At the age of 26, she married an 89-year-old billionaire. Thirteen months later, the old man died, but the will did not give her a penny. To this end, she began an epic property lawsuit that "got into a fight" between several different courts in the United States, and finally appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, and until her death, the lawsuit was not completed.
After her death, 4 men claiming to be her daughter's father competed for custody of her daughter, another legal battle, and finally the court had to use DNA to recognize the relatives.
She is the famous model Anna Nicole Smith, who became famous in the early years as a model for Guess and Playboy magazine, and in 1993 she was named Playboy Playmate of the Year.
Born in Texas on November 28, 1967, Smith dropped out of high school when she met chef Billy Smith, who married when she was 17. She had a son named Daniel in 1986, but they separated the following year.
Smith wasn't satisfied with small-town life and dreamed of becoming the next Marilyn Monroe.
In 1991, Smith met oil tycoon Howard Marshall, and soon her fortunes began to reverse.
In 1992, she became a fashion girl for Playboy magazine. That same year, she also appeared in an advertisement for the Guess fashion brand. She has impressive curves and looks very much like her idol Monroe.
In 1993, Smith reached the pinnacle of his career and was named Playboy of the Year by Playboy Magazine. After becoming famous, she began to play some small film roles.
Although the film is not well acted, with her sexy image, Smith has not only attracted great interest in celebrity magazines and tabloids, but also won the favor of many advertisers.
After several marriage proposals, she married Marshall in 1994. At the time, she was 26 and he was 89. Their huge age difference can't help but cast doubt on her motives for marriage.
Marshall died in 1995, but Smith's name was not included in his will. Smith claimed Marshall had promised to give her half of the property, which consisted mainly of a 16 percent stake in Koch Industries, which was worth $1.6 billion at the time. Marshall's son, Pierce Marshall, the main heir to the will, disputed the claim.
In 1996, Smith filed for bankruptcy in California after being convicted of sexual harassment of her son's nanny and fined $850,000. Since any property on her husband's Marshall Estate was part of her potential assets, the bankruptcy court stepped in her property dispute with Pierce.
In September 2000, the bankruptcy court ruled that Pierce interfered with a gift (part of the property) his father intended to give to Smith, and ruled that Smith could receive $475 million in property.
However, in July 2001, Texas Probate Court Judge Mike Wood ruled that Smith was not entitled to any rights and ordered Smith to pay more than $1 million to pay Pierce's legal fees.
The conflict between the judgment of the Texas Probate Court and the California Bankruptcy Court forced the U.S. federal court to step in.
In March 2002, a federal judge reversed the California Bankruptcy Court's ruling; And issued a new ruling that reduced the ruling to $88 million.
On December 30, 2004, a panel of three judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit overturned the new ruling on the grounds that the federal courts did not have jurisdiction to overturn the probate court's decision.
In September 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to hear an appeal against the decision. On May 1, 2006, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of Smith. The decision did not directly award Smith how much of her husband's estate she had, but confirmed her right to seek a portion of the property in federal court.
On September 7, 2006, she gave birth to her daughter, Danielleen. However, three days after her daughter was born, her son Daniel died due to a drug overdose. The death of her son hit Smith hard, and he has been her most important relative for all these years.
Smith claimed that her daughter, Danielleen, was the result of her love affair with her personal lawyer, Howard Stern, and listed Stern as a father on her daughter's birth certificate, a claim that was later disproved by DNA testing.
Smith died on February 8, 2007, and according to a joint investigation by forensic and virologists, the cause of death was determined to be accidental overdose of the sedative chloral hydrate, which reacted to other prescription drugs she was taking at the time and was poisoned.
After her death, another legal action was sparked over who was the father of Smith's daughter. Stern said he and Smith had been in a relationship for a long time, and based on the timing of the pregnancy, he believed he was the father of the child. Entertainment photographer Larry Burkhead says he and Smith are close and he is the father. Smith's ex-boyfriend Mark Hardten claimed he gave her frozen sperm, while Zazagabo's fourth husband, Prince Frederick von Anhalt, also said he might be the father.
Eventually, DNA paternity tests revealed that Danielleine's father was entertainment photographer Birkhead.
After Smith's death, her youngest daughter, Danielleen, continued the battle for her inheritance on her behalf.
In March 2010, the Court of Appeal upheld the 2001 judgment. Smith's lawyers subsequently appealed the decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, but the appeal was dismissed.
In June 2011, in Stern v. Marshall (Pierce), the Supreme Court held that the California Bankruptcy Court's ruling granting her $475 million inheritance was made without subject matter jurisdiction. The court agreed with the 2001 ruling that the insolvency court could not rule on issues other than insolvency law.
In 2011, Smith's lawyers filed a motion in U.S. District Court seeking $44 million in damages and sanctions against Pierce's estate. The motion was rejected in 2014.
