The popular sex symbol, pin-up model and actress Anna Nicole Smith would be celebrating her 50th birthday today if not for her shocking death10 years ago.
While Smith, born Vickie Lynn Hogan, only lived 39 years, most of them were chock-full of fun, travel and various successes — and oftentimes spontaneity.
Here’s a look some of the lesser-known facts about the blonde bombshell who certainly spent the majority of her life in the spotlight.
1. Dropout turned fried chicken aficionado
Smith was a high school dropout turned fried chicken restaurant employee. In that capacity, she met restaurant cook Billy Wayne Smith. Just months later, in April 1985, the two were married.
A product of that marriage, Daniel Wayne Smith, was born shortly thereafter, in January 1986.
After working as a stripper and sending photos to Playboy Magazine, Smith began to catch on in the modeling world. She bore a striking resemblance to Jayne Mansfield, a likeness advertisers no doubt capitalized on.
She became a Playboy Playmate of the Year in 1993. She also appeared in New York magazine, Vanity Fair, Harper’s Bazaar and W, among others.
In 1994, Smith sued for $5 million over the cover photo used on an issue of New York magazine – with a title reading “White Trash Nation.” The lawsuit was reportedly settled.
2. Marriage to octogenarian was not consummated
Another facet of her life that was sort of expedited in the early-1990s was her finances. That is thanks in part to octogenarian oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall.
This wasn’t in a platonic, fatherly sort of way. The two were married June 27, 1994 — with Marshall allegedly vocally gifting Smith a large portion of his billion-dollar estate (something she argued in court).
Smith and Howard reportedly never consummated the marriage — though pictures of Smith exist as she playfully lies on top of an obviously frail Marshall.
When he died at 90 in 1995, the estate case was eventually brought to court — in a vicious battle between Marshall’s son, E. Pierce Marshall, and Smith, who was not named in the will (along with J. Howard Marshall III, who was disinherited by his father).
3. Case hits the top court
The ensuing, protracted legal battle went across multiple courts and jurisdictions. From 2005-06, the U.S. Supreme Court even heard the appeal of a Circuit Court ruling. It also issued a ruling in 2011, following Smith’s 2007 prescription-drug-related death. Attempts from the Smith estate to draw money from Marshall’s estate were rejected.
What’s more, Smith became embroiled in a lengthy custody battle over the paternity of her second born, Dannielynn Birkhead.
4. Lawyer listed on birth certificate
While pregnant with Dannielynn, Smith and her crew moved to the Bahamas. She later exchanged vows with lawyer/partner Howard K. Stern, though the two weren’t legally married.
In September 2006, at the time of her daughter’s birth, Smith suffered a crushing blow: the death of her son, Daniel, at the age of 20, from an accidental drug overdose. This is a case his grandmother, Virgie Arthur, 65, recently called suspicious, according to the Daily Mail, which interviewed Arthur for the 10-year mark of Smith’s passing. Daniel’s death occurred in Smith’s hospital room as he was visiting his new stepsister.
Following this loss, in a horribly sad moment at Daniel’s funeral, Smith allegedly tried to climb into the coffin with him, still shaken from the death.
Then, on Feb. 8, 2007, while in Room 607 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Fla., Smith was found dead from a cause later attributed to a prescription drug overdose (following an investigation by Broward County Medical Examiner Dr. Joshua Perper, who said that Smith had mixed the sleeping medication chloral hydrate with other prescription meds).
Following her death, the J. Howard Marshall battle and the paternity case continued. Birkhead, a photographer, along with Stern, a previous boyfriend Mark Hatten, and even Zsa Zsa Gabor’s husband Frederic Prinz von Anhalt, had come forward as possible fathers.
A ruling from a Bahamian judge on April 10, 2007 declared Birkhead the father — via DNA tests. Stern, who was listed on Dannielynn’s birth certificate as the father, did not contest the results. Birkhead left the Bahamas with the baby to live in Louisville, Ky.
5. Sporadic film career
Smith’s last film appearance was in a direct-to-video B movie called “Illegal Aliens,” featuring Smith as “Lucy.” It was released posthumously, to negative reviews.
Other credits on her filmography include: “Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult,” “To the Limit,” “Skyscraper” and “Wasabi Tuna.”
While she remained popular throughout the ’90s, her onscreen appearances were largely maligned by critics. Smith also had a reality show on E! from 2002-04.
