Anna Nicole Smith

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**Anna Nicole Smith**
Playboy centerfold appearance	May 1992
Birthplace	Houston, Texas
Birthdate	November 28 1967 (age 42)
Measurements	38"DD - 26" - 38"
Height	5'11"
Weight	140 lbs
Preceded by	Cady Cantrell
Succeeded by	Angela Melini
Playmate of the Year (PMOY) for	1993
PMOY preceded by	Corinna Harney
PMOY succeeded by	Jenny McCarthy

Vickie Lynn Marshall (born November 28, 1967) is an American model, actress and buxom blonde celebrity, who first gained popularity as Playboy magazine's 1993 Playmate of the Year.

Her highly publicized marriage to entrepreneur J. Howard Marshall, 63 years her senior, resulted in a lengthy and ongoing legal battle over his estate following his death, though she reportedly never lived with him.<ref>The Marriages of Anna Nicole Smith. About.com (2006-09-29).</ref> Her case, Marshall v. Marshall, reached the U.S. Supreme Court in February, 2006, on a technical question of federal jurisdiction.

Her career and public image subsequently suffered as her weight gain and antics were reported in supermarket tabloids and in her short-lived reality television show. More recently, Smith slimmed down and became the spokeswoman for the weight loss product TrimSpa.

1 Early life
2 Playboy and modeling career
3 Marriage to Marshall
4 Marshall v. Marshall, U.S., 126 S.Ct. 1735 (2006)
5 Career
- 5.1 Film and television career
- 5.2 Smith as spokesperson
6 Family
- 6.1 Birth of her daughter
- 6.2 Death of her son
7 Filmography
8 TV series appearances
9 Appearances in Playboy special editions
10 Trivia
11 References
12 See also
13 External links

[edit] Early life

She was born Vickie Lynn Hogan in Houston, Texas, the daughter of Donald Eugene Hogan (born July 12, 1947) and Virgie Mae Tabers (born July 12, 1951). Her half-sisters are Donna Hogan and Amy Hogan.

When she was very young, Vickie's family moved to Mexia, a small town 79 miles (127 km) south of Dallas. Her father then left the family; he and Virgie were divorced November 4, 1969. Vickie was raised by her mother and maternal aunt, Elaine. Virgie, who was married previously to Mr. Tacker, was subsequently married to Mr. Hart and to Mr. Arthur.

While growing up, Vickie told others she wanted to be the next Marilyn Monroe. In her teens, she worked at Jim's Krispy Chicken in Mexia, where she met her first husband, a cook at the restaurant, Billy Wayne Smith. They were married April 4, 1985. She was then age 17 and he was 16. The next year, she gave birth to their son, Daniel Wayne Smith (January 22, 1986 – September 10, 2006). She and Billy separated in 1987 and were officially divorced February 3, 1993, in Houston.

In her early 20s, Smith worked at a variety of jobs. While working as an exotic dancer at a nightclub in Houston under various names, including Nikki, Robin, then Anna Nicole, which sounded more classy, she met oil billionaire J. Howard Marshall, a frequent customer of the strip club. With Marshall’s money, Smith had cosmetic surgery to increase her breast size, and paid for photographers, publicists, wardrobe, living expenses, hair and make-up stylists, bodyguards, talent agents, attorneys, and a host of additional support staff.

[edit] Playboy and modeling career

Smith's career took off after appearing on the cover of the March 1992 issue Playboy magazine wearing a low-cut evening gown. She 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 Anna Nicole's strong resemblance to sex symbol Jayne Mansfield and even put her in Jayne-inspired photo sessions. Smith then posed nude for Playboy as the May 1992 centerfold (under the pseudonym Vickie Smith). Smith was subsequently called "the next Marilyn Monroe" in press reports, a comparison she encouraged by wearing a hair style reminiscent of Monroe's, as well as her trademark white dress. Smith was chosen to be the 1993 Playmate of the Year. She finally settled on the name Anna Nicole Smith by the time of her PMOY pictorial. Smith once did a nude Playboy layout in Jayne Mansfield's famous "Pink Palace" mansion.

In the August 22, 1994 edition of New York magazine, Smith was used as the cover model for an article called "white trash nation". She appears in the photo squatting down eating chips dressed in a short skirt and cowboy boots. In October 1994, her lawyer initiated a five million dollar lawsuit against the magazine claiming that the photo used was unauthorized and that the article had damaged her reputation.

[edit] Marriage to Marshall

Smith married her second husband, oil billionaire J. Howard Marshall, on June 27, 1994. She was 26; he was 89. According to an E! profile, Smith had other relationships and was generally indifferent to Marshall, with whom she never lived. Her alleged romantic interests included bodybuilder Clay Spires, Scott Baio, John Travolta's nephew Rikki, radio personality Kristy Lee and real estate mogul Jonathan McManus. J. Howard's nurse told E! that Smith never visited him as his condition became terminal, and was not with him when he died. In contrast to E!'s reports, Smith has steadfastly maintained—on her reality TV show, in court appearances, in interviews, and so on—that she loved Marshall greatly, and was devastated by his death.

[edit] Marshall v. Marshall, U.S., 126 S.Ct. 1735 (2006)

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Within weeks after J. Howard's death on August 4, 1995, Smith squared off against his son, E. Pierce Marshall, for half of her late husband's US$1.6 billion estate. Smith joined forces with J. Howard's other son, James Howard Marshall III, whom the elder Howard had disowned. Howard III claimed J. Howard verbally promised him a portion of his estate; like Smith, Howard III was also left out of J. Howard's will, which he updated weeks after their marriage.<ref>Probate Jury Disses Anna Nicole. E! Online (2001-03-08).</ref> 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 judgement against her in a legal action unrelated to the Marshall estate. As any money potentially due her from the Marshall estate was part of her potential assets, the bankruptcy court involved itself in the matter. ^{(dubious; discuss)}

Smith claimed J. Howard verbally promised her half of his estate if she married him. In September, 2000, a Los Angeles bankruptcy judge awarded Smith $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 judgements forced the matter into federal court. ^{(dubious; discuss)} In March 2002, a federal judge vacated the California bankruptcy court's ruling and issued a new ruling but reduced the award to $88 million. In December 2004, a three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the March 2002 decision, affirming the Texas Probate jury findings that no misconduct had occurred, Smith was not one of J. Howard Marshall's heirs and that the federal courts lacked jurisdiction to overrule the probate decisions of a Texas state court. ^{(dubious; discuss)} <ref>E. Pierce Marshall v. Vickie Lynn Marshall. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. (2003-10-09).</ref> The U.S. Supreme Court decided in September of 2005 to hear the appeal of that decision. The Bush Administration subsequently directed the Solicitor General to intercede on Smith's behalf out of an interest to expand federal court jurisdiction over state probate disputes.^{(dubious; discuss)} <ref>White House Aids Playboy Playmate in Court. Yahoo! Entertainment (2005-12-26).</ref>

After months of waiting, Smith and her step-son Pierce learned of the Supreme Court's decision on May 1, 2006. The justices unanimously decided in favor of Smith. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote the majority opinion, stating that Smith should get a chance to pursue her claims in federal court. (See Marshall v. Marshall.)

This decision does not give Smith a portion of her husband's estate; it merely affirms that she has the right to pursue her case for it in federal court. It is expected that the long-running legal drama will not end any time soon, because many remaining issues need to be decided upon remand. The most important issue being the determination of which judgement deciding the issues is first in time, Texas Probate or Federal District Court. ^{(dubious; discuss)} On June 20, 2006, E. Pierce Marshall died at the age of 67 after an infection. Elaine T. Marshall, the widow of E. Pierce Marshall, now represents his estate. [1]

The case has been remanded to the 9th Circuit to adjudicate the remaining appellate issues not previously reached.

[edit] Career

[edit] Film and television career

During the course of the litigation, Smith's career stalled. Though her roles in The Hudsucker Proxy and Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult were highly publicized in 1994, her acting career did not take off. She was instead relegated to low-budget movies such as To the Limit and Skyscraper for which she was usually critically panned. Her legal battle over her nonagenarian husband's estate, her increasing weight, and her reportedly bizarre behavior made Smith regular fodder for late night television comedians.

In 2002, she was given her own reality TV series on the E! cable television network, The Anna Nicole Show. The series focused on her personal and private life in the manner of other "reality" shows, such as the ratings hit The Osbournes. The show's debut was the highest rated show on the network, but critics blasted the show and ratings dropped with each successive week. However, the show achieved a cult status as many fans found humor in Smith's absurd antics. The show was cancelled in February 2004, due to "creative differences," but has retained some life in reruns and on DVD releases.

[edit] Smith as spokesperson

In an interview on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, she was asked what her "Playmate diet" consisted of. She instantly replied, "fried chicken." In October 2003, she became a spokesperson for TrimSpa, which helped her to lose a reported 69 lb (31 kg).

In November 2004, she appeared as a presenter at the American Music Awards and attracted attention because of her strange behavior. During her live appearance, she made cryptic, murmured comments about her body and TrimSpa. This incident became comic material for the rest of the presenters and featured in the news the next day. Tabloids speculated that she was under the influence of pills or some other controlled substance. Her representatives explained that she was in pain due to a series of grueling work-outs, and asserted that she had difficulty reading the prompter because she was not wearing her contact lenses. After reportedly losing some 80 pounds, Smith returned to her form from the early 1990s.<ref>What's Up With Anna Nicole Smith?. CBS News (2004-11-16).</ref>

In March 2005, at the first MTV Australia Video Music Awards in Sydney's Luna Park, she spoofed Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction by pulling down her dress to reveal both breasts, each covered with the MTV logo.

She has also been featured in advertisements for the animal rights group PETA. Spoofing Marilyn Monroe's "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" segment in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, a 2004 ad states "Fur-free blondes are best." In another ad the following year, Smith posed with her dogs in a campaign against Iams dogfood for their alleged cruelty to animals. As of 2006, Smith has given up modeling, though she remains a spokesperson for TrimSpa.

[edit] Family

[edit] Birth of her daughter

On June 1, 2006, Smith announced on her official website that she was 5 months pregnant. On September 7, Smith gave birth to a baby girl at Doctors Hospital in Nassau, Bahamas. Anna Nicole's longtime personal attorney, Howard K. Stern, claimed in an interview with Larry King, on CNN's Larry King Live, that he has loved Anna for a long time and that they are confident that he fathered the baby because of the timing of the pregnancy.<ref>Attorney: I'm Anna Nicole's baby's father. CNN (2006-09-26).</ref> The Bahamian birth certificate lists her daughter's name as Dannielynn Hope Marshall Stern with Howard as the father.<ref>Anna Nicole Smith Names Howard K Stern as Dad on Birth Certificate. The National Ledger (2006-10-11).</ref> Entertainment photojournalist Larry Birkhead is maintaining his contention that he is the baby's father and has filed a lawsuit to challenge paternity.<ref>Anna Nicole ex challenges paternity of child. CNN (2006-10-03).</ref> On September 28, Anna Nicole and Howard exchanged vows in an informal wedding ceremony in the Bahamas, though it was not a legally binding marriage.<ref>Anna Nicole 'marries' lawyer boyfriend. CNN (2006-09-29).</ref> Their wedding photos were sold through Getty Images to People Magazine for around US$1 million.<ref>'People' Pays $1M for Pics of Anna Nicole's Wedding/Suffering. Gawker (2006-10-03).</ref>

[edit] Death of her son

Main article: Daniel Wayne Smith

On September 10, 2006, Anna Nicole's 20-year-old son, Daniel Wayne Smith, died suddenly while visiting his mother in her hospital room after the birth of her daughter.<ref>Anna Nicole Smith's adult son dies in Bahamas. ABC News (2006-09-11).</ref> After the coroner labeled the death "reserved", Anna Nicole Smith hired forensic pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht to perform a second autopsy on Daniel.<ref>Elvis' pathologist to probe Smith's son's death. CNN (2006-09-16).</ref> Wecht announced on Larry King Live that Daniel died from a lethal combination of Zoloft, Lexapro, and methadone. Although he explained that methadone is used in the treatment of heroin and morphine addiction, he said he has no information to make any conclusion about the reason Daniel was using the drug.

On September 18, Getty Images sold the last photos taken of Daniel alive at Anna Nicole's bedside to In Touch Weekly and Entertainment Tonight for at least US$650,000.<ref>Nicole Smith's son's last pictures make her $650,000 richer. South Asian Women's Forum News. (2006-09-19).</ref> On September 21, a death certificate was issued for Daniel Wayne Smith so that he could be buried.<ref>Death Certificate Issued For Daniel Wayne Smith. The Post Chronicle (2006-09-23).</ref> On October 7, friends and family, including Daniel's father Billy Smith, gathered in Mexia for a memorial service while Anna Nicole and Howard K. Stern remained in the Bahamas. Daniel was buried at Lake View Cemetery on Nassau Island, Bahamas, October 19, 2006, almost 6 weeks after his death. It has been reported that Anna Nicole intends to live on the island, with no plans to return to the United States.<ref>Daniel Smith Death Probe Continues. E! Online (2006-10-10).</ref>

[edit] Filmography

The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) ... Za-Za
Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994) ... Tanya Peters
To the Limit (1995) ... Colette Dubois/Vickie Linn
Skyscraper (1997) ... Carrie Wisk
Wasabi Tuna (2003) ... Herself
Be Cool (2005) ... Herself
Illegal Aliens (2006) ... Lucy

[edit] TV series appearances

Sin City Spectacular (1998) (FX Network)
Veronica's Closet (1999) (Warner Bros. Television) episode: Veronica's Wedding Bell Blues ... Donna
[[Ally McBeal (1999) (20th Century Fox Television) episode: Pyramids on the Nile ... Myra Jacobs
N.Y.U.K. (2000) ... (AMC) Dr. Anita Hugg

[edit] Appearances in Playboy special editions

Playboy's more to love Playmate Vol. 9 June 1993 - cover.
Playboy's Nudes December 1993 - page 4.
Playboy's Bathing Beauties March 1994 - Stephen Wayda, page 5.
Playboy's Wet & Wild Playmates September 1994 - pages 6-7.
Playboy's Nudes November 1994.
Playboy's Supermodels February 1995.
Playboy's Nude Celebrities June 1995.
Playboy's Playmate Tests November 1998.
Playboy's Celebrating Centerfolds Vol. 1 December 1998 - pages 48-49.
Playboy's Sexy 100 February 2003 - cover.

[edit] Trivia

Is the tallest and heaviest playmate to win the Playmate of the Year award ^{[citation needed]}
In 1997, Swedish punk band KKPA recorded a song called "Anna Nicole Smith."
In 1997, Anna Nicole recorded a cover version of "My Heart Belongs To Daddy," originally made famous by Marilyn Monroe. The song was released in France & a video featuring Anna Nicole was made to promote it.
Smith appeared in the promotional video for Bryan Ferry's 1993 single "Will You Love Me Tomorrow."
On the NBC soap opera Passions, a character based on Anna by the name of Hanna Nicola Smythe makes an appearance.
Sum 41 wrote a song about her called "A.N.I.C."
In the Drawn Together episode "Freaks & Greeks", she is parodied via the Toot Braunstein character.