Anna Nicole Smith rose to fame after being named Playboy’s Playmate of the Year in 1993. She modeled for several companies and married billionaire J. Howard Marshall in 1994. There were speculations that she married him for money, but she constantly denied those rumors. But did she ever inherit anything from her husband after he passed in 1995?
Anna Nicole Smith never got any money when her 90-year-old husband died in 1995. Marshall left his $1.6 billion estate to his son. Smith tried to challenge the will, but after 15 years, she lost the bid.
Who is Anna Nicole Smith?
Anna Nicole Smith was born Vickie Lynn Hogan on November 28, 1967. She is the only daughter of Virgie and Donald Hogan. However, her father had five other children from different women. Smith was raised by her mother and aunt in Houston, Texas.
Smith attended Durkee Elementary School and then went to Aldine High School in Houston. When she reached the ninth grade, she moved to her maternal aunt in Mexia, Texas, and attended high school there. Unfortunately, she failed her freshman year and decided to drop out by her sophomore year.
In March 1992, Smith was featured on the cover of Playboy magazine as Vickie Smith. She became Playboy’s Playmate of the Month in May 1992. She slowly rose to popularity and ended up securing a contract to replace Claudia Schiffer for Guess jeans. During this campaign, she changed her name to Anna Nicole. She eventually signed up with other big-name brands and magazines. By 1993, she was named Playboy’s Playmate of the Year (Source: New York Magazine)
Anna Nicole Smith’s Marriage to Howard Marshall
In August 1994, Smith married oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II. He was 89 at the time and was bound to his wheelchair. This led to several rumors about how Smith just married him for money, and she repeatedly denied all speculations.
Smith and Marshall initially met at Gigi’s in 1991; the strip club Smith worked in after failing to qualify for more posh venues in Houston. Marshall’s driver wheeled him in, and there the billionaire sat gawking at Smith on stage. After her performance, she gave Marshall a lap dance, and the rest was history.
After several attempts, Smith finally agreed to marry Marshall, and they got hitched on June 27, 1994. (Source: Interview Magazine)
After Howard Marshall’s Death
Due to the rumors that surrounded her marriage to the oil tycoon, Smith began a lengthy legal battle over the share of Marshall’s estate after he passed away in 1995. According to his will, all $1.6 billion will be given to his son, and nothing was left for Smith. The case reached the Supreme Court of the United States. But a verdict was never made during her time alive. Smith died of an accidental overdose in 2007. (Source: New York Magazine)
What Happened to the Case?
The estate of Smith has failed in its final bid to obtain her husband’s money. Seven years after her death, a federal judge in Orange County rejected the effort to acquire about $44 million from the billionaire’s estate.
Over the course of nearly 20 years, the Texas bankruptcy court and local and federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, all rejected Smith’s various attempts to overturn Marshall’s will and trust and to obtain money from his estate. The efforts continued even after Smith died of an accidental drug overdose in February 2007.
NBC News
(Source: NBC News)