Anna Nicole Smith
Anna Nicole Smith born November 28, 1967. She was born in Mexia, Texas. She was born as Vickie Lynn Hogan. She changed her name once she began modeling. She was a high school dropout and she dropped at age 15. She grew up without a father and had a rough childhood. She worked at a fried chicken restaurant as a teenager. She met Billy Wayne Smith there. The two of them married when she was only years of age. In 1984, she gave to birth to her son Daniel. The couple divorced three years after getting married. Anna dreamed of becoming the next Marilyn Monroe so she was not very content with her life then.
Anna continued to work various jobs, such as a dancer and a Wal-Mart employee. She then began working at a Houston strip club. Her mother took care of her son Daniel. At the strip club, she met Texas oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II in 1991.
Anna was influenced to send revealing and naked pictures to Playboy in 1992 after seeing an ad in the newspaper. Her pictures were liked and she became a Playboy model. After that she appeared in Guess Fashion brand. She looked alike her icon, Marilyn Monroe.
A year later she was name Playboy’s “Playmate of the Year.” Next she played in some small film roles. Anna did not seem to mind the media’s scrutiny. She actually loved it!
In 1994, Anna married J. Howard Marshall II. He was 89 and she was 26. She heard a lot of scrutiny from the public due to the age difference. Many said she was after his fortune. Marshall died in 1995. Smith claimed that Marshall promised a share of his estate. Marshall did not add her to his will so she spent years fighting his son, E. Pierce Marshall, in court. She eventually collected some money from his estate.
In 2002, she started her own television series. It was named The Anna Nicole Show. It was a reality program and it followed her through her daily activities. At times in the show, Anna seemed confused and disoriented.
Anna then began having issues with her weight and it occurred off and on over the years. In 2003, she became a spokesperson for a line of diet products. When she lost a significant amount of weight, she went back to modeling and acting.
During the summer of 2006, she announced that she was pregnant. On September 7, 2006, she gave birth to her daughter, Dannielynn, at a hospital in the Bahamas. Three days later, her son Daniel died of an overdose.
Smith found herself in the middle of media frenzy with reports on her son’s death. She also became entangled in a paternity lawsuit regarding her daughter. Photographer, Larry Birkhead claimed to be Dannielynn’s father. He was her ex-boyfriend. Smith stated that her attorney, Howard K. Stern, was the child’s father. He is the one listed on the child's birth certificate. In the midst of all this heartbreak and legal battles, Smith and Stern held a small commitment ceremony. The event symbolized their devotion to each other, but it was not legally binding.
Anna died on February 8, 2007, at the age of 39. She was found unconscious in her room at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. It was ruled as an accidental drug overdose. She had been taking nine different kinds of medications. Stern and two others were found guilty of crimes associated with her death. They were thrown out in 2011, except the misdemeanor against her psychiatrist. Stern faced other legal consequences for his aid in Anna’s prescription drug abuse.
After her death, there was more scrutiny over who is the father of Dannielynn. After paternity tests, Larry Birkhead was proved to be her father. She was compared to many of Hollywood’s beautiful women who died; even her personal favorite, Marilyn Monroe, was among that list.