Anna Nicole Smith (born Vickie Lynn Hogan; November 28, 1967 – February 8, 2007) was an American model, actress, and television personality. Smith started her career as a ''
Playboy
''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from H ...
'' magazine
centerfold
The centerfold or centrefold of a magazine is the inner pages of the middle sheet, usually containing a portrait, such as a pin-up or a nude. The term can also refer to the model featured in the portrait. In saddle-stitched magazines (as opp ...
in May 1992 and won the title of 1993
Playmate of the Year
This is a list of models who were chosen as a Playboy Playmate of the Year for the American edition of ''Playboy'' magazine.
List of Playmates of the Year
*1953: Marilyn Monroe
*1954:
*1955:
*1956:
*1957:
*1958:
*1959:
*1960: Ellen Stratton ...
. She later modeled for fashion companies, including
Guess,
H&M, and
Heatherette
Heatherette was an American fashion company that closed in 2008. It was founded in 1999 by Club Kid Richie Rich and Traver Rains. The pair first began designing T-shirts and leather goods. When Rich wore one of their leather tops to a party, he ...
.
Smith dropped out of high school in 1984, married in 1985 and divorced in 1993. In 1994, her highly publicized second marriage to 89-year-old
billionaire J. Howard Marshall resulted in speculation that she
married him for his money, which she denied. Following Marshall's death in 1995, Smith began a lengthy legal battle over a share of his estate. Her cases reached the
Supreme Court of the United States: ''
Marshall v. Marshall'' on a question of
federal jurisdiction and ''
Stern v. Marshall'' on a question of bankruptcy court authority. Smith died in February 2007 in
Hollywood, Florida, of a
combined drug intoxication.
Early life
Anna Nicole Smith was born Vickie Lynn Hogan on November 28, 1967, in
Houston, Texas, the only daughter of Virgie (
née Tabers) Arthur (1951–2018) and Donald Hogan (1947–2009). She had five half-siblings on her father's side. Smith was primarily raised by her mother and her aunt.
She attended Durkee Elementary School and Aldine High School in Houston. When she was in the ninth grade, she was sent to live with her maternal aunt in
Mexia, Texas
Mexia ( ) is a city in Limestone County, Texas, Limestone County, Texas, United States. The population was 6,893 at the 2020 census.
The city's motto, based on the fact that outsiders tend to mispronounce the name , is "A great place to live, ...
. At
Mexia High School, Smith failed her
freshman year and dropped out of school during her
sophomore year.
[
]
Career
Smith was featured on the cover for the March 1992 issue of the ''Playboy
''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from H ...
'' magazine as Vickie Smith. She appeared as the Playboy Playmate
A Playmate is a female model featured in the centerfold/gatefold of ''Playboy'' magazine as Playmate of the Month (PMOTM). The PMOTM's pictorial includes nude photographs and a centerfold poster, along with a pictorial biography and the "Play ...
of the Month in a pictorial shot by Stephen Wayda for the May 1992 issue.
Smith secured a contract to replace supermodel Claudia Schiffer
Claudia Maria Schiffer (; born 25 August 1970) is a German model and actress based in the United Kingdom. She rose to fame in the 1990s as one of the world's most successful models, attaining supermodel status. In her early career, she was compa ...
in a Guess jeans ad campaign featuring a series of sultry black-and-white photographs. During the Guess campaign, she took on the stage name "Anna Nicole". Guess photographers noticed Smith bore a striking resemblance to bombshell Jayne Mansfield
Jayne Mansfield (born Vera Jayne Palmer; April 19, 1933 – June 29, 1967) was an American actress, singer, nightclub entertainer, and ''Playboy'' Playmate. A sex symbol of the 1950s and early 1960s while under contract at 20th Century Fox, Man ...
and showcased her in several Mansfield-inspired photo sessions. In 1993, she modeled for the Swedish clothing company H&M, which led to her picture being displayed on large billboards in Sweden and Norway. Smith was featured on the cover of '' Marie Claire'', shot by Peter Lindbergh
Peter Lindbergh (born Peter Brodbeck; 23 November 1944 – 3 September 2019) was a German fashion photographer and film director.
He had studied arts in Berlin and Krefeld, and exhibited his works before graduation. In 1971, he turned to photo ...
in October 1993, and in '' GQ'' magazine earlier that year.
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 sitting in a short skirt with cowboy boots as she eats chips. In October 1994, Smith initiated a $5 million lawsuit against the magazine, claiming that she did not authorize the use of her photo, and that the article damaged her reputation. The lawsuit was reported to be settled.
Film and television
While Smith was successful as a model, she never found the same recognition or success as an actress. She made her screen debut in the 1994 screwball comedy
Screwball comedy is a subgenre of the romantic comedy genre that became popular during the Great Depression, beginning in the early 1930s and thriving until the early 1940s, that satirizes the traditional love story. It has secondary characteristi ...
film ''The Hudsucker Proxy
''The Hudsucker Proxy'' is a 1994 screwball comedy film co-written, produced, and directed by the Coen brothers. Sam Raimi co-wrote the script and served as second unit director. The film stars Tim Robbins as a naïve but ambitious business scho ...
'' as Za-Za, a flirtatious celebrity who flirts with the lead character, played by Tim Robbins, in a barbershop scene. Smith was next given a larger role as Tanya Peters in '' Naked Gun : The Final Insult'' (1994).
Smith's persona of a ditzy dumb blonde was featured heavily in her film roles, which sought only to market her physical assets. In an attempt to earn acting respect, Smith agreed to appear in '' To the Limit'' (1995), her first starring role.
Smith appeared as herself in the 1995 pilot episode of '' The Naked Truth'', then attempted to revitalize her film career with a leading role in '' Skyscraper'' in 1996. The low-budget, direct-to-video
Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy wa ...
film offered Smith no more than "soft-core exploitation" and her movie career again stalled.
In 1998, Smith appeared on the variety series '' Sin City Spectacular''. That same year, Smith appeared in the tell-all self-promoting film, ''Anna Nicole Smith: Exposed'', which was based on several photo sessions during her Playboy career. She appeared as Donna, the friend of Veronica Chase ( Kirstie Alley), on the sitcom ''Veronica's Closet
''Veronica's Closet'' is an American sitcom television series created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, that aired on NBC for three seasons, from September 25, 1997, to December 7, 2000. The show stars Kirstie Alley as Veronica "Ronnie" Chase, ...
'' in 1999. Smith guest-starred as Myra Jacobs in a 1999 episode of the series '' Ally McBeal''.
In the early 2000s, Smith had very few acting roles. As a result of her rising popularity with tabloids and gossip columnists, Smith was given her own reality show on the E! cable network. '' The Anna Nicole Show'' premiered in August 2002, achieving the highest cable rating for a reality show. The day the series premiered was the seventh anniversary of the death of J. Howard Marshall. The series attempted to focus on the private life of Smith, her boyfriend/attorney Howard K. Stern, her son Daniel Wayne Smith
Daniel Wayne Smith (January 22, 1986 – September 10, 2006) was the son of the American model and actress Anna Nicole and Billy Smith. He occasionally appeared in his mother's E! Network reality TV show. Smith died on September 10, 2006, a ...
, her assistant Kimberly "Kimmie" Walther, her miniature poodle Sugar Pie, her interior decorator Bobby Trendy and her cousin from Texas, Shelly Cloud. The show was canceled in June 2003, with the last episode premiering in October 2004.
Smith returned to film acting in 2003 with the comedy film ''Wasabi Tuna
''Wasabi Tuna'' is a 2003 independent Cafe Entertainment Studios action comedy film starring Jason London, Barney Cheng, Tim Meadows, Antonio Sabàto, Jr., Alanna Ubach, Guillermo Díaz, Alexis Arquette, Megan Cavanagh, and Arturo Gil. Anna Ni ...
'', in which she played an over-the-top version of herself. Her miniature poodle, Sugar Pie, is stolen from her on Halloween by a team of drag queen
A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part of ...
s dressed like her. Neither the film nor her performance drew positive reviews. In 2005, she briefly appeared as a spectator at a basketball game in ''Be Cool
''Be Cool'' is a 2005 American crime- comedy film based on Elmore Leonard's 1999 novel of the same name and the sequel to Leonard's 1990 novel ''Get Shorty'' (itself adapted into a 1995 film of the same name) about mobster Chili Palmer's entra ...
'', starring John Travolta. In late 2005, she agreed to play Lucy in the self-produced independent parody film '' Illegal Aliens'' alongside wrestler Joani "Chyna
Chyna (born Joan Marie Laurer; December 27, 1969 – April 17, 2016) was an American professional wrestler, bodybuilder and television personality.
She first rose to prominence in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in 1997, where s ...
" Laurer. It was released direct-to-video in May 2007, three months after Smith's death.
Endorsements
In an interview on ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien
''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien. NBC aired 2,725 episodes from September 13, 1993, to February 20, 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and music ...
'', Smith was asked what her "Playmate diet" consisted of. She instantly replied, "Fried chicken." In October 2003, she became a spokeswoman for TrimSpa TrimSpa was a dietary supplement designed for weight loss, marketed by the company Goen Technologies and headed by Alexander Szynalski. The ephedra-based supplement was marketed by TrimSpa to help "stave off hunger", until ephedra was banned from th ...
, which allegedly helped her lose a reported . TrimSpa diet product company and Smith were sued in a class-action
A class action, also known as a class-action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class action ...
lawsuit alleging their marketing of a weight loss pill was false or misleading.
In November 2004, Smith appeared at the American Music Awards
The American Music Awards (AMAs) is an annual American music awards show, generally held in the fall, created by Dick Clark in 1973 for ABC when the network's contract to air the Grammy Awards expired, and currently produced by Dick Clark Pro ...
to introduce Kanye West and attracted attention because of her slurred speech and behavior. During her live appearance, she threw her arms up and asked, "Like my body?" Smith murmured other comments and alluded to TrimSpa. The incident became comic material for presenters throughout the rest of the program. Her appearance was featured in the media the following day.
In March 2005, at the first MTV Australia Video Music Awards in Sydney's Luna Park
Luna Park is a name shared by dozens of currently operating and defunct amusement parks. They are named after, and partly based on, the first Luna Park, which opened in 1903 during the heyday of large Coney Island parks. Luna parks are small-s ...
, Smith spoofed Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction
A wardrobe malfunction is a clothing failure that accidentally or intentionally exposes a person's intimate parts. It is different from deliberate incidents of indecent exposure or public flashing. Justin Timberlake first used the term when apol ...
by pulling down her dress to reveal both breasts, each covered with the MTV logo.
Personal life
While working at Jim's Krispy Fried Chicken in Mexia
Mexia ( ) is a city in Limestone County, Texas, United States. The population was 6,893 at the 2020 census.
The city's motto, based on the fact that outsiders tend to mispronounce the name , is "A great place to live, no matter how you pronou ...
, Smith met Billy Wayne Smith, a cook at the restaurant, and the couple married on April 4, 1985, when he was sixteen and she was seventeen. She gave birth to their son, Daniel Wayne Smith
Daniel Wayne Smith (January 22, 1986 – September 10, 2006) was the son of the American model and actress Anna Nicole and Billy Smith. He occasionally appeared in his mother's E! Network reality TV show. Smith died on September 10, 2006, a ...
, on January 22, 1986. Smith and her husband then separated the following year, they divorced in 1993.
While performing at a Houston strip club in October 1991, Smith met 86-year-old petroleum
Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...
tycoon J. Howard Marshall. During their two-year affair, Marshall reportedly lavished expensive gifts on Smith and asked her to marry him several times. On June 27, 1994, Smith and Marshall were married in Houston, resulting in speculation that she married him for his money. She maintained that she loved Marshall and that age did not matter to her. On August 4, 1995, thirteen months after his marriage to Smith, Marshall died in Houston at the age of 90.
Inheritance court cases
Even though Smith was not in Marshall's will, she claimed that in return for marriage, Marshall verbally promised her half of his estate, which primarily consisted of a 16% interest in Koch Industries
Koch Industries, Inc. ( ) is an American privately held multinational conglomerate corporation based in Wichita, Kansas and is the second-largest privately held company in the United States, after Cargill. Its subsidiaries are involved in the ...
, then worth $1.6 billion. Smith's stepson E. Pierce Marshall disputed the claim. Smith temporarily joined forces with J. Howard's other son, J. Howard Marshall III, who was disowned after attempting to take control of Koch Industries. Howard III also claimed that his father had verbally promised him a portion of the estate; like Smith, Howard III was also left out of his father's will.
In 1996, Smith filed for bankruptcy in California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
as a result of an $850,000 default judgment
Default judgment is a binding judgment in favor of either party based on some failure to take action by the other party. Most often, it is a judgment in favor of a plaintiff when the defendant has not responded to a summons or has failed to appear ...
against her for the sexual harassment of a nanny who cared for her son.[ Since any money potentially due to her from the Marshall estate was part of her potential assets, the bankruptcy court involved itself in the matter.]
In September 2000, a Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
bankruptcy judge awarded Smith $449,754,134.00, the amount that the value of Marshall's interest in Koch Industries rose in value during their marriage. However, in July 2001, Houston judge Mike Wood affirmed the jury's findings in the probate case by ruling that Smith was entitled to nothing. The judge ordered Smith to pay over $1 million to cover the legal costs and expenses of E. Pierce Marshall. The conflict between the Texas probate court and California bankruptcy court judgments forced the matter into federal court.
In March 2002, a federal judge vacated the California bankruptcy court's ruling and issued a new ruling that reduced the award to $88 million. On December 30, 2004, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts in the following federal judicial districts:
* District ...
reversed that decision on the grounds that the federal courts lacked jurisdiction to overrule the probate court decision.
In September 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to hear the appeal of that decision. The George W. Bush administration
George W. Bush's tenure as the 43rd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2001, and ended on January 20, 2009. Bush, a Republican from Texas, took office following a narrow victory over Democratic ...
directed Paul Clement, the United States Solicitor General
The solicitor general of the United States is the fourth-highest-ranking official in the United States Department of Justice. Elizabeth Prelogar has been serving in the role since October 28, 2021.
The United States solicitor general represent ...
, to intercede on Smith's behalf out of an interest in expanding federal court jurisdiction over state probate disputes. On May 1, 2006, the Supreme Court unanimously decided in favor of Smith. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Joan Ruth Bader Ginsburg ( ; ; March 15, 1933September 18, 2020) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until her death in 2020. She was nominated by Presiden ...
wrote the opinion. The decision did not give Smith a portion of her husband's estate, but affirmed her right to pursue a share of it in federal court.
On June 20, 2006, E. Pierce Marshall died at age 67 from an infection
An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dis ...
. His widow, Elaine Tettemer Marshall, pursued the case on behalf of his estate.
After Smith's death in 2007, the case continued on behalf of Smith's infant daughter, Dannielynn Birkhead. In March 2010, an appeals court upheld the verdict barring Smith from the estate. Following the decision, lawyers for Smith's estate appealed the decision to the entire Ninth Circuit. On May 6, 2010, the appeal was denied. On September 28, 2010, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.
In June 2011, in the case of '' Stern v. Marshall'', the Supreme Court issued a ruling against Smith's estate, ruling that the California bankruptcy court decision that gave her estate $475 million was made without subject-matter jurisdiction. The court agreed with the ruling of the Ninth Circuit that a bankruptcy court could not make a decision on an issue outside bankruptcy law.
In 2011, Smith's estate filed a motion in U.S. district court to obtain $44 million in compensatory damages
At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognised at ...
and to sanction the estate of E. Pierce Marshall.
In August 2014, David O. Carter, a federal U.S. District Court judge in Orange County, California
Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous in the United States, a ...
, rejected these efforts.
Addictions
Smith was allegedly addicted to prescription medications. A psychiatrist said she met with Smith in April 2006 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a nonprofit, tertiary, 886-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars-Sinai Health System, the hospital employs a staff of over 2 ...
in Los Angeles and said that Smith had borderline personality disorder.
Birth of daughter
On June 1, 2006, Smith announced her pregnancy in a video clip on her official website.
Smith's daughter, Dannielynn Hope Marshall Stern, was born September 7, 2006, in New Providence, The Bahamas. In an interview on CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
's ''Larry King Live
''Larry King Live'' was an American television talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was the channel's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly.
Mainly aired from CNN's Los Angeles ...
'' after the death of Smith's son, attorney Howard K. Stern, said that he and Smith had been in a relationship for "a very long time", and claimed he was the father. Entertainment photographer Larry Birkhead claimed that he was the baby's father and filed a lawsuit to establish paternity. The Bahamian birth certificate
A birth certificate is a vital record that documents the birth of a person. The term "birth certificate" can refer to either the original document certifying the circumstances of the birth or to a certified copy of or representation of the ensui ...
recorded the father as Stern.
A judge in the United States ordered that DNA tests be performed to determine the biological father of Smith's daughter. Following Smith's death Birkhead's attorney asked for an emergency DNA sample to be taken from Smith's body. The request was denied by a judge who ordered that Smith's body be preserved until February 20.
On February 9, 2007, Zsa Zsa Gabor
Zsa Zsa Gabor (, ; born Sári Gábor ; February 6, 1917 – December 18, 2016) was a Hungarian-American socialite and actress. Her sisters were actresses Eva and Magda Gabor.
Gabor competed in the 1933 Miss Hungary pageant, where she ...
's husband, Frédéric Prinz von Anhalt, said that he had had a decade-long affair with Smith and could potentially be the father of her daughter. Alexander Denk, a former bodyguard and chef for Smith, also claimed that he had an affair with Smith and that he, too, was potentially the father.
After Smith's death, ''TMZ
TMZ is a tabloid news website owned by Fox Corporation. It made its debut on November 8, 2005, originally as a collaboration between AOL and Telepictures, a division of Warner Bros., until Time Warner divested AOL in 2009. On September 13, 202 ...
'' reported that Smith had been given a prescription for methadone
Methadone, sold under the brand names Dolophine and Methadose among others, is a synthetic opioid agonist used for chronic pain and also for opioid dependence. It is used to treat chronic pain, and it is also used to treat addiction to heroi ...
under a false name while she was in her eighth month of pregnancy. The Medical Board of California launched a review into the matter. The prescribing doctor, Sandeep Kapoor, said his treatment was "sound and appropriate."
In April 2007, a Bahamian judge ruled that DNA tests had established Birkhead as the father of Smith's daughter. Birkhead subsequently applied for an amended birth certificate listing him as the father, which paved the way for him to obtain a passport for the baby to leave with him for the U.S. Stern did not contest the DNA results or the ruling and Birkhead returned to the United States with the baby. Virgie Arthur appealed the ruling, but her appeal was denied and she was ordered to pay costs.
Death of son
Smith's 20-year-old son, Daniel Wayne Smith
Daniel Wayne Smith (January 22, 1986 – September 10, 2006) was the son of the American model and actress Anna Nicole and Billy Smith. He occasionally appeared in his mother's E! Network reality TV show. Smith died on September 10, 2006, a ...
, died on September 10, 2006, in his mother's hospital room while visiting her and her baby. An autopsy found that he died from a combination of drugs, including methadone
Methadone, sold under the brand names Dolophine and Methadose among others, is a synthetic opioid agonist used for chronic pain and also for opioid dependence. It is used to treat chronic pain, and it is also used to treat addiction to heroi ...
and antidepressants. A Bahamian jury determined Daniel died from an accidental drug overdose and recommended no criminal charges.
A death certificate
A death certificate is either a legal document issued by a medical practitioner which states when a person died, or a document issued by a government civil registration office, that declares the date, location and cause of a person's death, as ...
was issued on September 21, 2006, so that Daniel could be buried. While Smith remained in the Bahamas with Dannielynn and Stern, her son's family in the U.S., including his father, Billy Smith, gathered with friends on October 7, 2006, in Mexia for a memorial service
A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...
. Daniel was buried at Lake View Cemetery in New Providence on October 19, 2006, almost six weeks after his death.
According to Stern, Smith was devastated over her son's death. "Anna and Daniel were inseparable. Daniel was without question the most important person in Anna's life," Stern said during his testimony at the trial regarding the right to control disposition of Smith's remains. "At Daniel's funeral, she had them open the coffin and tried to climb inside. She said that 'if Daniel has to be buried, I want to be buried with him. She was ready to go down with him." Stern said that, "Anna saw herself as both mother and father to Daniel. From the time I met her, everything was for Daniel. I would say that physically, she died last week, but in a lot of ways, emotionally she died when Daniel died."
Commitment ceremony with Stern
On September 28, 2006, Smith and Stern exchanged vows and rings in an informal commitment ceremony in the Bahamas. Although they pledged their love and made a commitment to be there for each other before a Baptist minister
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...
, no marriage certificate was issued and the ceremony was not legally binding.
Regarding the questionable timing of the ceremony, Smith's attorney in Nassau said, "They needed a little adrenaline boost because things have been so hectic and devastating in their life recently." Photos of the ceremony were sold through Getty Images to ''People
A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of prope ...
'' magazine for around $1 million.
Residency in the Bahamas
Smith and Stern were reportedly staying in the Bahamas
The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the ar ...
to avoid paternity testing her daughter in the U.S. In late 2006, Smith was granted permanent resident status in the Bahamas by Immigration Minister Shane Gibson; a local newspaper published photographs showing Smith lying clothed in bed in an embrace with Gibson. Gibson resigned after the wave of controversy over his relationship with Smith.
The basis of Smith's permanent residency status was the claim that she owned a $900,000 mansion, which she said was given to her by a former boyfriend, real estate developer Gaither Ben Thompson of South Carolina
)'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = ...
. Thompson asserted that he loaned Smith the finances to purchase the property, which she failed to repay, and that he was attempting to regain control of the property. Thompson sued to evict Smith from the property in the Bahamas Court and received a default judgment
Default judgment is a binding judgment in favor of either party based on some failure to take action by the other party. Most often, it is a judgment in favor of a plaintiff when the defendant has not responded to a summons or has failed to appear ...
against her when she failed to respond to the eviction or appear in court on November 28, 2006. Ford Shelley, Thompson's son-in-law, claimed that methadone was found in Smith's bedroom refrigerator while the mansion was being reclaimed. A photograph provided to TMZ of Smith's refrigerator showed a large bottle of methadone, vials of injectable vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin
Cyanocobalamin is a form of vitamin used to treat vitamin deficiency except in the presence of cyanide toxicity. The deficiency may occur in pernicious anemia, following surgical removal of the stomach, with fish tapeworm, or due to bowel ...
), and numerous bottles of diet product SlimFast
SlimFast is an American company headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida that markets an eponymous brand of shakes, bars, snacks, packaged meals, and other dietary supplement foods sold in the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, ...
.
Death
Smith was found unresponsive on February 8, 2007, at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood, also known as The Guitar Hotel, due to its tower constructed to resemble a Gibson Les Paul guitar, is a hotel and casino resort near Hollywood, Florida, United States, located on of the Hollywood Res ...
in Hollywood, Florida. The wife of Smith's bodyguard, who was an emergency registered nurse, performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure consisting of chest compressions often combined with artificial ventilation in an effort to manually preserve intact brain function until further measures are taken to restore spon ...
(CPR) for 15 minutes until the bodyguard took over.[''Final 24'' A&E Biography Originally aired March 19, 2008] He had driven back to the hotel after being notified by his wife of Smith's condition.[ According to Seminole Police Chief Charlie Tiger, at 1:38 p.m. ]local time
Local time is the time observed in a specific locality. There is no canonical definition. Originally it was mean solar time, but since the introduction of time zones it is generally the time as determined by the time zone in effect, with daylight s ...
, Smith's bodyguard, who was also a trained paramedic, called the hotel front desk from Smith's sixth-floor room. The employee at the front desk in turn called the hotel security guard, who then called 911. At 1:45 p.m., the bodyguard administered CPR until paramedics arrived. At 2:10 p.m., Smith was rushed to Memorial Regional Hospital, where she was pronounced dead on arrival
Dead on Scene
('' 'DOS' '')
Found dead before first responders get on scene and no medical treatment was given.
Dead on arrival (DOA), also dead in the field and brought in dead (BID), are terms which indicate that a patient was found to be ...
at 2:49 p.m.
An investigation was led by Broward County Medical Examiner and forensic pathologist Joshua Perper in conjunction with Seminole police and several independent forensic pathologists and toxicologists. Perper announced that Smith died of " combined drug intoxication" with the sleeping medication chloral hydrate
Chloral hydrate is a geminal diol with the formula . It is a colorless solid. It has limited use as a sedative and hypnotic pharmaceutical drug. It is also a useful laboratory chemical reagent and precursor. It is derived from chloral (trichl ...
as the "major component." No illegal drugs were found in her system. The official report states that her death was not considered to be due to homicide, suicide or natural causes. Additionally, an official copy of the autopsy report was publicly released on March 26, 2007, and can be found online.
Smith's death was ultimately ruled an accidental drug overdose of the sedative chloral hydrate that became increasingly toxic when combined with other prescription drugs in her system, specifically four benzodiazepines: Klonopin (clonazepam
Clonazepam, sold under the brand names Klonopin and Rivotril, is a medication used to prevent and treat seizures, panic disorder, anxiety disorders, and the movement disorder known as akathisia. It is a tranquilizer of the benzodiazepine class ...
), Ativan (lorazepam
Lorazepam, sold under the brand name Ativan among others, is a benzodiazepine medication. It is used to treat anxiety disorders, trouble sleeping, severe agitation, active seizures including status epilepticus, alcohol withdrawal, and c ...
), Serax (oxazepam
Oxazepam is a short-to-intermediate-acting benzodiazepine. Oxazepam is used for the treatment of anxiety and insomnia and in the control of symptoms of alcohol withdrawal syndrome.
It is a metabolite of diazepam, prazepam, and temazepam, and ha ...
) and Valium (diazepam
Diazepam, first marketed as Valium, is a medicine of the benzodiazepine family that acts as an anxiolytic. It is commonly used to treat a range of conditions, including anxiety, seizures, alcohol withdrawal syndrome, muscle spasms, insomnia, ...
). Furthermore, she had taken Benadryl (diphenhydramine
Diphenhydramine (DPH) is an antihistamine and sedative mainly used to treat allergies, insomnia, and symptoms of the common cold. It is also less commonly used for tremor in parkinsonism, and nausea. It is taken by mouth, injected into ...
) and Topamax ( topiramate), both of which block sodium channels, likely intensifying the sedative effects of the chloral hydrate and benzodiazepines. Despite rumors of methadone use due to its involvement in the death of Smith's son, Perper only found methadone in her bile, indicating it was probably ingested 2–3 days prior to her death, and therefore was not a contributing factor. The autopsy report indicates that abscesses on her buttocks, presumably from prior injections of vitamin B12 in the form of cyanocobalamin
Cyanocobalamin is a form of vitamin used to treat vitamin deficiency except in the presence of cyanide toxicity. The deficiency may occur in pernicious anemia, following surgical removal of the stomach, with fish tapeworm, or due to bowel ...
, as well as human growth hormone, and viral enteritis
Enteritis is inflammation of the small intestine. It is most commonly caused by food or drink contaminated with pathogenic microbes,Dugdale, David C., IIII, and George F Longretc"Enteritis" MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia, 18 October 2008. Access ...
were contributory causes of death. Tests for influenza A and B were negative.
It was reported that eight of the eleven drugs in Smith's system, including the chloral hydrate, were prescribed to Stern, not Smith. Additionally, two of the prescriptions were written for "Alex Katz" and one was written for Smith's friend and psychiatrist, Dr. Khristine Eroshevich. Perper acknowledged that all of the prescriptions were written by Dr. Eroshevich.
Smith's funeral took place on March 2, 2007, in the Bahamas.
Smith's last will and testament
Smith's will was prepared by attorney Eric Lund and executed on July 30, 2001, in Los Angeles, California. Smith named her son Daniel as the sole beneficiary of her estate, specifically excluded other children and named Stern executor of the estate. It indicated personal property valued at $10,000 and real estate property valued at $1.8 million, with a $1.1 million mortgage, at the time of her death. A petition to probate Smith's will was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, listing Birkhead as a party with interest to the estate. A black granite monument was installed at Smith's grave in the Bahamas in February 2009.
Defamation lawsuit by Smith's mother
In 2008, Smith's mother Virgie Arthur filed the underlying proceedings against TMZ, CBS, journalist Art Harris, Texas blogger Lyndal Harrington, Larry Birkhead and others alleging that the defendants conspired to ruin her reputation through defamatory e-mails, blog and website postings and harmed her efforts to seek custody and visitation of her granddaughter. The court jailed Harrington because she failed to turn over her computer as evidence. Harrington claimed that she couldn't voluntarily comply with the court's order because her computer was stolen—there is a question as to whether this robbery was staged.
Arthur's defamation lawsuit was dismissed after TMZ, CBS, and others won summary judgment. Dannielynn Birkhead's father, Larry Birkhead, of Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
obtained sole custody of his daughter.
Appearances
Filmography
Television
Music videos
Legacy
''Anna Nicole
''Anna Nicole'' is an English opera in 2 acts and 16 scenes, with music by Mark-Anthony Turnage to an English libretto by Richard Thomas. Based on the life of American model Anna Nicole Smith, the opera received its première on 17 February 201 ...
'', an opera by Mark-Anthony Turnage
Mark-Anthony Turnage CBE (born 10 June 1960) is a British composer of classical music.
Biography
Turnage was born in Corringham, Essex. He began composing at age nine and at fourteen began studying at the junior section of the Royal College of ...
about Smith, premiered on February 17, 2011, at the Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Ope ...
, to mixed reviews."''Anna Nicole'', the opera
by Anne Midgette
Anne Midgette (born June 22, 1965) is an American music critic who was the first woman to write classical music criticism regularly for ''The New York Times''. She was the chief classical music critic of ''The Washington Post'' from 2008 to 20 ...
, ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' (February 17, 2011)
References
External links
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Anna Nicole Smith
at the FBI Vault
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Anna Nicole
1967 births
2007 deaths
20th-century American actresses
Accidental deaths in Florida
Actresses from Houston
American female erotic dancers
American female models
American film actresses
American television actresses
Drug-related deaths in Florida
Glamour models
Marshall family
Participants in American reality television series
People from Mexia, Texas
People with borderline personality disorder
1990s Playboy Playmates
Playboy Playmates of the Year