Other name(s) Vickie Lynn Hogan
Vickie Lynn Marshall
Anna Nicole
Vickie Smith
Vicki Smith
Occupation model, actress, spokeswoman
Spouse(s) Billy Smith (1985—1993)
J. Howard Marshall II
Personal life
Birth of daughter
Smith announced on June 1, 2006, in a video clip posted on her official website that she was pregnant. "Let me stop all the rumors," she said, while floating on an inflatable raft in a swimming pool. "Yes, I am pregnant. I'm happy, I'm very, very happy about it. Everything's goin' really, really good and I'll be checking in and out periodically on the web, and I'll let you see me as I'm growing."
Birth of daughter
Smith announced on June 1, 2006, in a video clip posted on her official website that she was pregnant. "Let me stop all the rumors," she said, while floating on an inflatable raft in a swimming pool. "Yes, I am pregnant. I'm happy, I'm very, very happy about it. Everything's goin' really, really good and I'll be checking in and out periodically on the web, and I'll let you see me as I'm growing."
Though her announcement did not provide any details, in an interview with Larry King on CNN's Larry King Live after her daughter's birth and her son's death, Smith's longtime personal attorney Howard K. Stern said that he and Smith had been in a secret relationship for "a very long time" and due to the timing of the pregnancy, was confident that he was the father of the baby. Her ex-boyfriend, entertainment photojournalist Larry Birkhead, steadfastly maintained that he was the baby's father and filed a lawsuit to establish paternity. Smith's daughter, Dannielynn Hope Marshall Stern, was born September 7, 2006, at Doctors Hospital in Nassau, Bahamas. The Bahamian birth certificate recorded the father as Howard K. Stern.
A judge in the United States ordered that DNA tests be performed to determine the biological father of Dannielynn. Following Smith's death, Debra Opri, the lawyer for Larry Birkhead, asked for an emergency DNA sample to be taken from the corpse. Smith's lawyer, Ron Rale objected strongly to this request. The request was denied by a judge, who instead ordered Smith's body preserved until February 20.
According to a story published in the New York Daily News, Donna Hogan, Smith's younger half-sister, has said that the model froze the sperm of her second husband, Marshall, prior to his death. The newspaper said that Hogan wrote in her unpublished manuscript about her sister, entitled Train Wreck, that "To her family, she hinted that she had used the old man's frozen sperm, and would be giving birth to Howard Marshall's child".[dead link] However, the publisher of Hogan's book described the newspaper's claims as a hoax. On February 9, 2007, Zsa Zsa Gabor's husband Frédéric Prinz von Anhalt said that he had a decade-long affair with Smith and could potentially be the father of her infant girl, Dannielynn. Alexander Denk, a former bodyguard for Anna Nicole Smith, reportedly told the tabloid television program Extra that he had an affair with his former employer, and that it was possible he could be Dannielynn's father. Mark Hatten aka Mark "Hollywood" Hatten also came forward to claim that he was the father of Anna Nicole Smith's little girl, Dannielynn.
After Smith's death, TMZ.com reported that Smith had been given a prescription for methadone under a false name while she was in her eighth month of pregnancy. The Medical Board of California launched a review into the matter; the prescribing doctor, Sandeep Kapoor, said his treatment was "sound and appropriate."
On April 10, 2007, a Bahamanian judge ruled Larry Birkhead, a former boyfriend, as the father of Dannielynn. DNA tests had established Birkhead as the father, with 99.99% certainty. Commenting on the revelation, Birkhead stated, "I hate to be the one to tell you this but, I told you so. I'm the father...My baby's going to be coming home pretty soon." Birkhead subsequently applied for an amended birth certificate listing him as the father, which paved the way for him to obtain a passport for the baby and him to leave for the United States. Howard K. Stern did not contest the DNA results or the ruling. Subsequent to the ruling, Birkhead returned to the United States with the baby. Virgie Arthur's appeal of the ruling was later denied and she was ordered to pay costs.
Death of son
Smith's 20-year-old son, Daniel Smith, died on September 10, 2006 in his mother's hospital room while visiting her and his newborn sister. After the coroner labeled the death "reserved," Smith hired forensic pathologist Cyril Wecht to perform a second autopsy.
His death certificate was issued on September 21, 2006, so that he could be buried. While Smith remained in the Bahamas with Dannielynn and Stern, Daniel's family in the United States, including his father, Billy Smith, gathered with friends on October 7, 2006, in Mexia, Texas, for a memorial service. Daniel was buried at Lake View Cemetery on New Providence Bahamas, on October 19, 2006, almost six weeks after his death. According to Howard K. Stern, Smith's long-time companion, she was devastated over her son's death. "Anna and Daniel were inseparable. Daniel was without question the most important person in Anna’s life," Stern told Circuit Judge Larry Seidlin during his testimony in the legal battle after the model’s death. "At Daniel’s funeral, she had them open the coffin and tried to climb inside. She said that 'if Daniel has to be buried, I want to be buried with him,' Stern testified. "She was ready to go down with him." Howard K. Stern revealed that "Anna saw herself as both mother and father to Daniel. From the time I met her, everything was for Daniel. I would say that physically, she died last week, but in a lot of ways, emotionally she died when Daniel died," he added.
Dr. Wecht announced on Larry King Live that the autopsy he performed showed that Daniel died from a lethal combination of Zoloft, Lexapro and methadone. Although he explained that methadone is used in the treatment of heroin and morphine addiction, Wecht said he had no information to make any conclusion why Daniel was using the drug. On February 8, 2007, Wecht said on Fox News that he still had no information about how Daniel obtained methadone.
Commitment ceremony with Stern
On September 28, 2006, Smith and Howard K. Stern exchanged vows and rings in an informal commitment ceremony aboard the 41-foot catamaran Margaritaville off the coast of the Bahamas. She wore a white dress and carried a bouquet of red roses, while he wore a black dress suit with white shirt. Although they pledged their love and made a commitment to be there for one another before a Baptist minister, no marriage certificate was issued and the ceremony is not legally binding.
After the ceremony, they landed on the island of Sandy Kay where they had a party and celebrated with champagne and apple cider that had been brought over for the occasion by sailboat.
Regarding the questionable timing of the ceremony, Smith's attorney in Nassau, stated, "They needed a little adrenaline boost because things have been so hectic and devastating in their life recently," The photos of their ceremony were sold through Getty Images to People Magazine for around $1,000,000. sidency in the Bahamas.
Anna Nicole Smith and Howard K. Stern were reportedly staying in the Bahamas to avoid paternity testing of her daughter in the United States. In late 2006, Smith was granted permanent resident status in the Bahamas by Immigration Minister Shane Gibson. On February 11, 2007, newspaper photographs were published showing Smith lying clothed in bed in an embrace with Gibson. Opposition politicians in the Bahamas accused the minister of improper behavior. Gibson resigned as a result of the controversy and claimed that the photos, taken by Stern, were innocent.
The basis of Smith's permanent residency status was the claim that she owned a $900,000 mansion, which she said was given to her by a former boyfriend, real estate developer G. Ben Thompson of South Carolina. Thompson asserted that he loaned Smith the finances to purchase the property, but that she failed to repay the loan, and was attempting to regain control of the property. Thompson sued to evict Smith from the property in Bahama Court, and received a default judgment against her when she failed to respond to the eviction, or appear in court on November 28, 2006. Ford Shelley, son-in-law of G. Ben Thompson, claimed that methadone was found in Anna's bedroom refrigerator while the mansion was being reclaimed. A photograph provided by TMZ shows a large bottle of methadone along with vials of injectable cyanocobalamin in her refrigerator.
Death and funeral
On February 8, 2007, Smith was found unresponsive in room 607 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. Tasma Brighthaupt, a friend of Smith who was a trained emergency nurse performed CPR for 15 minutes until her husband, Maurice "Big Moe" Brighthaupt, Smith's friend and bodyguard took over CPR. He had frantically driven back to the hotel after being notified by his wife of Smith's condition. According to Seminole Police Chief Charlie Tiger, at 1:38 p.m. (18:38 UTC) Maurice Brighthaupt, who was also a trained paramedic, called the hotel front desk from her sixth floor room. The front desk in turn called security, who then called 911. At 1:45 p.m. the bodyguard administered CPR until paramedics arrived and she was rushed to Memorial Regional Hospital at 2:10 p.m and pronounced dead on arrival at 2:49 p.m.
A phone call was released to the public on February 13, 2007 involving Seminole police and the local 911 operators, saying:
We need assistance to Room 607 at the Hard Rock. It's in reference to a white female. She's not breathing and not responsive...actually, it's Anna Nicole Smith.
A phone call was released to the public on February 13, 2007 involving Seminole police and the local 911 operators, saying:
We need assistance to Room 607 at the Hard Rock. It's in reference to a white female. She's not breathing and not responsive...actually, it's Anna Nicole Smith.
After Smith's death, various legal battles began regarding: the will, the paternity of her daughter, and her final resting place, which resulted in the delay of her burial. Smith was finally buried March 2, 2007 at Nassau's Lakeview Memorial Gardens and Mausoleum in a plot adjacent to her son, Daniel. Daniel's father reportedly wants his son exhumed and reburied in his home state of Texas.
After a seven week investigation led by Broward County Medical Examiner and Forensic Pathologist Dr. Joshua Perper in combination with the Seminole police and several independent forensic pathologists and toxicologists, Dr. Perper announced that Smith died of "combined drug intoxication" with the sleeping medication chloral hydrate as the "major component." No illegal drugs were found in her system. The official report states that her death was not considered to be due to homicide, suicide, or natural causes. The full investigative report has been made public and can be found online. Additionally, an official copy of the autopsy report was publicly released on March 26, 2007 and can be found online.
Ultimately her death was ruled an accidental drug overdose of the sedative chloral hydrate that became increasingly lethal when combined with other prescription drugs in her system, specifically 4 benzodiazepines: Klonopin (Clonazepam), Ativan (Lorazepam), Serax (Oxazepam), and Valium (Diazepam). Furthermore, she had taken Benadryl (Diphenhydramine) and Topamax (Toprimate), an anticonvulsant GABA agonist, which likely contributed to the sedative effect of chloral hydrate and the benzodiazepines. Although the individual levels of any of the benzodiazepines in her system would not have been sufficient to cause death, their combination with a high dose of chloral hydrate led to her overdose. The autopsy report indicates that chloral hydrate was the "toxic/lethal" drug, but it is difficult to know if chloral hydrate ingestion would have killed her alone, since Dr. Perper indicated (in the March 26 press conference) that she had built up a tolerance to the drug and took more than the average person. He indicated that she took about 3 tablespoons, whereas the normal dosage is between 1 and 2 teaspoons. Despite rumors of methadone use due to its involvement in her son's death, Dr. Perper only found methadone in her bile, indicating that it could only have been ingested 2-3 days prior to her death and was not a contributing factor. The autopsy report indicates that abscesses of buttocks (presumably from prior injections of vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin) and human growth hormone), and viral enteritis were contributory causes of death. Tests for influenza A and B were negative.
It was reported that 8 of the 11 drugs in Anna Nicole Smith's system, including the chloral hydrate, were prescribed to Howard K. Stern, not Anna Nicole. Additionally, two of the medicines were written for Alex Katz and one was written for Anna Nicole's friend and psychiatrist, Dr. Khristine Eroshevitz. Dr. Perper acknowledged that all 11 prescriptions were written by Dr. Eroshevitz herself.
Anna Nicole's will, drawn up in April 2001, named her son Daniel as the sole beneficiary of her estate, specifically excluded other children, and named Howard K. Stern as the executor. It indicated personal property valued at $10,000 and real property valued at $1.8 million (with a $1.1 million mortgage) at the time of death. A petition to probate Smith's will was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The petition to probate lists Larry Birkhead as a party with interest to Anna's estate.
Film
The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) - Za-Za
Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult (1994) - Tanya Peters
To the Limit (1995) - Colette Dubois/Vickie Linn
Skyscraper (1997) - Carrie Wisk
Wasabi Tuna (2003) - Herself
Be Cool (2005) - Herself
Illegal Aliens (2007) - Lucy (posthumously released)
Television
The Naked Truth (1995) episode: Wilde Again - Herself
Sin City Spectacular (1998)
Veronica's Closet (1999) episode: Veronica's Wedding Bell Blues - Donna
Ally McBeal (1999) episode: Pyramids on the Nile - Myra Jacobs
N.Y.U.K. (2000) - Dr. Anita Hugg
The Anna Nicole Show (2002-2004) - Herself
Comedy Central Roast of Pamela Anderson (2005) - Herself (in audience)
Music
In 1993, Smith appeared in the music video for Bryan Ferry's single "Will You Love Me Tomorrow".
In 1997, Smith did a remake and music video of the Marilyn Monroe song "My Heart Belongs To Daddy", the video made by Nicolaï Lo Russo in France.
In 1997, Smith appeared in the music video for Supertramp's single "You Win, I Lose".
In 2004, Smith appeared in the music video for Kanye West's single "The New Workout Plan".
Playboy special editions
Playboy's More to Love Playmate Vol. 9 June 1993 - cover.
Playboy's Nudes December 1993 - page 4.
Playboy's Bathing Beauties March 1994 - Stephen Wayda, page 5.
Other
On the NBC soap opera Passions, a character based on Smith by the name Hanna Nicola Smythe made an appearance.
An animated version of Smith appears as a playable character in the video game version of Celebrity Deathmatch.
