from news.yahoo.com--

Anna Nicole Smith collapses, dies at 39

By SUZETTE LABOY, Associated Press Writer 6 minutes ago

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. - Anna Nicole Smith, the pneumatic blonde whose life played out as an extraordinary tabloid tale — jeans model, Playboy centerfold, widow of an octogenarian billionaire, reality-show subject, tragic mother — died Thursday after collapsing at a hotel. She was 39.

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/afp/200 ... rm5pQMpA--

She was stricken while staying at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino and was rushed to a hospital. Edwina Johnson, chief investigator of the Broward County Medical Examiner's Office, said the cause of death was under investigation and an autopsy would be done on Friday.

Just five months ago, Smith's 20-year-old son died suddenly in the Bahamas in what was believed to be a drug-related death.

Seminole Police Chief Charlie Tiger said a private nurse called 911 after finding Smith unresponsive in her sixth-floor room. He said Smith's bodyguard administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation about an hour before she was declared dead.

Through the '90s and into the new century, Smith was famous for being famous, a pop-culture punchline because of her up-and-down weight, her Marilyn Monroe looks, her exaggerated curves, her little-girl voice, her ditzy-blonde persona, and her over-the-top revealing outfits.

Recently, she lost a reported 69 pounds and became a spokeswoman for TrimSpa, a weight-loss supplement. On her reality show and other recent TV appearances, her speech was often slurred and she seemed out of it. Some critics said she seemed drugged-out.

Her former lawyer Lenard Leeds told the celebrity gossip Web site TMZ that Smith "always had problems with her weight going up and down, and there's no question she used alcohol." Leeds said it was no secret that "she had a very troubled life" and had "so many, many problems."

"She wanted to be like Marilyn her whole life and ironically died in a similar manner," Leeds said. Monroe died of a drug overdose at age 36 in 1962.

The Texas-born Smith was a topless dancer at strip club before she entered her photos in a search contest and made the cover of Playboy magazine in 1992. She became Playboy's playmate of the year in 1993.

She was also signed to a contract with Guess jeans, appearing in TV commercials, billboards and magazine ads.

In 1994, she married 89-year-old oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II of Koch Industries.

In a 2005 interview with ABC Smith recalled meeting Marshall at what she called a "gentleman's club' in Houston. "He had no will to live and I went over to see him," she said. "He got a little twinkle in his eyes, and he asked me to dance for him. And I did."

Marshall died in 1995 at age 90, setting off a feud with Smith's former stepson, E. Pierce Marshall, over whether she had a right to his estate.

A federal court in California awarded Smith $474 million. That was later overturned. But in May, the U.S. Supreme Court revived her case, ruling that she deserved another day in court.

The stepson died June 20 at age 67. But the family said the court fight would continue.

She starred in her own reality TV series, "The Anna Nicole Show," in 2002-04. Cameras followed her around as she sparred with her lawyer, hung out with her personal assistant and interior decorator, and cooed at her poodle, Sugar Pie. She also appeared in movies, performing a bit part in "The Hudsucker Proxy" in 1994.

After news came of Smith's death, G. Eric Brunstad Jr., the lawyer who represented Marshall, said in a statement: "We're very shocked by the news and extend the deepest condolences to her family."

In a statement, Playboy founder Hugh Hefner said: "I am very saddened to learn about Anna Nicole's passing. She was a dear friend who meant a great deal to the Playboy family and to me personally."

Smith's son, 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. Last month, a Bahamas magistrate scheduled a formal inquiry into the death for March 27.

Meanwhile, the paternity of her now 5-month-old daughter remained a matter of dispute. The birth certificate lists Dannielynn's father as attorney Howard K. Stern, Smith's most recent companion. Smith's ex-boyfriend Larry Birkhead was waging a legal challenge, saying he was the father.

Debra Opri, the attorney who filed his paternity suit, said Birkhead "is devastated. He is inconsolable, and we are taking steps now to protect the DNA testing of the child. The child is our No. 1 priority."

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.

"From my professional exposure to Anna Nicole, I can say she was always personable, down to earth and driven. All in all, a joy to have as a client," said Wayne Munroe, her Bahamian lawyer who has overseen the aftermath of her son's mysterious death in Nassau.

___

Associated Press Writer Ana Cholo in Los Angeles contributed to this story.

Anna Nicole Smith dies after collapse

Former model-reality TV star, 39, found unresponsive in Florida hotel room

Updated: 1 minute ago

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. - Anna Nicole Smith, the pneumatic blonde whose life played out as an extraordinary tabloid tale — jeans model, Playboy centerfold, widow of an octogenarian billionaire, reality-show subject, tragic mother — died Thursday after collapsing at a hotel. She was 39.

She was stricken while staying at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino and was rushed to a hospital. Edwina Johnson, chief investigator of the Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office, said the cause of death was under investigation and an autopsy would be done on Friday.

Just five months ago, Smith’s 20-year-old son died suddenly in the Bahamas in what was believed to be a drug-related death.

Seminole Police Chief Charlie Tiger said a private nurse called 911 after finding Smith unresponsive in her sixth-floor room. He said Smith’s bodyguard administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation about an hour before she was declared dead.

Through the ’90s and into the new century, Smith was famous for being famous, a pop-culture punchline because of her up-and-down weight, her Marilyn Monroe looks, her exaggerated curves, her little-girl voice, her ditzy-blonde persona, and her over-the-top revealing outfits.


Recently, she lost a reported 69 pounds and became a spokeswoman for TrimSpa, a weight-loss supplement. On her reality show and other recent TV appearances, her speech was often slurred and she seemed out of it. Some critics said she seemed drugged-out.

Her former lawyer Lenard Leeds told the celebrity gossip Web site TMZ that Smith “always had problems with her weight going up and down, and there’s no question she used alcohol.” Leeds said it was no secret that “she had a very troubled life” and had “so many, many problems.”

“She wanted to be like Marilyn her whole life and ironically died in a similar manner,” Leeds said. Monroe died of a drug overdose at age 36 in 1962.

The Texas-born Smith was a topless dancer at strip club before she entered her photos in a search contest and made the cover of Playboy magazine in 1992. She became Playboy’s playmate of the year in 1993.

She was also signed to a contract with Guess jeans, appearing in TV commercials, billboards and magazine ads.

In 1994, she married 89-year-old oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II of Koch Industries.

In a 2005 interview with ABC Smith recalled meeting Marshall at what she called a “gentleman’s club’ in Houston. “He had no will to live and I went over to see him,” she said. “He got a little twinkle in his eyes, and he asked me to dance for him. And I did.”

Marshall died in 1995 at age 90, setting off a feud with Smith’s former stepson, E. Pierce Marshall, over whether she had a right to his estate.

A federal court in California awarded Smith $474 million. That was later overturned. But in May, the U.S. Supreme Court revived her case, ruling that she deserved another day in court.

The stepson died June 20 at age 67. But the family said the court fight would continue.

from cnn.com--

King: Anna Nicole was 'genuine, special person'

POSTED: 5:36 p.m. EST, February 8, 2007



More on CNN TV: Watch "Larry King Live" for reaction from Anna Nicole Smith's family and friends. Tonight at 9 p.m. ET.

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- CNN's Larry King interviewed Anna Nicole Smith several times on his talk show and said the model and actress lived a short life but one worthy of being told in a feature film.

King talked with CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer on Thursday as news broke of Smith's death.

BLITZER: We're awaiting a news conference to emerge from that hospital in Hollywood, Florida, with some details. We don't know how many details, what they're going to say. But talk a little bit about this woman, Larry, that you've known. I know you're going to be doing a whole hour on this subject tonight.

KING: Yeah, thanks, Wolf. I've always liked Anna Nicole Smith. I first met her many years ago after the Playmate era where she was featured in Playboy. I liked her right away when I had her on the show. I went through the marriage to the elderly gentlemen [Texas oil baron J. Howard Marshall II], the weight gains up and down.

Always a special thing about her, even when she spoofed her on "Saturday Night Live."

She is an extraordinary pretty girl. The unusual thing is she did a painting that we have here in the house. She is kind of an amateur painter. I have an oil painting she has done here.

We've been involved recently in this contest over who fathered [her] little girl [Dannielynn Hope]. In fact, we have the lawyer for the gentleman here, Larry [Birkhead], who claims he is the father and we have [lawyer] Howard K. Stern claiming he is the father. Now we have a little girl who is kind of lost in all this. It's really, really, really sad, Wolf.

I think that, you know, she was a special person; she was an unusual person. She was genuine; she was funny; she had some class. I feel very, very sorry for everybody concerned, but mostly for that little girl.

BLITZER: And [Anna Nicole] went through a real, real personal tragedy with the loss of her grown son [Daniel]. Talk a little bit about that, Larry. Because it came almost around exactly the time of the birth of this little baby girl.

KING: I think it was a day and a half apart, and she loved her son. I met her son once when she came to our studios in L.A. He accompanied her. He was a good-looking boy, handsome young man. What tragedy befell this woman? Can you imagine to lose a boy right after you give birth to a girl? I couldn't fathom that. I could not fathom how she went on.

BLITZER: What do we know about the circumstances of her son?

KING: I think there was a question of a drug overdose. I don't know if it was ever clear because in -- they had a lot of problems with the autopsy and a lot of questions concerning what is the actual cause of the death, who was in the room. I know the story was he was at her bedside. Do you remember that, Wolf?

BLITZER: Right. I'm just reading here he was 20 years old, Daniel Smith and died suddenly on September 10, 2006, in his mother's hospital room while visiting her and his newborn sister. That happened in Nassau, Bahamas, back in September.

KING: Could you imagine anything sadder than that? I can't. I can't. I can't.

BLITZER: This followed several years of litigation involving the money, the millions, hundreds of millions of dollars that was left in the estate of her -- he was well into his 90s by the time he passed away, J. Howard Marshall.

KING: And we forget she won a historic Supreme Court case, turned her down from the bankruptcy court in Texas and the court 9-0, they haven't heard it yet. Well, maybe they've just heard it. Ruled in her favor.

The thinking was that she might have settled this before it went back to the Houston court and an enormous amount of money would have been coming her way.

BLITZER: She was only married to J. Howard Marshall for 14 months. She got married in '94. He passed away in 1995. But left the money, if not all of it, most of it to her as opposed to his other children.

KING: Correct. They are the one that filed the suit. They won in the lower court but [the Supreme Court] ruled in her favor and it went back and it's in Houston. I don't know if they've heard it yet in Houston, if there are settlement hearings, et cetera. What a story.

BLITZER: An amazing story. I know that you can bring some unique insight because you actually knew this woman who was born in very, very humble origins down in Texas and becomes a Playmate, a Playboy Playmate of the year in 1993 and then marries this very fabulously wealthy 89-year-old man.

KING: It's a story for the books. It's a story that will be written about and talked about. I imagine a major motion picture about it.

A friend of mine has an interesting conspiracy theory that her son Daniel Smith is the father of her daughter Dannielynn Hope. I am NOT mentioning this to cause a sensation, but to illustrate the fact that if this were true, it does answer a lot of questions.