Anna Nicole Smith mini-bio: Anna Nicole Smith(November 28, 1967 – February 8, 2007) was an American model, actress and celebrity who first gained popularity as Playboy's 1993 Playmate of the Year. Her highly publicized marriage to oil billionaire J. Howard Marshall, who was 63 years her senior, resulted in considerable speculation that she married the octogenarian merely for his money, which she denied. Following his death, she began a lengthy and ongoing 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. In the months before her death, she had been the focus of renewed press coverage surrounding the death of her son, Daniel.
Anna Nicole Smith was born in Houston, Texas as Vickie Lynn Hogan. When she was very young, her family moved to Mexia, a small town 79 miles (127 km) south of Dallas. Her father Donald Eugene Hogan left the family when Smith was a child and she was raised by her mother Virgie Hogan Hart Arthur with her aunt. Anna has a half-sister, Donna Hogan. While growing up, Smith told others that she wanted to be the next Marilyn Monroe. Smith worked at Jim's Krispy Chicken restaurant in Mexia in her teens. On April 4, 1985, at age 17, she married Billy Smith, a cook at the restaurant, who was 16. The next year, she gave birth to her first child, the late Daniel Wayne Smith, and the following year she and Billy divorced.
In her early 20s, Smith worked at a variety of low-paying jobs while supporting her son Daniel. While working as an exotic dancer at a nightclub in Houston under various names including Nikki, Robin and Anna Nicole, 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.
In the 90's, 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.
The Anna Nicole Show first season DVD
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.
Anna Nicole Smith passed away on February 8, 2007 in Hollywood, Florida. The cause of death is still unknown.
