Michael Jackson’s dermatologist Arnold Klein dies
Michael Jackson’s dermatologist Arnold Klein dies
Arnold Klein, the Beverly Hills dermatologist-to-the-stars, who once had to deny reports he was the biological father of one of star patient Michael Jackson’s kids, has died. He was 70.
His death was confirmed in a brief press release by the Riverside County, Calif., coroner’s office, which said Klein died at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage near Palm Springs on Thursday.
The press release did not state the cause of death.
Some of his fellow dermatologist posted condolences.
Dr. Arnold Klein passed away on Thursday October 22, 2015. Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to his family and… https://t.co/fwbo1FLCKv
— Drs Kopelson/Feldman (@KopelsonClinic) October 23, 2015
Klein’s specialty was injecting famous and not-famous faces with Botox to smooth wrinkles and plump up sagging skin.
“Put me next to a patient, give me a needle and I’m really happy,” he said in a 2011 interview with The Associated Press.
Known as the “Father of Botox” and for his flamboyant lifestyle, he treated a number of boldfaced names in Hollywood, including Elizabeth Taylor, Dolly Parton, Sharon Stone, Dustin Hoffman, Carrie Fisher and many others.
But it was his landing Jackson as a patient (Jackson suffered from a skin disorder) that helped make him almost as famous as his celeb patients. Klein treated Jackson for more than 25 years, calling him “my best friend.”
In 1996, Klein’s nurse, Debbie Rowe, volunteered to marry and bear two of Jackson’s three children, Prince and Paris. The couple soon divorced, and Klein subsequently dismissed media reports alleging that he fathered Prince through a sperm donation.
Then, after Jackson’s death in 2009 (from an overdose of a powerful anesthetic he was using to sleep), Klein’s celebrated life began crashing, leading to lawsuits, bankruptcy and accusations he might have been involved in prescribing drugs that led to Jackson’s demise.
Klein strongly denied that and federal drug agents who investigated Jackson’s death subsequently cleared Klein.
Another of Jackson’s doctors, Conrad Murray, was charged and convicted of involuntary manslaughter. Murray’s defense sought to involve Klein in the trial, claiming that he contributed to Jackson’s addiction to a medication, Demerol, but the trial judge ruled that Klein’s testimony would not be relevant.
When asked if he could have done something to save Jackson, Klein said he didn’t know.
“This tragedy is an example of how the rich and famous can get terrible medical care. It repeats itself and repeats itself. When people get famous, they get all the ‘yes people’ around them,” he said.
Klein was still dealing with setbacks until shortly before he died. On Oct. 6, Radar reported the California Medical Board issued a public reprimand after he was fined in Nevada for trying to renew his medical license through inaccurate statements.
Until then, Klein was active on social media; his last tweet was Oct. 5.
His Facebook page was filled with pictures of his famous patients and he had updated his cover photo as recently as April. On Friday, the page was filling up with memorial posts.
“RIP my lovable friend Arnie Klein, u gave me so much love and your friendship is forever in my life. I’m praying, may angels take care of u and give u all this live u deserve so much….. I’m terribly sad . I love u forever Arnie,” posted one fan, Doris Dervin.
Contributing: The Associated Press
