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.
I agree. I swear I saw this entire story at some point on Diagnosis Murder, or Murder She Wrote, or Columbo, or Perry Mason, or...
"The judge here in the states only ruled today that she has to give DNA for the baby on February 23rd. I wonder about the coincidence of this."
That is interesting ... .
For being such a "good mother" ... I wonder why the baby was NOT with her. Isn't the little girl only four months old?
"Wouldn't that be something if she died from the same thing as her son did?"
And Howard Stern near by at when both DIED?
Interesting ... .
No way they would set foot in the states with the baby, Debra Opri would have had her DNA test as soon as they walked out of the airport,
I believe that also I feel sorry for her newborn little girl. I really think that she has not been the same since she lost her elder son. RIP.
When she did her reality show she was very fat...and she was DEFINITELY doing drugs then. DEFINITELY. The TrimSpa came after.
"And Howard Stern near by at when both DIED?"
I read an article that said Howard Stern was with her when she passed out, the article went on to say she has passed out several times. Why then was she still in her room. She should have been in the hospital.
Where was her nurse? Lots of questions.
Howard Stern is not looking so good.
Drudge has some updates on her condition before she died.
On the radio, they said that after her sons death, her mother made a statement that Anna should watch her back as she could be next! Maybe a lot of truth in mothers statement!
But in Texas, the spouse is entitled to 50% of everything accumulated during the marriage and property brought into the marriage is separate property. How do you value unrealized capital gains that existed when Marshall died? She married him just before the stock market boom, but after his death the stocks declined. I resent that the US Supreme court took this case. It was a federal bankruptcy court in California that misapplied Texas law regarding Marshall's estate. I really resent that the Bush administration filed an amicus brief in the case siding with Anna Nicole Smith.
But in Texas, the spouse is entitled to 50% of everything accumulated during the marriage and property brought into the marriage is separate property. How do you value unrealized capital gains that existed when Marshall died? She married him just before the stock market boom, but after his death the stocks declined. I resent that the US Supreme court took this case. It was a federal bankruptcy court in California that misapplied Texas law regarding Marshall's estate. I really resent that the Bush administration filed an amicus brief in the case siding with Anna Nicole Smith.
Our Princess Di is dead....
"I wish I could have known you,
but I was just a kid,
not an 80 year old billionaire,
who's wheelchair wouldn't rid...."
Well wouldn't that make the whole case moot?
I was poor before I had any money, and I carried the lessons with me. I can still whip up a pot of lentils with a side of greens and sardines, and am proud of it. Along the way I learned circumspection and moderation, perhaps because I had to. Some come into money and go buck fool. It's too bad.
Is that a wedding ring on her finger? The expression on his face is saying "make sure you get the poison at the bottom."
"manipulative sociopath lawyer" or "typical lawyer"?
I was muddling the same thoughts. If he loved her so much, why wouldn't he convince her to go to rehab?? Ten to one, he did just the opposite so it wouldn't interfere with her. And while she was pregnant?? Her doctor didn't report her?? Someone wrote that the baby had traces in her system.
And the moral is...money just doesn't buy happiness.
--
No, it doesn't.
I was born poor, and plan to die that way as well, and if I am lucky, will help to make a lot of other people rich and happy along the way..
I want 'em well-fed and healthy so they can lug me to my plot. ;-)
Trying to prove someone killed a druggie with an overdose is next to impossible.
Wouldn't be surprised if hubby ordered a hit. He was around for the son's death. He was "where" this time??
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