Vickie Lynn Marshall (November 28, 1967 – February 8, 2007), better known under the stage name of Anna Nicole Smith,[1] was an American model, actress and celebrity. Her highly publicized marriage to oil business executive and billionaire J. Howard Marshall, 63 years her senior, resulted in speculation that she married the octogenarian for his money, which she denied. Following his death, she 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.
Born and raised in Texas, Smith dropped out of high school and first married at the age of 17. She first gained popularity in Playboy, becoming the 1992 Playmate of the Year. She modelled for clothing companies, including Guess jeans. She starred in her own reality TV show, The Anna Nicole Show. In the months before her death, she was the focus of renewed press coverage surrounding the death of her son, Daniel Smith.
Smith on the red carpet for the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards in Sydney. (Photo by Toby Foraggio)Birth name
Vickie Lynn Hogan
Born
November 28, 1967 Houston, Texas, USA
Died
February 8, 2007, aged 39Seminole Hard Rock Hotel, Hollywood, Florida, USA
Official site
www.annanicole.com
She was born Vickie Lynn Hogan in Houston, Texas,[2] the only child of Donald Eugene Hogan (born July 12, 1947) and Virgie Mae Tabers (born July 12, 1951),[3] who married on February 22, 1967.[4] Her father then left the family; he and Virgie divorced on November 4, 1969. Virgie's oldest child, Vickie's half-brother, is David Luther Tacker, Jr. (born 1966).[5] Vickie Hogan was raised by her mother and aunt, Elaine (Todd) Tabers, wife of Virgie's brother, Melvin Tabers.
Virgie, who worked as a law enforcement officer in Houston for 28 years, subsequently married Donald R. Hart in 1971.[6] Their child was Donald Ray Hart, Jr. (born 1972).[7] After Virgie married Donald Hart, Vickie Hogan changed her name to Nikki Hart.[8] Virgie and Donald Hart divorced in 1983. Virgie then married Joe D. Thompson (1987, divorced 1991), James T. Sanders (1996, died 1996), and James H. Arthur (2000).
Vickie's father Donald married Wanda Faye Atkinson in 1970 and had the following children: Donna Hogan (born 1971), Donald Ray Hogan (born 1973), and Amy Hogan (born 1975).[9][10] Donald and Wanda were divorced in 1978.[11] Donald married Carolyn S. Vandver in 1996.
Vickie 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.[12] At Mexia High School, Vickie failed her freshman year; she quit school during her sophomore year.[13]
While working as a waitress at Jim's Krispy Fried Chicken in Mexia, she met Billy Wayne Smith, who was a cook at the restaurant. The couple married April 4, 1985;[14] she was 17 and he was 16. The next year, she gave birth to their son, Daniel Wayne Smith. 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.[15]
Initially, she found employment at Wal-Mart, then as a waitress at Red Lobster, but was unable to make a sufficient living for herself and Daniel.
She then became an exotic dancer, 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.
Playboy and modeling career
Anna Nicole Smith
Playboy centerfoldappearance
May 1992
Birthplace
Houston, Texas
Birthdate
November 28, 1967
Date of death
February 8, 2007
Measurements
38"DD - 26" - 38"
Height
5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)
Weight
140 lb (64 kg)
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
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 sex symbol Jayne Mansfield and put her in Jayne-inspired photo sessions.[citation needed] In 1993, before Christmas, she modelled for the Swedish clothing company Hennes & Mauritz H&M. She was dressed in underwear and arranged in seductive poses. She appeared on big posters in Sweden and Norway. The fact was widely discussed in media and more.
A photograph of Anna 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 glamour shots. He further stated that the picture used was taken for fun during a break.[18]
Marriage to Marshall
While performing at Gigi's, a Houston strip club, in October 1991, Smith met elderly oil billionaire 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.[19] She divorced her husband Billy on February 3, 1993, in Houston.[20] On June 27, 1994, Smith, 26, and Marshall, 89, married in Houston.[21] This resulted in a great deal of gossip about her marrying him for his money.[22] Though she reportedly never lived with him,[23] Smith maintained she loved her husband and that age did not matter to her.[citation needed] Thirteen months after his marriage to Smith, Marshall died on August 4, 1995, in Houston.
Inheritance court cases
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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.[24] 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.[25]
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.[26]
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.[27]
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.[28]
The U.S. Supreme Court decided in September 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.[29] After months of waiting, Smith and her stepson 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 (see Marshall v. Marshall). 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.[30] On June 20, 2006, E. Pierce Marshall died at age 67 from an "aggressive infection". His widow, Elaine T. Marshall, now represents his estate.[31] The case has been remanded to the 9th Circuit to adjudicate the remaining appellate issues not previously resolved.
After Anna’s death the New York Times reported that the case over the Marshall fortune “is likely to continue in the name of Ms. Smith’s infant daughter.”[32]
Film and television career
Although her film appearances in The Hudsucker Proxy and Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult were highly publicized in 1994, little was done to further Smith's acting career. Her first starring role was as Colette Dubois, a retired spy seeking revenge for the murder of her husband, in the action/thriller To the Limit (1995).Smith next starred in the action/thriller Skyscraper (1997), which she also produced, as a helicopter pilot, Carrie Wisk,[33] who lands on a high rise building and, upon learning it has been taken over by terrorists, becomes engaged in a deadly fight to save hostages.
Both films, and Smith's performances in them, were usually critically panned. During the course of the litigation over her late husband's estate, her career stalled. Her legal battle, her increasing weight, and her reportedly bizarre behavior made her regular fodder for late night television comedians.
In
2002, she debuted in her own reality TV series on the E! cable network, The Anna Nicole Show.[34] The series focused on her personal and private life in the manner of other reality shows, such as the ratings hit The Osbournes. One of the recurring guests on the show was interior designer Bobby Trendy of West Hollywood, CA, who often feuded with lawyer Howard K. Stern.The debut of the The Anna Nicole Show was the highest rated series on the network, but critics blasted it and ratings dropped with each successive week. However, it achieved a cult status among some, particularly college fraternities.[17] The show was cancelled in February 2004 due to "creative differences," but has retained some life in reruns and on DVD releases.
Smith's next appearance on the big screen was as herself in Wasabi Tuna (2003), about a group of friends who kidnap her dog, Sugar-Pie, on Halloween. She appeared as herself again in Be Cool (2005), a crime/comedy about the film and music industries that stars John Travolta, Uma Thurman and The Rock. In September 2005, she starred as Lucy in Illegal Aliens, which she also produced, a sci-fi/comedy about beautiful space aliens saving the earth from evil.[35] This is scheduled for release in May 2007.[36]
Smith as spokesperson
In an interview on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Smith 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 lose a reported 69 lb (31 kg).[37]In November 2004, she appeared at the American Music Awards to introduce a musical performance and attracted attention because of her slurred speech and behavior. During her live appearance, she threw her arms up and exclaimed, "Like my body?".[38] Smith murmured other comments and alluded to TrimSpa. The incident became comic material for presenters throughout the rest of the program.[39]
The following day, her appearance was featured in the news. Tabloids speculated that Smith 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 workouts. They further asserted that she had difficulty reading the prompter because she was not wearing her contact lenses.[citation needed]
After reportedly losing some 80 lb (36 kg), Smith returned to her trim shape from the early 1990s.[citation needed]
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.[40]
Smith 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 dog food for their alleged cruelty to animals.[41]
In 2006, Smith gave up modeling, although she remained a spokesperson for TrimSpa.[citation needed]
Personal life
Birth of daughter
Smith announced on June 1, 2006, in a video clip posted on her official website that she was pregnant. "Let me stop all the rumors," she said, while floating on an inflatable raft in a swimming pool. "Yes, I am pregnant. I'm happy, I'm very, very happy about it. Everything's goin' really, really good and I'll be checking in and out periodically on the web, and I'll let you see me as I'm growing."[42]
Though her announcement did not provide any details, in an interview with Larry King on CNN's Larry King Live, Smith's longtime personal attorney Howard K. Stern said that he and Smith had been in a secret relationship for "a very long time" and then appeared to contradict that contention when he said they were confident he fathered the baby because of the timing of the pregnancy, which appeared to imply that there was at least one other possible father.[43] Her ex-boyfriend, entertainment photojournalist Larry Birkhead, steadfastly maintained his contention that he is the baby's father and filed a lawsuit to challenge paternity.[44]
Smith's daughter, Dannielynn Hope Marshall Stern, was born September 7, 2006, at Doctors Hospital in Nassau, Bahamas. The Bahamian birth certificate records the father as Howard K. Stern.[45]
A judge in the United States ordered that DNA tests be performed to determine who is the biological father of Dannielynn. Following Smith's death, Debra Opri, the lawyer of Larry Birkhead, asked for an emergency DNA sample to be taken from the corpse. Smith's lawyer, Ron Rale objected strongly to this request.[46] The request was denied by a judge, instead ordering Smith's body preserved until February 20.[47]
According to a story published in the New York Daily News, Donna Hogan, Smith's younger half-sister, has said that the model froze the sperm of her second husband, Marshall, prior to his death. The newspaper says Hogan wrote in her unpublished manuscript about her sister, entitled Train Wreck, that "To her family, she hinted that she had used the old man's frozen sperm, and would be giving birth to Howard Marshall's child".[48] However, the publisher of Hogan's book described the newspaper's claims as a hoax.[49] On February 9, 2007, Zsa Zsa Gabor's husband Frédéric Prinz von Anhalt said that he had a decade-long affair with Smith and could potentially be the father of her infant girl, Dannielynn.[50] Alexander Denk, a former bodyguard for Anna Nicole Smith, has reportedly told the tabloid television program "Extra" that he had an affair with his former employer, and that it's possible he could be Dannielynn's father.[51] Mark Hatten aka Mark "Hollywood" Hatten recently has come forward to claim that he is the father of Anna Nicole Smith's little girl, Dannielynn. He is currently in prison. Hatten lived with Anna Nicole for 2 years.
On February 14, 2007, TMZ.com wrote that Smith had been given a prescription for methadone under a false name while she was in her eighth month of pregnancy.[52] The Medical Board of California launched a review into the matter; the prescribing doctor, Sandeep Kapoor, said his treatment was "sound and appropriate."[53]
Death of son
Main article: Daniel Wayne Smith
Smith's 20-year-old son, Daniel Smith, died on September 10, 2006 in his mother's hospital room while visiting her and his newborn sister.[54] After the coroner labeled the death "reserved," Smith hired forensic pathologist Cyril Wecht to perform a second autopsy.[55]
His death certificate was issued on September 21, 2006, so that he could be buried.[56] While Smith remained in the Bahamas with Dannielynn and Stern, Daniel's family in the United States, including his father, Billy Smith, gathered with friends on October 7, 2006, in Mexia, Texas, for a memorial service. Daniel was buried at Lake View Cemetery on New Providence, Bahamas, on October 19, 2006, almost six weeks after his death.[57]
Dr. Wecht announced on Larry King Live that the procedure he performed on September 17, 2006, showed 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, Wecht said he had no information to make any conclusion why Daniel was using the drug. On February 8, 2007, Wecht said on Fox News that he still had no information about how Daniel obtained methadone.
Commitment ceremony with Stern
On September 28, 2006, Smith and Howard K. Stern exchanged vows and rings in an informal commitment ceremony aboard the 41-foot catamaran Margaritaville off the coast of the Bahamas. She wore a white dress and carried a bouquet of red roses, while he wore a black dress suit with white shirt. Although they pledged their love and made a commitment to be there for one another before a Baptist minister, no marriage certificate was issued and the ceremony is not legally binding.[58]
After the ceremony, they landed on the island of Sandy Kay where they had a party and celebrated with champagne and apple cider that had been brought over for the occasion by sailboat.[23]
Regarding the questionable timing of the ceremony, Smith's attorney in Nassau, stated, "They needed a little adrenaline boost because things have been so hectic and devastating in their life recently,"[59] The photos of their ceremony were sold through Getty Images to People Magazine for around $1,000,000.[60]
Residency in the Bahamas
Anna Nicole Smith and Howard K. Stern were reportedly staying in the Bahamas to avoid paternity testing of her daughter in the United States.[61] In late 2006, Smith was granted permanent resident status in the Bahamas by Immigration Minister Shane Gibson. On February 11, 2007, newspaper photographs were published showing Smith lying clothed in bed in an embrace with Gibson.[62] Opposition politicians in the Bahamas accused the minister of improper behavior.[63] Gibson resigned as a result of the controversy and claimed that the photos, taken by Stern, were innocent.[64]
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 G. Ben Thompson of South Carolina. Thompson asserted that he loaned Smith the finances to purchase the property, but that she failed to repay the loan, and was attempting to regain control of the property.[65] Thompson sued to evict Smith from the property in Bahama Court, and received a default judgment against her when she failed to respond to the eviction, or appear in court on November 28, 2006.[66] Ford Shelley, son-in-law of G. Ben Thompson, claimed that methadone was found in Anna's bedroom refrigerator while the mansion was being reclaimed.[67]
Death and funeral
Main article: Death of Anna Nicole Smith
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Anna Nicole Smith dies
On February 8, 2007, Smith was found unresponsive in room 607 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. According to Seminole Police Chief Charlie Tiger, at 1:38 p.m. (18:38 UTC) Smith's bodyguard Big Moe, who was a trained paramedic,[68] called the hotel front desk from her sixth floor room. The front desk in turn called security, who then called 911. At 1:45 p.m. the bodyguard administered CPR before she was rushed to Memorial Regional Hospital at 2:10 p.m and pronounced DOA at 2:49 p.m.
A phone call was released to the public on February 13, 2007 involving Seminole police and the local 911 operators, saying:[69][70]
“
We need assistance to Room 607 at the Hard Rock. It's in reference to a white female. She's not breathing and not responsive...actually, it's Anna Nicole Smith.
”
The medical examiner's office has reported that they intend to release the precise cause of death the week of March 5.
Since her death, various legal battles have ensued, regarding the will, the paternity of her daughter, and her final resting place, resulting in a delay in her burial. Smith was finally buried March 2 at Nassau's Lakeview Memorial Gardens and Mausoleum in a plot adjacent to her son, Daniel. Various entertainment news programs reported Smith's mother plans to continue fighting to have her daughter and grandson exhumed and reburied in a Texas family plot.
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