Anna Nicole Smith on Netflix: the Playboy bunny who married an 89-year-old millionaire and tragically died

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Anna Nicole Smith She knew how to avoid going unnoticed. You have had a life shrouded in scandal. Born in a small Texas town, she was a very young single mother. But behind that humble beginning, she dreamed big, very big.

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He longed for fame, success and recognition. always wanted to be a model and was one of the most prominent sex symbols of the 90s. He aspired to work in television and starred in six films. But behind his triumphs and great curves he hid an emotional fragility, the result of a stormy childhood, which contributed to his tragic end.

Netflix premiered the documentary “You don’t know me”, Directed by Ursula Macfarlane, and which reveals lights and shadows in the life of Anna Nicole Smith. “I advise people to follow their dreams. They can come true. I am living proof of it”, a very young Anna Nicole begins in the series.

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Anna Nicole Smith was raised in Mexia, Texas.  She was a waitress, a dancer and became famous in Playboy magazine.

Anna Nicole Smith was raised in Mexia, Texas. She was a waitress, a dancer and became famous in Playboy magazine.

On February 8, 2007, the actress was found dead in room 607 of the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. at the age of 39, due to an overdose of psychiatric drugs.

The documentary sets out to provide an answer as to who Anna Nicole Smith really was, if her provocative image somehow matches the real image.

Controversy also surrounded his short life. At age 26 she married an 89-year-old oil tycoon, who died a year after marrying her. Furthermore, after a long legal battle, he was left without an inheritance.

One could say that Anna’s life had an intensity unusual for most people. She went from working at a fried chicken restaurant and being a stripper to having everything, absolutely everything. Money, awards and popular clamor. But even she, in her last days of her life, she was broke and without someone to give her true love.

In 1993, she was named "Playmate of the Year" by Playboy magazine.

In 1993, she was named “Playmate of the Year” by Playboy magazine.

a difficult childhood

Victoria Lynn Hogan (her real name) was born on November 28, 1967 in Texas, USA. During her adolescence she went to live with her maternal aunt in the town of Mexia. There she dropped out of high school at the age of 14, after a student attacked her, and she decided to go to work because -according to her- her strong point was not studying.

It started at a local fried chicken restaurant (Jim’s Krispy Fried Chicken) where she met Bill Smith, whom she married at age 17. Together they had a son, Daniel Wayne Smith, born January 22, 1986. The marriage was short-lived, just a year. After experiencing violence, she left town and they ended up divorcing in 1993.

Her beginnings as a dancer

His new home was now inside houston, the most populous city in Texas. The young single mother got a job at Walmart and at the Red Lobster restaurant. In addition, she has added another job in a nightclub a striptease. She says she came out of that place tormented, but basically she had to pay the bills and for someone with no title and almost no experience there was no other alternative.

Anna Nicole dreamed of making it as a model and actress.  As a child I played Marilyn Monroe.

Anna Nicole dreamed of making it as a model and actress. As a child I played Marilyn Monroe.

Over time he manages to permanently enter a cabaret, Rick’s Cabaret in Houston. Earning well, she decided to invest in her body: she underwent breast surgery and dyed her hair champagne blonde. The dream of being like Marilyn Monroe i was close. The owner of the club didn’t give him the shift where he was paid more at night, but that misfortune of fate would have been the one that would have changed his life forever.

He had to work during the noon. In one of his presentations he met someone who did not take his eyes off him. A man elderly, stooped, frail and in a wheelchair. He was alone and decided to go and talk to him. that old of 86 years old it turned out to be a millionaire businessman from the oil field who was recently widowed. Her name was James Howard Marshall.

Anna Nicole Smith with Hugh Hefner, founder of Playboy magazine.

Anna Nicole Smith with Hugh Hefner, founder of Playboy magazine.

Marshall, controversial love

From that day Anna’s life changed forever. They spent the night together in the old man’s private suite and began a courtship. At the same time, the dancer tried to fulfill her dream of becoming a model and actress. Meanwhile, her new boyfriend has kept her promise made the first evening, when he had told her: “Don’t go, love. You’ll never have to work again.”

The young dancer of humble origins has gone from the difficult reality of a single mother with no opportunities to a life full of mansions, luxury cars, foreign trips, jewels and big operations on a nonstop flight. Her life had been transformed. In 1992 one of her friends told her about it Playboy I was looking for bunnies. She was very clear about what she wanted for her and her child’s future.

Anna Nicole Smith and the love of her life, James Howard Marshall.  When they married, she was 26 and he was 89.

Anna Nicole Smith and the love of her life, James Howard Marshall. When they married, she was 26 and he was 89.

playmate of the year

She auditioned for the famous magazine and was not only selected but also featured on the cover. Additionally, she has become a model for brands such as Guess and H&M. Her life has taken a drastic turn. In 1993 she was chosen as Playmate of the Year and she decided to change her name to Anna Nicole Smith.

The following year he participated in two films, in 1994 (“The Naked 33 ⅓ Gun” with Leslie Nielsen, and “The Big Leap” by the Coen brothers), and then married Marshall on June 27 of that year. The union between these two people they had 63 years of difference. Magazines of the time wondered if it was about love or just out of interest.

Speaking of this situation, Anna Nicole Smith said: “I saw a very sick man, someone who was physically ill. I didn’t feel physical attraction at all (…) but I loved him very much, he didn’t have a hot body, it was just that I loved him much more for what he did for me and for my son, no one had ever loved me like this or done things to me, he never respected me like that.”

The marriage lasted a year, until the death of the oil tycoon who had a fortune valued 500 million dollarson August 4, 1995, at the age of 90. During their relationship, the model received large gifts, including three houses and several jewels. There were two funerals; one by the Marshall family and another organized by Anna Nicole, where just over 30 people attended.

Therefore, the widow’s name did not appear in any of the six wills of the old man, the only heir was his son. Anne Nicole, the sex icon of the moment, the most desired woman, the playfellowhe was left alone to face the world again.

Anna Nicole next to a photo of ex-husband Marshall, who disappeared a year after marrying her.

Anna Nicole next to a photo of ex-husband Marshall, who disappeared a year after marrying her.

Addictions, depression and a legal battle

Anna’s life began to get complicated. immediately a dependence to the analgesics, depression and I was way below fatigue. At the same time, a legal battle to inherit half of her ex-husband’s fortune, which she ended up losing after several years. In 1996, her child’s nanny sued her for sexual harassment and Justice ruled against her, they forced her to pay 800,000 dollars. Everything was going downhill.

But in the early 2000s he started his own TV show, The Anna Nicole Show“, which did quite well. He had lost weight and recovered after doing a treatment for their addictions. She began a relationship with Larry Birkhead, father of her future her Daughterand they moved in together. Finally it seemed that Anna had found some peace after so much torment.

His last years were difficult.  Addictions, lawsuits over her ex-husband's inheritance, bankruptcy and a tragic end.

His last years were difficult. Addictions, lawsuits over her ex-husband’s inheritance, bankruptcy and a tragic end.

Sad ending

However, the hardest blow of his life was yet to come. A few days after the birth of their daughter, Dannielynn Birkhead (for whom there was later a dispute over her paternity), their son died. Daniel was 20 years old and died after an overdose in a hospital bed. They found him in the same room where his mother was recovering from childbirth.

Anna could never recover from this tragedy, Daniel was the engine of her life. Five months later, she was found dead on February 8, 2007, aged 39, in her room at the Hard Rock Hotel in the Bahamas. The cause of her death was an overdose of barbiturates, nine other substances were also found in the model’s body.

Source: Clarin

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