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.
What a tragic end to a tragic life. Really sad.
One can only imagine how "The Soup" is going to handle this one...
Glad I'm not part of that family. Doesn't sound too good health wise.
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Forgettable? That's your review? Remarkable since it was never completed and nobody saw it. Kind of taints the rest of your post. (btw...anyone can cut and paste from imdb)
Well, at least this time the national news media *might* have figured out how to pronounce Mexia correctly.
They didn't in the last retrospective on her son's death.
Not really. Hubbu likely gets it all with perhaps a "Trust" clause for the baby. The baby was born "out of wedlock", so technically, until a DNA test proves him the father, he is not. Could get really, really interesting if hubby is not the father.
Actually I would think Anna looked more like Jayne Mansfield.
People will "kill" for money. But it may be difficult to prove given her drug and drinking history. Listing any death like hers as suicide is ALWAYS an unacceptable conclusion. Bet she gets cremated right after the autopsy.
How do you know that she had "no regard"? She appeared to love her son very much.
OP said MM was "pudgy"? Now I've seen just about everything!
Actually, what if neither one of those fellows is the father of her child? Another spin to the tawdry tale.
Time for Goren and Eames to step in.
Who in the world is *with* the baby right now? Somebody hired by Stern? Ye gods and little fishes.
Please, somebody somewhere with some sense and legal authority, go get that child's DNA before she disappears!
I have "River of No Return". She stunk. It was laughable.
I felt sorry for her, I don't know if it was an act but she was way off my goofy meter. Troubled life though.
I just heard that addled old creep Hefner released a statement saying his prayers were with her family etc. I thought he was an atheist... Who do they pray to?
This ought to make some movie someday. Whenever 474 million dollars is in the equation, who knows? People around these bucks are dropping like flies. Who else could be the daddy? Will we ever really know?
I think Marilyn Monroe never got the credit her talent deserved.
I feel sad for everyone involved with her, including her. Even though she was ultimately responsible for her situation, her life was really a "train wreck." She started as a stripper, then model, then Playboy Playmate, then "celebrity." I once saw about 4 minutes of her "reality" show: It was painful to watch. She seemed so completely wasted, and the entire show seemed to be one long joke on her. Her son died shortly after the birth of her baby. Now, her baby has lost her mother. This is a terribly sad situation.
Mark
Live fast, die young.
and.... the child is in the Bahama's where only Stern now has access to her.
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