The Smiley Smile Message Board

I heard something about how he had minor surgery or somethin' around the eyes back in the eighties. My question is why? Was there something wrong?

I know that he had a crushed cheekbone repaired during the Landy era.

The Landy partyline was he had his cheekbone corrected which had been bashed in by Murry as a kid. In reality I think it was glaringly obvious that Brian had a major facelift , no doubt pushed into it by Landy. Apparently you can't launch a solo career in your mid forties if you actually look your age.  ::)

Well also he'd lost a lot of weight - that creates bags and wrinkles and double/triple chins after the weight comes off.

i doubt he had a major face lift.  Considering he looks normal now. 

Seriously take at look at pictures from the (ahem) "autobiography" era and the whole legally cutting off Landy period and then say he didn't have any Hollywood procedures performed on his face.

In some of those photos from the 80s, he looked MUCH older than he was. A combination of weight loss (excess skin) and the effects of drug use, I guess. He must have had something done, because he looked much better by the late 80s. It's the best facelift I've ever seen. To me, he looks like a regular 67-year-old now. Normal aging. With an amazing head of hair.

Did he also have laser surgery? He never seems to wear glasses, and I can't imagine him putting in contacts every day or having perfect eyesight at his age.

Yeah, and he used to wear old man glasses during the Landy days too.

Usually with a face lift - especially when you're used to seeing the celebrity and there are several photos in circulation - you can notice the face lift immediately, especially around the eyes. I can't see it with Brian. I don't see a point/picture in the late 1980's where I see a picture and think, "What happened to his face?"

He did have a face lift though...it's documented. Hell, it indirectly led to Brian being freed!

Here's another one of those stories that I need a refresher on.... :police:

I thought I read that Brian was at the doctor's office or even on the operating table, and Brian was having some kind of adverse reaction - to something - and the doctor couldn't go through with the surgery and sent him home.

My understanding is that the face lift was down around the same time as the cheekbone repair. Later, Brian had the cheekbone implant removed. The face lift was a fairly subtle one and, as these kind of procedures go, the natural aging process erased its effects after seven or eight years. Since I don't believe Brian has had any additional "work" done since the late 80s, he doesn't have that awkward stretched look.

Roger, do happen to know when (maybe the year) Brian had the surgery? I'b be interested in researching some before-and-after pictures; there's a lot out there.

Also, a little more on what I think I read. Didn't the doctor check Brian out, discover all of the stuff (Landy drugs) that Brian was on, and said something to the effect, "Get him out of here. I'm not gonna be responsible for something that might happen to him (during surgery)." Does anybody remember reading something like that; I know it's been awhile.

You are correct, sir - first reported in Timothy White's The Nearest Faraway Place. The facelift was scheduled for March 27th, 1989 at Century City Hospital, but was postponed when the surgeon discovered the degree of medication Brian was on. The operation eventually took place three days later.

I've heard it whispered that during said surgery Brian nearly died on the table...and although I have no idea if it's true, that he might've had a small stroke during. Again, I can't say if any of this is true just that I've heard it.

I'd heard the same things.

Interesting. I would have thought he'd have the facelift before the release of his 1988 solo album. I remember thinking he looked good on the cover of the album, but maybe that image wasn't entirely truthful.

Undoubtedly his image on the "Imagination" sleeve had undergone some "photo enhancement".

that's one thing I always thought about Brian (from all the documentary footage/pics), his face morfed multiple times, sometimes, it's hard from me to recognize him in the 70s from the way he looked in the 60s.....somebody should make a morphing BW face from 1955-2010

Same here.

I have a USA Network documentary on Paul McCartney from 1986. Brian is interviewed and is slurring like crazy. I could swear he may have had a stroke as early as that.
 Anyhow I heard the stroke story many years ago from a Beach Boys historian who doesn't post here. This was back in 1995 or so.

someone mentioned how his face morphed.  Weirdly he looks more like Brian of the 1960's now then he did in the late 70s-80's.  at least he looks like the old version of Brian. especially in smile time.

I've seen the Sgt. Pepper 20th anniversery doc several times from 1987, and Brian looks terrible.

For comparison's sake: Brian from 1983-1990
83
(http://i42.tinypic.com/23gy0k0.jpg)

86
(http://i40.tinypic.com/2ltjb7n.jpg)

I THINK this is 1989, can someone confirm?
(http://i44.tinypic.com/51q92f.jpg)

1990
(http://i42.tinypic.com/voohl2.jpg)