Surgeon's celeb makeovers get under colleagues' skin

Surgeon's celeb makeovers get under colleagues' skin
DEENA BEASLEY

BEVERLY HILLS, JULY 4: A beverly Hills plastic surgeon has hung out a shingle offering celebrity lookalike makeovers, but the practice has raised eyebrows in a profession concerned with protecting its image.

``This goes well beyond a facelift or a nose job. Reforming bones and repositioning features is rarely successful in the best of hands,'' said plastic surgeon Michael McGuire, former president of the California Society of Plastic Surgeons.

But Dr Nicholas Chugay, the surgeon who has sculpted around 20 people into famous likenesses, said looking like a celebrity need not depend on genetics. ``I had a patient who wanted to look like Cher. Another wants to look like Julio Iglesias. There is more focus on celebrities now.'' Chugay has sculpted a Marilyn Monroe, a Michael Jackson lookalike and an Elvis, who is now on tour in Japan.

``Legitimate plastic surgeons don't want to get involved with this. We have a hard enough time making burn victims look like they used to,'' McGuire said. Chugay was born in China, educated in the US and is neither an M.D. nor certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. He is licensed as an osteopathic physician and surgeon. Osteopaths are trained in manipulating the skeleton and muscles.

Although not quite like L.A. Confidential, the film in which prostitutes go under the surgeon's knife to look like movie stars, some people believe plastic surgery can help them earn a living. Chugay said he has not operated on anyone seeking to sell sex with a celebrity, but he acknowledged the practice probably goes on.

``People told me I looked like him and it seemed like a chance to get a couple of parts and make a few bucks,'' said former policeman Steve Radford, 55, who decided several years ago to look like Tom Arnold. His big break fizzled when Roseanne, Arnold's ex-wife, put a halt to an unauthorised biography in which Radford was slated to appear. Instead, the surgically enhanced lookalike said, he has made appearances on talk shows. He has yet to meet Tom Arnold but hopes to one day. Radford spent 20,000 dollars on plastic surgery, including several liposuction procedures, a chin implant and facelift.

``Most people who have these desires probably need a psychiatrist, not a plastic surgeon,'' McGuire said.

Chugay claims he often refuses patients. ``Sometimes, people come in with pictures that are just not feasible." Still, fashions in faces are quick to follow box-office trends, Chugay noted, with Ricky Martin and Leonardo DeCaprio recently eclipsing Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt as frequent models for would-be noses or chins. ``Many times, I don't know who these celebrities are. I turn down more people than I do,'' he said.

Reuters