Posted on 02/08/2007 1:17:38 PM PST by NormsRevenge
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. - Anna Nicole Smith, the former Playboy playmate whose bizarre life careened from marrying an octogenarian billionaire to the untimely death of her son, died Thursday after collapsing at a South Florida hotel, one of her lawyers said.
Smith, 39, collapsed and was unresponsive while staying at the Seminole Hard Rock Cafe Hotel and Casino, said the attorney, Ron Rale. She was rushed to a hospital.
"She checked in Monday at 8 p.m. as a guest. She was due to check out tomorrow," said Danielle Giordaano, a spokeswoman for the hotel.
Smith had been a tabloid staple even before she became Playboy's playmate of the year in 1993. Readers were fascinated by her bombshell good looks, her marriage to an elderly billionaire and subsequent court fight over his estate, her weight fluctuations, and last year, the sudden death of her 20-year-old son, Daniel Smith.
A former topless dancer, she made her name squeezing into Guess jeans. She resembled the late actress Marilyn Monroe, a similarity played up in her Guess magazine ads, billboards and department store displays.
In 1994, she married 89-year-old oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II, the head of oil-based Koch Industries, which is part of a family fortune worth at least $400 million.
He died in 1995, setting off a feud with her former stepson, E. Pierce Marshall, over whether she had a right to his estate.
A federal court in California awarded Smith $474 million in a complicated legal twist that began after she declared bankruptcy. That was later overturned.
But in May, the U.S. Supreme Court revived her case, ruling that she deserved another day in court in her battle with her former stepson.
The justices said only that federal courts in California could deal with her case despite a Texas state court ruling that Marshall was the sole heir to the estate.
Then, the stepson died June 20 at age 67. But the family said the court fight would continue.
Daniel Smith died Sept. 10 in his mother's hospital room in the Bahamas, just days after she gave birth to a daughter.
An American medical examiner hired by the family, Cyril Wecht, said he had methadone and two antidepressants in his system when he died. Low levels of the three drugs interacted to cause an accidental death, Wecht said.
Meanwhile, the paternity of her now 5-month-old daughter remained a matter of dispute.
She was born Vickie Lynn Hogan on Nov. 28, 1967, in Houston, one of six children of Donald Eugene and Virgie Hart Hogan.
She married Bill Smith in 1985, giving birth to Daniel before divorcing two years later.
Every time I've ever caught her on the idiotbox she seemed high as a kite.
Are you sure that she had two Oscar nominations? I didn't think that she had any.
I've never been a MM fan either. The "Happy Birthday Mr. President" moment wasn't sexy, it was a forced, stilted, caricature of sexiness.
"I have seen most, if not all, of her movies. IMHO, Marilyn was a fat broad with big boobs and virtually no talent. "
You obviously don't know the meaning of the word talent. I also doubt if you have seen more than 2 or 3 of her films.
Killed over an affair with GWB? Kennedy redux? She was George's secret drinking buddy?
How long can it be until the Left goes there...??????????
I wrote an article about her death:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/145341/anna_nicole_smith_is_dead_at_39.html
and her life:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/68074/the_allure_of_anna_nicole_smith.html
I feel so sad about this. To have had so much and to have lost it all - absolutely tragic. I feel such sadness for Anna Nicole, and for her baby daughter, Dannielynn. I'm sure this tragedy was preventable, which makes the loss even harder to tolerate.
Hephestus...Tantalus...Prometheus...Epimetheus...
You obviously don't know the meaning of the word talent. I also doubt if you have seen more than 2 or 3 of her films.
You're right Kirkwood, no one is allowed to have an opinion that differs from yours.
Thank you for making our choices so easy.
Never cared for her antics, but this is sad, nonetheless. She had a messed up life. The inmates at DU are having fits over this. One poster said the best and brightest die young, referring to Smith. Another compared her talents to Marilyn Monroe. Another called her the "peoples princess." Others are pissed off because this is diverting news from Bush`s "murdering our troops in Iraq." And others think Bush had a role in Smith`s death.
I feel very sorry for her.
I hope Howard K Stern get absolutely nothing out of this.
He is an enabler
I hope you were wearing your MOPP suit.
"You're right Kirkwood, no one is allowed to have an opinion that differs from yours. "
Never said to anyone they couldn't have an opinion, but I can point out when their opinion is totally wrong. This person clearly knows nothing about Marilyn Monroe and is spouting off ridiculous comments as if they were true. If you look at any biography on her life, you will see that she was never considered fat and untalented and she was one of the top box office draws of her time. All of the big talent in Hollywood wanted to work with her except near the end of her life when her mental illness (clinical depression) kept her from working.
I'm no big fan of Marilyn Monroe. I was seven when she died and I really had her confused with Mae West at the time. But in the years since then I have learned she was a talented actress. She could sing and dance too. The problem remains that Marilyn became a product - a fancy label - even before her death and certainly thereafter.
You will have to give Marilyn some credit. She was a plain-yet-beautiful girl with a lousy start in life who made it to Icon Forever status. She was smart, ambitious, and driven in her quest to become a star. She did all this while suffering a lifetime of emotional/mental illness.
Marilyn Monroe's legacy was in no way comparable to Anna Nicole Smith. And I have nothing against Anna Nicole. In fact, I was a fan. God rest her soul.
"Are you sure that she had two Oscar nominations? I didn't think that she had any."
Yes, for supporting actress in All About Eve and in The Asphalt Jungle. She also had a 3rd nomination from the British equivalent of the Oscars for the female lead in the Seven Year Itch.
Thanks so much for posting your links. The piece about her before she died was prescient as well. I will visit your other articles. I like your content and style. Nice work.
So she was a little early ...
"I really don't see what the fuss about Marilyn Monroe was about either - she's a pudgy lady and the face isn't that great. But obviously ideals of womanly beauty have changed in the last 50 yrs - we tend to favor thinner, more fit women even as we as a nation get fatter."
MM had a 22" waist. Not too many woman today are that thin. Her looks are deceiving because she was curvatious with what at the time was considered the idea female figure. She was not straight-waisted with small boyish hips as is currently popular.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.