Dapper ‘dentist to the stars’ left mark as major arts benefactor
Alan Malouf, known as “the dentist to the stars” in San Francisco society, died June 29 in Hillsborough of a recurrence of multiple myeloma, his family said. He was 62.
“Alan passed away at my home surrounded by family who loved him,” said his sister, Carol Malouf Atkeson. “He was a doting big brother to me and devoted to his nieces and nephews. He built one of the most respected dental practices in San Francisco and will be deeply missed by his family, friends and patients.”
In addition to his thriving aesthetic dentistry practice, Malouf was a wellknown social presence in San Francisco who regularly attended the opening night galas at the San Francisco Opera and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and was a longtime patron of both.
Known as the epitome of the sartorial gentle
man, Malouf was a perennial on bestdressed lists. He was affectionately known as “the dapper dentist” by some of his longtime patients at his practice, 450 Aesthetics Dental Group. In a 2015 profile of clothier Wilkes Bashford, Malouf recalled buying his first threepiece suit from Bashford’s eponymous store when he was 20.
“He shopped at Wilkes in San Francisco and Kiton when he was at his apartment in New York,” Atkeson said. “Alan was known for his beautiful wardrobe from his pocket squares to his dinner jackets.” Malouf ’s closet and cuff link collection were featured in a 2012 story in The Chronicle.
Malouf was born Sept. 27, 1956, in San Francisco to Albert and Shirley (Droubie) Malouf, the third generation of his family born in the city. When he was 7, his family moved to Hillsborough. As a child, he developed a passion for playing piano, which he maintained throughout his life; his musical taste ranged from Beethoven sonatas to jazz. Atkeson said her brother’s skills as a pianist helped him develop the dexterity in his hands that would be essential to him as a dentist.
Author Christine Suppes, a lifelong friend who grew up with Malouf in Hillsborough and would later become a patient of his, recalled that even as a child, Malouf “found perfection in symmetry.”
“I think that’s what made him such a brilliant dentist later on who was able to give so many people back their smiles,” she said.
Malouf graduated from UC Berkeley in 1979 and University of the Pacific Dental School in San Francisco in 1982. After working as an associate at dental offices in San Francisco and on the Peninsula, he founded his own practice in 1989 at 450 Sutter.
Connie De Franco, who began as Malouf ’s office manager when he opened his practice, described him as more than just a boss. “He was a friend and confidante,” she said. Since Malouf ’s death, the practice has been “flooded with calls and emails from patients saying what he meant to them.”
Malouf ’s love of art and design led to his longtime patronage at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, where he was a lead sponsor of the Cartier jewelry exhibition in 2010. Malouf ’s home in Pacific Heights, which was featured on an episode of Bravo’s “Million Dollar Listing,” was a showcase for his antiques as well as his collections of Chinese porcelains and California plein air paintings. His Art Deco piedàterre on New York’s Park Avenue was where he displayed work by Andy Warhol and Norman Rockwell.
At the San Francisco Opera, Malouf long held Box B. He delighted in inviting friends to join him there for Tuesday performances.
“Alan loved the placement of his box,” said Carolyne Zinko, a longtime friend and the editor in chief of Modern Luxury Silicon Valley. “Box B is next to the general director of the opera, and he always joked it was closest geographically to the restaurant Jardiniere, where he would take friends before the performance. He loved being able to maximize his time there with people.”
Matthew Shilvock, the Opera’s general director, wrote on Facebook that Malouf ’s “light shone so brightly and his legacy will continue to be an inspiration at the Opera.”
Academy of Art University President Elisa Stephens, also a childhood friend of Malouf ’s, noted his keen artistic eye and passionate nature as things she will miss. “His generosity was famous,” Stephens said. “And his selfeffacing nature made him most lovable.”
Malouf was a lifelong bachelor whom Atkeson described as close to his family and proud of his longtime friendships in San Francisco and his newer friends in Los Angeles and New York. In noting her brother’s wide social circle, Atkeson remembered him showing her pictures “where he would be with Patty Hearst or Jane Fonda or Arianna Huffington in one, talking to Prince Charles about antiques in another and then one with Gavin and Jennifer Newsom.”
He also counted Kathy and Rick Hilton of the hotel dynasty among his close friends and attended the 2015 wedding of their daughter Nicky to James Rothschild. The Hiltons told The Chronicle that they remembered Malouf ’s love of “planning celebrations of all kinds,” and recalled a party he hosted at Harry’s in London for their daughter and soninlaw. Rick Hilton will speak at a memorial for Malouf in September.
Malouf was also an avid tennis player at the Olympic Club and California Tennis Club of San Francisco, a Giants seasonticket holder, and a weekly competitive duplicate bridge player. He was also on the board of St. Francis Hospital, a proud Eagle Scout and a member of the Prince of Wales Foundation.
“My brother was a true renaissance man,” Atkeson said. “And he was always thinking of others.” The week before he died, Atkeson said, her brother presented her with a gift: He had sent a number of his jeweled cuff links to jeweler Prince Dimitri to be turned into drop earrings for her.
In addition to his sister, Malouf is survived by his father, Albert Malouf; brother, Ronald Malouf; and sisterinlaw, Ann, as well as three nephews and two nieces. Donations in his memory can be made to the UCSF Foundation MMTI Immunotherapy Program. A celebration of Malouf ’s life is being planned for September at the Olympic Club for family, friends and patients.