Farewell, Anna Nicole Smith. You’ll be missed.
Alas, the 39-year-old former model and reality television star died yesterday after collapsing in a Florida hotel room. This appears to be the final turn in Smith’s bizarre life – she somehow managed to fit in more drama than someone twice her age.
On the Internet, speculation is already swirling around the death of the soft-core pornography vixen, but the official cause is unknown at this time.
Born Vickie Lynn Hogan, the country girl from Houston transformed herself into a blonde, big-breasted bombshell who found fame on the pages of Playboy magazine. She fell into fortune when she met multimillionaire Howard Marshall II during a striptease. They were married less than three years later.
While Smith skyrocketed to fame as a voluptuous Marylin Monroe look-alike poster girl for Guess, her slide back into obscurity was almost as quick. She bounced back as the rotund reality star on E! Entertainment Channel in 2002.
Viewers watched her scarf donuts and mourn over the ashes of her dead husband – the 89-year-old oil tycoon she claimed for years to love not for his money. It was oddly charming to watch her interact with her costly lawyer, flamboyant designer and toothless cousin, all with the same struggling, slurred speech that made viewers wonder what went on when the cameras shut off.
After the show’s cancellation, she emerged as the svelte spokeswoman for the weight-loss company, Trimspa. Last year, Smith was again in the news when the birth of her daughter – and the battle over who the father is – was overshadowed by the death of her 20-year-old son Daniel Wayne Smith.
Yet many of our generation came to know and love Smith for her over-the-top lifestyle.
The news of her death is sad but not really surprising. In an era of increasingly stylized reality television where few celebrities relish in their gaffes and embarrassing weight gain with the gusto of Anna Nicole, she will be sorely missed.
Maybe Britney will fill the void?
– Compiled from staff and AP reports.
