Anna Nicole Smith was an American model, actress and television personality. Smith first gained popularity in Playboy Magazine when she won the title of 1993 Playmate of the Year. She modeled for fashion companies, including Guess, H&M, Heatherette and Lane Bryant. Take a look below for 33 more fun and interesting facts about Anna Nicole Smith.
1. Smith dropped out of high school at age 14 in 1982 and married in 1985.
2. Her highly publicized second marriage to 89-year old J. Howard Marshall, a billionaire as a result of his 16% ownership stake in Koch Industries, resulted in speculation that she married the octogenarian for his money, which she denied.
3. Following Marshall’s death, Smith began a lengthy legal battle over a share of his estate.
4. 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.
5. During 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 newborn daughter, Dannielynn Birkhead.
6. Smith died in 2007 in a Hollywood, Florida, hotel room as a result of an overdose of prescription drugs.
7. Smith was born as Vickie Lynn Hogan in 1967 in Houston, Texas, and raised in Mexia, Texas.
8. She was the daughter of Donald Eugene Hogan and Virgie Mae Arthur, who married on February 22, 1967, and divorced on November 4, 1969.
9. She had five half siblings: Donna Hogan, David Tacker Jr., Donnie Hogan, Amy Hogan and Donald Hart.
10. Smith was raised by her mother and an aunt. Smith’s mother married Donald R. Hart in 1971, after which Smith changed her name from Vickie Hogan to Nikki Hart.
11. Smith attended Durkee Elementary School and Aldine Senior High School in Houston.
12. When she was in the ninth grade, she was sent to live with her mother’s younger sister, Kay Beall, in Mexia, Texas.
13. At Mexia High School, Smith failed her freshman year and dropped out of school during her sophomore year.
14. Smith appeared on the cover of the March 1992 issue of Playboy Magazine as Vickie Smith. She appeared as the Playboy Playmate of the Month in a pictorial shot by Stephen Wayda for the May, 1992, issue.
15. Smith secured a contract to replace supermodel Claudia Schiffer in a Guess jeans ad campaign featuring a series of sultry black-and-white photographs.
16. During the Guess campaign, Smith changed her name to Anna Nicole Smith.
17. Guess photographers noticed Smith bore a striking resemblance to bombshell Jayne Mansfield and showcased her in several Mansfield-inspired photo sessions.
18. 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.
19. Smith appeared on the cover of German magazine Marie Claire, photographed by Peter Lindbergh.
20. 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 with cowboy boots as she eats chips.
21. In October 1994, her lawyer, T. Patrick Freydl, initiated a $5 million lawsuit against the magazine, claiming that Smith did not authorize the use of her photo. The suit also alleged that the article damaged her reputation.
22. While working at Jim’s Krispy Fried Chicken in Mexia, Smith met Billy Wayne Smith, a cook at the restaurant, and the couple married on April 4, 1985, when she was seventeen. She gave birth to their son, Daniel Wayne Smith, on January 22, 1986.
23. Smith and her husband divorced on February 3, 1993, in Houston.
24. While performing in October 1991 at a Houston strip club, Smith met 86-year old petroleum tycoon billionaire J. Howard Marshall. During their two-year affair, Marshall reportedly lavished expensive gifts on Smith and asked her to marry him several times.
25. On June 27, 1994, Smith and Marshall were married in Houston, resulting in speculation that she married him for his money.
26. Smith reportedly never lived with Marshall, never had sex with him and never kissed him on the mouth more than ten times. She maintained that she loved Marshall and that age did not matter to her.
27. On August 4, 1995, thirteen months after his marriage to Smith, Marshall died in Houston at the age of 90.
28. Even though Smith was not in the will of J. Howard Marshall, she claimed that in return for marriage, Marshall orally promised her half of his estate, which primarily consisted of a 16% interest in Koch Industries, then worth $1.6 billion. E. Pierce Marshall, a son of J. Howard Marshall, disputed the claim.
29. Smith was allegedly addicted to prescription medications. Psychiatrist Dr. Nathalie Maullin said she met Smith in April 2006 in Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and that Smith had borderline personality disorder.
30. On June 1, 2006, Smith announced her pregnancy in a video clip on her official website. “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.”
31. Smith’s daughter, Dannielynn Hope Marshall Stern, was born September 7, 2006, in New Providence, The Bahamas.
32. Smith’s 20-year-old son, Daniel Smith, died on September 10, 2006 in his mother’s hospital room while visiting her and her baby. After the coroner labeled the death “reserved”, Smith hired forensic pathologist Cyril Wecht to perform a second autopsy.
33. Wecht announced on “Larry King Live” that the autopsy he performed showed that Daniel Smith died from a lethal combination of antidepressants Zoloft, Lexapro and the painkiller methadone. Wecht explained that methadone is used in the treatment of heroin addiction and chronic pain.
