Via surgery, mimicking celebrity looks

Deborah Davenport, with a picture of the woman she aspires to look like, actress Kate Winslet, in McKinney, Texas, Aug. 30, 2013. So far, Davenport has had procedures ranging from a nose job to Botox injections, but says she still has more to do. (Rex C.

This is not a lucky roll of the genetic dice. Dean, a freelance fashion stylist in Manhattan, had surgery 13 years ago to have his visage molded to resemble, at the very least, Paradis' second cousin, if not her identical twin.

"I wanted her baby face," said Dean, who is 37 but said most people guess he is in his mid-20s. "I still find her my favorite beauty of all."

Magazines and websites routinely publish photographs of people who have altered their faces to look like a movie star, pop singer, Mattel product, Egyptian queen or, in the notorious and perhaps unintentional case of the socialite Jocelyn Wildenstein, a wild animal.

While requests for these sorts of utter transformations do not take place every day, doctors say they do happen regularly.

"About once a month, someone comes in who wants to look like a family member, friend or celebrity," said Dr. Sam Lam, a facial plastic surgeon in Dallas. "One guy wanted to look like his cousin who was a model. Another guy wanted a chin implant to look like his older brother."

Though a striking or jarring similarity can sometimes be achieved, it's impossible to recreate another person's image. Bone structure, facial proportions and ineffable characteristics all factor into people's looks.

"We really cannot make someone 'pass' for someone else," said Dr. Steven Teitelbaum, a plastic surgeon in Santa Monica, Calif., and a spokesman for the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, a professional organization. "At most, we can try to mimic a feature, such as a nice nose, or even to put in a grossly disproportionate chin implant to mimic the nearly cartoonish visage of Jay Leno."

It is possible, however, to repeat the same over-the-top procedure on different patients - say, "an overly high brow lift, excessive nasal reduction, excessively filled lips," Teitelbaum said. "You can go much farther to mimic features of a Michael Jackson, who is himself a plastic surgical joke, than to create a resemblance to someone who has never had surgery."

Paying homage to a specific body part is also an option. Patients often visit a surgeon's office armed with a photograph of their favorite celebrity feature. Stacy Shanahan's fantasy doppelganger is Heather Locklear, circa the Sammy Jo Carrington years. Shanahan, 49, an account executive for a packing company in Mission Viejo, Calif., would give her right cheekbone to acquire the luster of Locklear, with whom she shares the attributes of blond hair, blue-green eyes and delicate features.

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Via surgery, mimicking celebrity looks