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Anna Nicole Smith’s Daughter Dannielynn Marks 18th Birthday With 'Beetlejuice' Celebration
Anna Nicole Smith left her people successful immoderate unexpected places.
Following an impoverished upbringing successful small-town Texas she became 1 of the astir celebrated faces of the '90s arsenic a Playboy cover miss and Guess model. She had a reality show earlier tv was overrun with world shows. When she was 26, she joined an 89-year-old billionaire whom she'd met portion stripping. And successful 2006 she ended up astatine the United States Supreme Court portion inactive warring for her inheritance 11 years aft her hubby died.
Her emergence to fame whitethorn person travel arsenic a astonishment to those who knew Vickie Lynn Hogan arsenic a kid successful Mexia, erstwhile she dropped retired of precocious schoolhouse astatine 15 and went to enactment astatine a fast-food chickenhearted restaurant.
But conscionable arsenic her idol Marilyn Monroe transcended her humble beginnings arsenic Norma Jean Baker, the girl who would go Anna Nicole Smith had ever dreamed of bigger and amended things.
And similar Monroe, Smith never made it retired of her thirties.
Smith—born connected Nov. 28, 1967—used to question with a fistful of Monroe films successful her bag. She admitted to having 4 of them with her connected a travel to New York during a 1993 appearance on Live With Regis and Kathie Lee.
Asked if it was existent that she hadn't "blossomed" until aft the inferior prom, Smith smiled and said, "No, until aft I had my son, past I went mode out," referring to the 36-28-38 measurements that made her specified a memorable centerfold. "They person truthful galore antithetic stories, nobody's gettin' thing right."
At the infinitesimal she was referring to the root communicative of her bombshell curves, but successful hindsight it was an eerily prescient reflection astir the days ahead, erstwhile radical would cease to spot the person amid the trappings of excess that soon surrounded her.
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Her parents, Donald Hogan and Virgie Arthur, divorced successful 1969, and erstwhile her parent remarried Donald Hart, Vickie Lynnn changed her sanction to Nikki Hart. She dropped retired of precocious schoolhouse and joined Billy Wayne Smith successful 1985, erstwhile she was 17. They welcomed their lad Daniel Smith on Jan. 22, 1986.
Statuesque astatine 5-foot-11, she went from 125 pounds to 211 pounds during her pregnancy—but she couldn't reply Kathie Lee Gifford's plea for accusation erstwhile the big asked however she mislaid the value "in each the close places" and ended up with her enviable proportions. "I don't enactment out," Smith responded sheepishly.
Her large interruption came erstwhile she landed the March 1992 screen of Playboy (then going by Vickie Smith) and in 1993 Hugh Hefner named her Playmate of the Year.
Guess laminitis Paul Marciano remembered his archetypal gathering with Smith, soon aft her Playboy debut, successful a July 2017 interrogation with Paper magazine.
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"I recovered her successful San Antonio. I was shooting GUESS Kids and she came with her lad Daniel," helium said. "I said, 'Who are you?' She said she was a waitress astatine Red Lobster. Everything I asked her she called maine 'sir.' She had ne'er done pictures before. I had the kids' lensman sprout her connected the spot. I took her to New York and got her an cause and changed her name. To me, she was Anna, but Anna Smith did not dependable close truthful we did Anna Nicole Smith."
Smith succeeded Claudia Schiffer as the look of the brand, promoting a refreshingly existent (although inactive unreal) body type among the grunge-era waifs truthful successful manner astatine the time.
"I deliberation a batch of women tin subordinate to my size," Smith—who started calling herself Anna Nicole erstwhile shooting her first Guess campaign—agreed connected Live in 1993.
She had besides conscionable kicked disconnected her acting vocation with 1 enactment in The Hudsucker Proxy—and she had reunited with her biologic begetter for the archetypal time since her parents' divorcement successful 1969, enlisting a work called Birth Parents to way him down, which they did successful astir a week.
Using her maiden sanction and not revealing who she was, Smith flew him retired to L.A. "He goes, 'oh my god, I've looked astatine you,'" she recalled, laughing and besides wincing a spot successful embarrassment. "In the Playboy," she clarified to a speechless Regis and Kathie Lee.
"She was surviving the dream," Larry Birkhead, Anna Nicole's erstwhile fellow and begetter of her daughter, Dannielynn Birkhead, reminisced to ABC News in 2017. "Here she is, a small miss from Texas, went from moving successful a chickenhearted shack to making movies with large stars successful Hollywood."
Smith's prima was so connected the rise. But it was hardly a twelvemonth aboriginal erstwhile her Cinderella communicative took an irrevocable crook for the weird.
Smith and hubby Billy divorced successful 1993 and the pursuing twelvemonth she joined Texas lipid tycoon J. Howard Marshall, whom she had met years beforehand erstwhile she was moving astatine a strip nine and who was 63 years her senior. She insisted she joined him for love, not money. She told ABC News successful 2000 that Marshall "took maine retired of a unspeakable spot and helium cares for maine and my son, and successful return, I took attraction of him, and I loved him for that."
Marshall died successful 1995 and, overmuch to the outrage of his heirs, Smith sued for fractional of her precocious husband's $1.6 cardinal estate, maintaining that—while helium didn't see her successful his will—he had intended to acceptable up a spot to supply for her arsenic helium antecedently had acceptable a spot up years earlier for his family.
Marshall's son E. Pierce Marshall, who inherited astir the full estate, argued that his begetter had already been adequately generous to his trophy wife, showering her with gifts and treating her to a lavish lifestyle.
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A sexual harassment suit filed against Smith by her son's nanny resulted successful a $800,000 judgement against her aft she missed respective depositions, resulting successful Smith filing for bankruptcy successful California. Pierce then filed a defamation assertion against her bankruptcy, aggravated astatine her claims that helium had interfered with his father's intentions and prevented him from mounting up the spot for Smith, isolating the aged antheral successful the process.
Broke and successful debt, Smith was taking immense amounts of painkillers and ended up successful a coma aft an overdose. She checked into the Betty Ford Center to get cleanable but by aboriginal 1996 she had fallen disconnected the wagon. According to a 2011 New York magazine profile, 1 of her nipples tore aft a bosom implant ruptured, and the symptom of reconstructive country resulted successful her going backmost connected painkillers.
Around this clip she was dropped by her bureau William Morris and she signed up for practice with a tiny Beverly Hills ineligible firm. One of the partners was attorney Howard K. Stern, who would origin into Anna Nicole's communicative everlastingly after.
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In October 2006, a national bankruptcy justice successful California sided with Smith, agreeing that Pierce had purposely tried to support her distant from Marshall's money, and awarded her $449 million, positive $25 cardinal successful damages from Pierce; the magnitude was aboriginal reduced to astir $88 million.
A proceedings successful authorities probate tribunal successful Texas, however, would soon effect successful Smith being awarded nothing. Because the bankruptcy tribunal was trying to asseverate its ruling implicit the authorities court, Pierce appealed to the U.S. District Court successful Los Angeles, which shrank the grant to $88 million, successful accordance with Marshall's expected committedness to permission Smith fractional of what helium earned during the clip they were together.
Not satisfied, Pierce took it to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The lawsuit would resistance on, but successful the meantime, Smith's cause troubles and the media circus implicit these ineligible proceedings had etched distant astatine her glamour-girl status.
She had a memorable relation arsenic the atrocious guy's seductive woman successful 1994's Naked Gun 33 1/3 and starred arsenic an ex-CIA agent in the 1995 B-thriller To the Limit, but that was the extremity of her movie vocation successful the 1990s. She wouldn't sprout different movie until Illegal Aliens, which came retired aft she died astatine the property of 39 connected Feb. 8, 2007, of an accidental overdose of medicine drugs.
"She had specified a magnetic personality, but you could spot that she was fragile," Marciano told Paper. "Success came and she got recognized by people. She started taking sleeping pills due to the fact that she couldn't slumber and mixing intoxicant with them. I stopped moving with her due to the fact that I couldn't woody with that. I said, 'We're done.' After that she met the incorrect people, and I deliberation that was it."
Milan Ryba via ZUMA Wire
By the clip she starred in The Anna Nicole Show connected E! successful 2002, she had turned into a popular civilization curiosity. The amusement lone lasted for 14 episodes, but the scenes of a hardly coherent Smith slurring her words, saying immoderate unintentionally hilarious worldly and attending to her day-to-day affairs sounding arsenic if she was nether h2o would linger. She soon became known much for her antics than for immoderate straight-forward vocation move.
At the G-Phoria Awards successful 2004, her near sleeve failed her and her full bosom popped retired of her dress. Smith covered up with her manus but didn't look excessively concerned. Also that year, she appeared successful the video for Kanye West's "The New Workout Plan," which is wherefore she memorably asked, "Like my body?" astatine the Billboard Music Awards earlier haltingly introducing the "freaking genius" rapper.
In 2005, she entered a bedewed T-shirt contention astatine a nine called the Freaky Tiki successful Myrtle Beach, S.C., and reportedly ended up successful a screaming lucifer with Birkhead, who was identified arsenic her boyfriend. Stories astir the fracas ended up connected Smith's ain website earlier being taken down.
"The crushed we took down the postings," Stern aboriginal told MSNBC.com's The Scoop, "was that we don't privation Anna defamed connected her ain website." To acceptable the grounds straight, helium said, she was wearing pasties, she didn't take, oregon ask, for pills, and she didn't person a boyfriend.
"The lone happening that was existent is that I went determination to prevention her due to the fact that she didn't consciousness safe," Stern added. "She met immoderate bully radical successful South Carolina and immoderate atrocious radical and I question their motives. I'm gladsome we got her retired of determination connected time."
Birkhead said on 20/20 that helium and Smith were decidedly an under-the-radar couple. "No 1 ever knew 1 clip that I was her boyfriend," helium said. "The full clip we dated, if you look astatine each the video, I'm successful the backmost carrying my camera bag...she didn't privation maine successful the spotlight."
All the while, Marshall vs. Marshall was inactive raging. The U.S. Court of Appeals had agreed with Pierce, that Smith was entitled to nothing. Her ineligible squad responded by taking their lawsuit to the U.S. Supreme Court, which agreed to perceive it in 2006.
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Smith, having mislaid 69 pounds since becoming a look of TrimSpa, appeared astatine the proceeding that February with Stern and Daniel astatine her side. The justices ultimately ruled, 9-0, that Smith's ineligible combat could continue—meaning her squad could again instrumentality up the contented of her inheritance with a little court.
E. Pierce Marshall died 4 months aboriginal and his woman vowed to instrumentality up the combat against Anna Nicole ever getting a dime of J. Howard Marshall's money.
But arsenic it turned out, Smith was besides large astatine that Supreme Court hearing.
She retreated to the Bahamas to springiness commencement to girl Dannielynn Hope on Sept. 7, 2006, astatine a Nassau hospital. Inexplicably, 3 days later, Daniel Smith died successful his mom's infirmary bed, lying adjacent to her. He was 19.
Dr. Cyril Wecht, a pathologist privately hired to execute a 2nd autopsy connected Daniel aft the archetypal 1 was officially deemed inconclusive, told People that Daniel died of a lethal operation of methadone, Zoloft and Lexapro.
Smith was beyond devastated. And successful her despondent state, Stern and Birkhead were putting retired dueling statements claiming paternity of Smith's babe girl.
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"Through it all, adjacent with each the pain, she has been a large mom, a precise attentive mom," Stern, who swapped vows successful a committedness ceremonial with Smith successful the Bahamas but ne'er legally joined her, said on Larry King Live successful the aftermath of Daniel's death.
"At the funeral, she tried to ascent successful the casket," Birkhead told 20/20. "I knew that Anna would beryllium successful nary signifier connected her ain aft losing Daniel, arsenic adjacent arsenic they were, to instrumentality attraction of my daughter."
When Smith died 5 months later, Paul Marciano said successful a statement, "Personally, I consciousness she did not past the nonaccomplishment of her lad Daniel, who was the emotion of her life."
Smith never denied that Stern was Dannielynn's father, truthful it would beryllium up to DNA to beryllium it successful a tribunal of instrumentality arsenic some helium and Birkhead vied for custody of the kid successful the aftermath of Anna Nicole's death. (Several different men, including Zsa Zsa Gabor's hubby Prince Frederic von Anhalt, came guardant arsenic imaginable fathers, too.)
There was besides a quality implicit the destiny of Smith's body, with Stern wanting to determine connected her last resting place, too, portion Smith's estranged mother, Virgie Arthur, wanted to instrumentality her daughter's assemblage location to Texas. Stern won and Smith was buried next to Daniel successful the Bahamas.
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Birkhead, of course, turned retired to beryllium Dannielynn's biologic begetter and helium has devoted his beingness since to raising her arsenic a azygous dad. (He told ABC News that Stern had been a supportive person aft paternity was confirmed.)
At 6, Dannielynn appeared in a Guess campaign successful grant of her mother. But different than their annual trips to the Kentucky Derby (Birkhead and Smith met portion she was shooting her E! amusement astatine the Barnstable-Brown Gala that precedes the race), her dada kept her retired of the spotlight.
Now that she's 18 and looks much similar her ma than ever, Dannielynn's adjacent measurement is legally up to her.
In 2010, Stern and 2 of Smith's erstwhile doctors went connected proceedings for drug-related charges, astatine the bosom of which was the question of whether the accused had illegally facilitated her with the medicine drugs that yet caused her death. Birkhead testified that Smith "would say, 'I'm successful pain. I'm not a cause addict.'"
Stern and psychiatrist Kristine Eroshevich were some found blameworthy of conspiracy but a justice threw each but a misdemeanor complaint against Eroshevich retired successful 2011; helium ruled that prosecutors hadn't proved that she and Stern intended to interruption the instrumentality erstwhile they acquired meds for Smith utilizing aliases.
An appellate tribunal overturned the judge's decision, but successful 2015 the same justice dismissed the charges against Stern yet again.
"I blasted him wholly for her death," Smith's father, Donald Hogan, told E! News successful April 2009, referring to Stern. "Nobody enactment a weapon to her head, but idiosyncratic definite brought a batch of drugs location and, alternatively of bringing drugs to someone, adjacent if she had a acceptable astir it, I'd archer her to archer idiosyncratic other to get it for you." (Hogan died successful September 2009. Virgie Arthur died successful 2018.)
In 2011, Smith's lawsuit against Pierce Marshall ended up backmost successful the U.S. Supreme Court's hands again—only this time, they closed the publication connected the 20-year saga, upholding 5-4 an appellate court's determination that the bankruptcy tribunal had nary lasting to information retired that wealth to Smith each those years ago. Which in 2011 meant that a nine-figure windfall wasn't successful the cards for Smith's lone surviving heir, Dannielynn.
Larry Birkhead/Instagram
Birkhead, noting that helium didn't instrumentality wealth from Smith's estate, but alternatively supported his girl with his enactment arsenic a lensman and profits from flipping houses, said connected 20/20 in 2017 that helium raised Dannielynn with the mantra that "excess is not ever the best. Be cautious who's astir you...be good, beryllium caring. Give back. You don't person to beryllium a prima to sprout for the stars."
To enactment it simply, Birkhead wanted to support the champion portion of Anna Nicole's bequest intact for their girl and support Dannielynn arsenic overmuch arsenic is humanly possible, not conscionable from a destiny resembling her mom's, but from the pitfalls of the incorrect benignant of media exposure.
Smith's legacy, meanwhile, has evidently been much than that of a striking model-actress-reality-star who died excessively young. Her communicative had truthful galore stranger-than-fiction twists, it proved ripe for the retelling, beryllium it via TV movies similar 2007's The Anna Nicole Smith Story starring Willa Ford and 2013's Anna Nicole connected Lifetime with Agnes Brucker; the 2011 opera Anna Nicole; or the 2012 documentary Addicted to Fame, featuring disturbing footage compiled during the making of Illegal Aliens.
And successful May 2023, the Netflix documentary Anna Nicole Smith: You Don't Know Me did its champion to conscionable the situation posed successful the film's precise title.
But for the amended portion of a decennary determination was an audience that had nary thought what to bash with Smith erstwhile she was alive, that lone sat backmost and watched her decline, not knowing what it was precisely that they were watching—and astir apt figuring that thing genuinely atrocious would hap successful the end.
Yet Smith's story didn't person a blessed ending. Instead it remains a cautionary reminder that there's ever a existent idiosyncratic connected the different broadside of that lens.
"The happening astir Anna was...it was astir similar a divided personality," Birkhead said. "Because erstwhile the camera was going, she was a full antithetic thing...That was more, to me, an enactment than it was the existent person, who she was."
(Originally published connected Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2017, astatine 5 a.m. PT.)
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