We will miss ANS. Say what you will about her life, but a piece of America has died with her.
Anna Nicole Smith, shown leaving U.S. Supreme Court in Washington in February 2006 after a hearing into her late husband's estate, died Thursday in Florida. She was 39.
(Manuel Balce Ceneta/Associated Press)
Smith, 39, was rushed to hospital on Thursday while staying at the Seminole Hard Rock Cafe Hotel and Casino, hotel officials said.
"I can confirm that she is deceased. It's as shocking to me as to you guys," Smith's lawyer, Ronald Rale, told Reuters.
Rale told the Associated Press he talked to Smith earlier this week and she was complaining of flu symptoms and a fever. He said she was still coping with a great deal of grief over the mysterious death of her 20-year-old son.
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He died less than six months ago, just three days after Smith gave birth to a daughter.
"Poor Anna Nicole," Rale said. "She's been the underdog. She's been besieged…. She's been trying her best and nobody should have endured what she endured."
Smith, a former Playboy playmate drew widespread attention when she married oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall, 89, after meeting him at a strip club.
Marshall, who used a wheelchair, died after 14 months and Smith began a legal battle over his estate with his son, E. Pierce Marshall, who died last June.
Anna Nicole Smith was staying at this resort in Hollywood, Fla., the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, when she collapsed.
(Associated Press)
Smith's own son, Daniel Wayne Smith, died suddenly in September 2006 while visiting her in the Bahamas. The 20-year-old was born during his mother's first marriage to fry chef Billy Smith.
A private pathologist concluded that Daniel Smith died from a lethal combination of methadone and two antidepressants. An official inquiry into his death has been scheduled for March in the Bahamas.
The paternity of Smith's baby daughter is under dispute, with a former boyfriend having demanded that Smith submit the child for genetic testing. A court hearing was scheduled for Friday in Los Angeles.
Smith, a buxom blonde who grew up as Vicki Lynn Hogan in Mexia, Texas, has lived much of her life in the public spotlight since being declared playmate of the year in 1993.
Her marriage to Marshall was publicly criticized and she has spent years in legal wrangling over his fortune.
She had a 2002 reality TV show, The Anna Nicole Show, that focused on her celebrity lifestyle.
Smith's career and public image suffered as she gained weight and her antics were reported in the tabloids.
Recently, she had become a spokeswoman for weight-loss product Trimspa X32. But that endorsement led to a lawsuit against Smith from an angry consumer who said the product doesn’t work.
An autopsy will be conducted on Friday, the hospital said.
