Anna Nicole Smith (November 28, 1967 – February 8, 2007) was an American model, actress and television personality. Smith first gained popularity in Playboy, becoming the 1993 Playmate of the Year. She modeled for clothing companies, including Guess jeans and Lane Bryant.
Smith dropped out of high school and was married in 1985. Her highly publicized second marriage to oil business mogul J. Howard Marshall, 62 years her senior, resulted in speculation that she married the octogenarian for his money, which she denied. Following Marshall's death, Smith began a lengthy legal battle over a share of his estate; her case, Marshall v. Marshall, reached the U.S. Supreme Court on a question of federal jurisdiction. She died on February 8, 2007 in a Hollywood, Florida hotel room as a result of an overdose of prescription drugs. Within the final six months of her life, Smith was the focus of renewed press coverage surrounding the death of her son, Daniel and the paternity and custody battle over her biological daughter Dannielynn.
Born Vickie Lynn Hogan in Harris County, Texas, Anna Nicole was the child of Donald Eugene Hogan (July 12, 1947 – September 19, 2009) and Virgie Mae (née Tabers; born July 12, 1951), who married on February 22, 1967 and divorced on November 4, 1969. She had five half siblings including half-sister Donna Hogan. Anna Nicole was raised by her mother and aunt. Virgie subsequently married Donald R. Hart in 1971. After Virgie married Donald, Anna Nicole changed her name from Vickie Hogan to Nikki Hart. Anna Nicole attended Durkee Elementary School and Aldine Intermediate School in Houston. When she was in the 9th grade, she was sent to live with her mother's younger sister, Kay Beall, in Mexia, Texas. At Mexia High School, Anna Nicole failed her freshman year and later quit school during her sophomore year. While working at Jim's Krispy Fried Chicken in Mexia, Anna Nicole met Billy Wayne Smith, who was a cook at the restaurant. The couple married April 4, 1985; when she was 17 and he was 16. Anna Nicole gave birth to their son, Daniel Wayne Smith on January 22, 1986. She and Billy separated in 1987 and she moved to Houston with one-year-old Daniel. They were officially divorced February 3, 1993, in Houston. Initially, Anna Nicole found employment at Wal-Mart, then as a waitress at Red Lobster. She then became a stripper, and in 1991, began taking modeling and voice lessons. In October of that year, she saw an ad in the newspaper to audition for Playboy magazine.
In 1992 Smith was chosen by Hugh Hefner to appear on the cover of the March issue of Playboy, where she was listed as Vickie Smith, wearing a low-cut evening gown. The centerfold was photographed by Stephen Wayda. Smith said she planned to be "the next Marilyn Monroe". Becoming one of Playboy's most popular models, Smith was heavier and larger than the typical Playboy model. Smith was chosen to be the 1993 Playmate of the Year. By the time of her PMOY pictorial, she had settled on the name Anna Nicole Smith.
Smith secured a contract to replace supermodel Claudia Schiffer in the Guess jeans ad campaign in a series of sultry black and white photographs. Guess capitalized on Smith's strong resemblance to Jayne Mansfield and put her in Jayne-inspired photo sessions. In 1993, before Christmas, she modeled for the Swedish clothing company Hennes & Mauritz (H&M). She appeared on big posters in Sweden and Norway.
A photograph of Smith was used by New York magazine on the cover of its August 22, 1994 issue titled White Trash Nation. In the photo, she appears squatting in a short skirt and cowboy boots as she eats chips. In October 1994, Smith's lawyer initiated a $5,000,000 lawsuit against the magazine claiming unauthorized use of her photo and that the article had damaged her reputation. Her lawyer said that Smith was told she was being photographed to embody the "all-American-woman look", and that they wanted glamor shots. He further stated that the picture used was taken for fun during a break.
While performing at Gigi's (now renamed as "Pleasures"), a Houston strip club, in October 1991, Smith met elderly oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall and they began a relationship. During their two-year relationship, he reportedly lavished gifts on her and asked her to marry him several times. She divorced her husband Billy on February 3, 1993, in Houston. On June 27, 1994, Smith, 26, and Marshall, 89, married in Houston. This resulted in a great deal of gossip about her marrying him for his money. Though she reportedly never lived with him, Smith maintained that she loved her husband, and age did not matter to her. Thirteen months after his marriage to Smith, Marshall died on August 4, 1995, in Houston.
Within weeks of J. Howard Marshall's death, Smith and her husband's son, E. Pierce Marshall, battled over her claim for half of her late husband's US$1.6 billion estate. She temporarily joined forces with J. Howard's other son, James Howard Marshall III, whom the elder Howard had disowned. Howard III claimed J. Howard orally promised him a portion of his estate; like Smith, Howard III was also left out of J. Howard's will. The case has gone on for more than a decade, producing a highly publicized court battle in Texas and several judicial decisions that have gone both for and against Smith in that time.
In 1996, Smith filed for bankruptcy in California as a result of a $850,000 judgment against her for sexual harassment of an employee. As any money potentially due to her from the Marshall estate was part of her potential assets, the bankruptcy court involved itself in the matter.
Smith claimed J. Howard orally promised her half of his estate if she married him. In September 2000, a Los Angeles bankruptcy judge awarded her $449,754,134. In July 2001, Houston judge Mike Wood affirmed the jury findings in the probate case by ruling that Smith was entitled to nothing and ordered Smith to pay over $1 million in fees and expenses to Pierce's legal team. The conflict between the Texas probate court and California bankruptcy court judgments forced the matter into federal court.
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