Full Version: Florida Kills Again
Tabloid bombshell Anna Nicole Smith dies after collapsing at Florida hotel
By SUZETTE LABOY (Associated Press Writer)
From Associated Press
February 08, 2007 5:04 PM EST
HOLLYWOOD, Florida - Anna Nicole Smith, the voluptuous former Playboy centerfold who married an octogenarian billionaire and waged a legal battle for his fortune all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, died Thursday after collapsing at a hotel. She was 39.
The blond bombshell - who recently hit the tabloids all over again after the sudden, apparently drug-related death of her 20-year-old son - was found unresponsive while staying at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, said her attorney, Ron Rale. She was rushed to a hospital.
Edwina Johnson, chief investigator of the Broward County Medical Examiner's Office, said the cause of death is under investigation and an autopsy will be done on Friday.
A private nurse called 911 after finding Smith unresponsive in her sixth-floor room, said Seminole Police Chief Charlie Tiger. He said Smith's bodyguard administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation about an hour before she was declared dead.
Smith was famous for being famous, a pop-culture punchline because of her up-and-down weight, her exaggerated curves, her ditzy-blonde persona and her over-the-top revealing outfits. She even starred in her own reality TV series, "The Anna Nicole Show," in 2002-04.
She was a topless dancer at a strip club before she made the cover of Playboy magazine in 1992, captivating readers with her Marilyn Monroe looks. She became Playboy's playmate of the year in 1993.
In 1994, she married 89-year-old oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II, the head of oil-based Koch Industries, which is part of a family fortune worth at least $400 million (euro308 million).
Marshall died in 1995, setting off a feud with her former stepson, E. Pierce Marshall, over whether she had a right to his estate.
A federal court in California awarded Smith $474 million in a complicated legal twist that began after she declared bankruptcy. That was later overturned.
But in May, the U.S. Supreme Court revived her case. The justices said only that federal courts in California could deal with her case, despite a Texas state court ruling that Marshall was the estate's sole heir.
The stepson then died in June at age 67. But the family said the court fight would continue.
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."
Smith's son, Daniel, died Sept. 10 in his mother's hospital room in the Bahamas, just days after she gave birth to a daughter. A medical examiner hired by the family said he had methadone and two antidepressants in his system when he died.
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 number one priority."
Smith 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.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.
By SUZETTE LABOY (Associated Press Writer)
From Associated Press
February 08, 2007 5:04 PM EST
HOLLYWOOD, Florida - Anna Nicole Smith, the voluptuous former Playboy centerfold who married an octogenarian billionaire and waged a legal battle for his fortune all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, died Thursday after collapsing at a hotel. She was 39.
The blond bombshell - who recently hit the tabloids all over again after the sudden, apparently drug-related death of her 20-year-old son - was found unresponsive while staying at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, said her attorney, Ron Rale. She was rushed to a hospital.
Edwina Johnson, chief investigator of the Broward County Medical Examiner's Office, said the cause of death is under investigation and an autopsy will be done on Friday.
A private nurse called 911 after finding Smith unresponsive in her sixth-floor room, said Seminole Police Chief Charlie Tiger. He said Smith's bodyguard administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation about an hour before she was declared dead.
Smith was famous for being famous, a pop-culture punchline because of her up-and-down weight, her exaggerated curves, her ditzy-blonde persona and her over-the-top revealing outfits. She even starred in her own reality TV series, "The Anna Nicole Show," in 2002-04.
She was a topless dancer at a strip club before she made the cover of Playboy magazine in 1992, captivating readers with her Marilyn Monroe looks. She became Playboy's playmate of the year in 1993.
In 1994, she married 89-year-old oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II, the head of oil-based Koch Industries, which is part of a family fortune worth at least $400 million (euro308 million).
Marshall died in 1995, setting off a feud with her former stepson, E. Pierce Marshall, over whether she had a right to his estate.
A federal court in California awarded Smith $474 million in a complicated legal twist that began after she declared bankruptcy. That was later overturned.
But in May, the U.S. Supreme Court revived her case. The justices said only that federal courts in California could deal with her case, despite a Texas state court ruling that Marshall was the estate's sole heir.
The stepson then died in June at age 67. But the family said the court fight would continue.
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."
Smith's son, Daniel, died Sept. 10 in his mother's hospital room in the Bahamas, just days after she gave birth to a daughter. A medical examiner hired by the family said he had methadone and two antidepressants in his system when he died.
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 number one priority."
Smith 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.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.
QUOTE(Crosby @ Feb 8 2007, 06:59 PM) 
The blond bombshell
I beg to differ.
I got at least 12 emails today.
A borderline retarded junkie dying is not all that shocking to me.
I suppose it's sad and tragic, but unexpected?
A borderline retarded junkie dying is not all that shocking to me.
I suppose it's sad and tragic, but unexpected?
None of the above,
just boring.
Fuck American culture,
there's hundreds more just like her that deserve the same fate.
just boring.
Fuck American culture,
there's hundreds more just like her that deserve the same fate.
Appropriate it commenced
in this sewer (Literally-the
only state to pump raw sewage
underground. Smart. I couldn't
figger out why I had the squirtz
from the time I got here. The
water was the culprit.) of a
state.
in this sewer (Literally-the
only state to pump raw sewage
underground. Smart. I couldn't
figger out why I had the squirtz
from the time I got here. The
water was the culprit.) of a
state.
We are here in the
Deep South and can't
even find any decent
fuckin' bbq except
one joint.
Deep South and can't
even find any decent
fuckin' bbq except
one joint.
QUOTE(Crosby @ Feb 22 2007, 12:49 PM)
What a fucking clown show.
I can't even watch CNN or Headline News anymore.
It's all Anna all the time.
I fear my television won't survive the next thing I hurl at it.
It's all Anna all the time.
I fear my television won't survive the next thing I hurl at it.
QUOTE(Louched Liver @ Feb 22 2007, 12:53 PM)
We are here in the
Deep South and can't
even find any decent
fuckin' bbq except
one joint.
That is because FL is not actually part of the south. It is fau-south settled by PA and NY retired school teachers. They know nothing about good BBQ.
Um, no.
The south of FL is the
part that's faux.
The north is fo' real.
Fucks here ain't afraid to
drop the N word to strangers
just outside the village proper.
The south of FL is the
part that's faux.
The north is fo' real.
Fucks here ain't afraid to
drop the N word to strangers
just outside the village proper.
Wha'?
You are loathing
a lack of compie?
You are loathing
a lack of compie?
I'm a big busted, ditzy blonde just showin' some solidarity.
Big busted but not ditzy.
You tryin' to get some?
Nah, You're the internet predator.
Finally caught the
right one.
Those days are over.
right one.
Those days are over.
I never found her "hot" and watching her show only disgusted me. It was like a car wreck every week. You just couldn't believe what an idiot she was.
I feel bad for her dead son and live baby.
I feel bad for her dead son and live baby.
You watched it every week? I was done with it after less than a minute. And I don't mean done. 
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