ANNA NICOLE SMITH DEAD AT 39
Reality TV star, actress and former model ANNA NICOLE SMITH has died after
collapsing in Hollywood, Florida. The 39-year-old was found unconscious in her hotel room at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino this afternoon (08FEB07). According to hotel officials, Smith was "unresponsive" and emergency crews performed CPR at the scene and a breathing apparatus was inserted in her throat. Paramedics were seen pumping her chest as she was taken from the hotel and transported to Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood just after 2pm EST today. She died at 3.45pm EST. Local streets were closed off to rush Smith to the hospital, three miles away. Her five-month-old daughter, DANNIELYNN, was not with her mother, sources say. The baby is being cared for by a family friend in The Bahamas, where Smith has been living since last summer (06).
Anna Nicole was fighting eviction and paternity lawsuits at the time of her
death. Ex-boyfriends LARRY BIRKHEAD and G BEN THOMPSON had both filed lawsuits against the actress/model. Photojournalist Birkhead claimed filed a paternity suit last year (06) claiming he was the biological father of Smith's baby daughter DANNIELYNN, while developer Thompson has been fighting to evict her from the home he helped secure for her in The Bahamas last summer (06).
On Wednesday (07FEB07), a California judge demanded Smith submit her baby daughter for a DNA test by 21 February (07) - in an effort to end the battle
over who the biological father of the baby is.
At the time of her death, Smith was also fighting the estate of her late
husband, oil tycoon J HOWARD MARSHALL, for a share of his estate. Marshall died in 1995.
In 2002, she was awarded $88 million (GBP45.1 million) from the estate of her
late husband, but was denied claim that she was also owed interest on that
money. Smith's life has been rocked with the bizarre and the tragic with moments of happiness and success.
Born VICKY LYNN HOGAN in Houston, Texas, she started her career as a waitress in a fried chicken restaurant but tasted success as a Playboy model, actress and star of her own self-titled, bizarre reality TV show.
Smith was named Playboy Playmate of the Month in May 1992 and Playboy
Playmate of the Year in 1993. She shocked the world when she married J Howard Marshall II in 1994 when she was 26 and the oil tycoon was almost 90.
Last September (06) was a joyful and terrible month for the actress - she
gave birth to baby daughter Dannielynn just three days before her 20-year-old
son DANIEL died from a lethal overdose of methadone and anti-depressants in his mother's hospital room in The Bahamas.
Best known as a socialite, public figure and diet product spokesmodel, Smith
also appeared in a handful of movies, including THE HUDSUCKER PROXY, NAKED GUN 33 1/3: THE FINAL INSULT and her final movie ILLEGAL ALIENS, which was released last year (06)
