015 at 8:00 AM with the headline "Sunday memorial for Dr. Fredric Brandt expected to draw capacity crowd to Miami temple."