Anna Nicole Smith dies aged 39

[Pip Madeley]

The flamboyant former model Anna Nicole Smith has died near Miami, Florida at the age of 39, her lawyer has said.
Smith, a former Playboy bunny, married Texas oil billionaire J Howard Marshall II in 1995 when she was 26 and he was 89. He died a year later.

She spent years in court fighting his son for a share of his estate, and won a victory at the Supreme Court in 2006.

She was found unconscious in a hotel room and could not be resuscitated. No cause of death has been announced.

Blimey.

[Rob McCow]

She was a bit of a legend at our school among the young, excitable lads. Her and Elrika Eleniak.

[Jeff]

We saw an interview with her last evening on 'Entertainment Tonight' - Man she looked and sounded messed up. Eyes glazed over and speech slurred. And you know if she is like that for a national television interview she must have been like that everyday for months, probably since her son died. Someone at work was wondering if it was suicide...

[Larry]

We saw an interview with her last evening on 'Entertainment Tonight' - Man she looked and sounded messed up. Eyes glazed over and speech slurred. And you know if she is like that for a national television interview she must have been like that everyday for months, probably since her son died. Someone at work was wondering if it was suicide...

sounds like she was either drunk or on drugs..

[Pip Madeley]

Top ho Sherlock!

[WhiteCrow]

Kind of a bit shocking as she was only a couple of years older than me.

Read through her bio on the Wiki, certainly had her share of tragedy in her life. You cannot help thinking of her now as a modern Marilyn Monroe (though some might argue more downmarket - but let's not go there).

[Jeff]

You cannot help thinking of her now as a modern Marilyn Monroe

It's interesting... one of the articles reporting her death mentioned that she resembled Monroe enough in appearance that she often was photographed in iconic Monroe poses and themes. They both appeared in Playboy, and have now both died at a young age, possibly in similar circumstances (overdosing on pills).

[Si Hunt]

Anna Nicole Smith, the small-town Texas girl turned Playboy Playmate who became a tabloid fixture while fighting all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court over the estate of her elderly billionaire husband, died in Florida on Thursday at the age of 39.

Smith, a statuesque blonde who also gained fame as an actress for Guess jeans, died at a local hospital shortly after she was reported needing medical help at her Florida hotel room by a private nurse, police said. Authorities said an autopsy would be conducted to determine the cause of death.

The sudden death of Smith came just five months after Smith's 20-year-old son, Daniel Smith, died in the Bahamas three days after the birth of her daughter.

[Pip Madeley]

She must have had a bitter sweet life, known by many as a "gold digger". Most people would give anything for fame and money like that, but I guess it tainted much of her life, having to fight for it in courts for years.

A young child has lost her mother, and that's always tragic.

[Dave Tudor]

Bloody hell!

[Wayne]

A young child has lost her mother, and that's always tragic.

Indeed. Whatever anyone thinks of her, that's the thing to remember.
All very sad, really.

[WhiteCrow]

Indeed. Whatever anyone thinks of her, that's the thing to remember.
All very sad, really.

I think she was a very complex character. Obviously the whole "gold digger" claim stuck around for a while, but she seemed to have a certain charm over and above that.

[Anthony Williams]

I heard that she was on anti-depression medication for a while. Likewise, I'd heard that she'd been getting better.

Perhaps they had a really dodgy side-effect on her?

anyway, I always thought that a lot of people were overly-harsh towards her. Who are we to speculate on her love life (you never know - it could have actually been love to the old guy)

RIP Anna Nicole Smith.

Ant x

[Si Hunt]

She always fascinated me. Her marriage to an 89 year old oil billionaire was SO obviously a gold digging affair that it almost proved it WASN'T because you'd think she'd be less transparent if it was. A 26 year old busty model standing next to an 89 year old in a wheelchair was bizarre, and must have been quite humiliating and difficult for her, especially given the unsettling suggestion of what any possible consumation of the relationship must have been like.

The sad thing is, he left her nothing despite changing his will after they married, so in the indeed I hope she didn't love him, because if she did it must have been heartbreaking to find out later that even HE thought she was only after his money. Still, what a fun last year of his life HE had.

Oddly enough, we watched her in "Naked Gun 33 and 1/3" at the weekend - and now, a few days later, we find out she's dead. I always quite liked her actually, and was shocked when I found out she'd died. 39 is a very young age to go, and the thought of a child losing her Mum when she'll never know her is tragic.

Si.

[Matthew T]

The legal battle over her money is apparantly still ongoing, ten years on!

There are some very disturbing conspiracy theories going round the web about this and the fact that her son died so recently too.

[Si Hunt]

Oh, there would be wouldn't there!

Si.

[Captain Tancredi]

Although you can't exactly say that she "achieved" very much, you can probably claim her as a victim of today's celebrity culture. F Scott Fitzgerald famously said that there are no second acts in American lives, and I think Smith's is probably the kind of life he had in mind- you become famous for something, never quite escape it and find yourself having to repeat it and repeat it until either it destroys you or you destroy yourself.

[Jeff]

The coroners report, while not yet conlcuded, states that there were no illegal drugs found in her hotel room and that there were no signs of long term drug abuse (as well as no signs of foul play which wasn't really in question.) Further results will probably not be available for weeks.

[Captain Tancredi]

There's a tendency in situations like this to think that when somebody drops dead at any age under, say, 50 that there must have been something suspicious about it- but people can die of a thousand and one things. In my last job, a guy on the next floor just dropped dead at home of a brain haemorrhage one night- no warning. Neither is there any way of telling what kind of a toll the last twenty years took on her system and health in general.

[Jeff]

...and lets not forget the latest twist... Zsa Zsa Gabor's husband is now also claiming to be the father. Apparently they have been having an affair for a long time now..

I wonder if anyone else will step forward?

[Jeff]

There's a tendency in situations like this to think that when somebody drops dead at any age under, say, 50 that there must have been something suspicious about it- but people can die of a thousand and one things. In my last job, a guy on the next floor just dropped dead at home of a brain haemorrhage one night- no warning. Neither is there any way of telling what kind of a toll the last twenty years took on her system and health in general.

True, but most people haven't been interviewed recently with their speech slurred and looking completely wasted. Even her own mother has gone on record now saying she thinks it was drugs cause she looked so wasted recently, and that she had warned Anna before to get off drugs and to stop associating with the wrong people, but that Anna never listened to her. Also, another lawyer who used to represent her also stated that he believed it was drug related. Whether her body shows signs of abuse or not, it seems that family and friends seem to be aware of drug usage on her part.

[WhiteCrow]

...and lets not forget the latest twist... Zsa Zsa Gabor's husband is now also claiming to be the father.

All that time I lusted after her and I was obviously WAY too young for her ...

[Carol Baynes]

She always seemed a bit tragic,like a Courtney Love without any creative talent. Although I have to say Courtney is pretty much sorted out these days, even if she is a bit bonkers. But I like people being a bit bonkers.
I think that's why the Marilyn comparison is only superficial, because Monroe was a talented actress and comedienne. I'm not sure what Anna Nicole Smith did that was as worthy as that. Mind you, I didn't 'read' "Playboy"

A tragic waste though, which ever way we look at it. I hope she finds the peace which eluded her on Planet Earth.

[Captain Tancredi]

Plus Marilyn was sleeping with the President and his brother...now that would be a turn-up for the books (particularly as Jeb Bush is Governor of...well, well, Florida...)

[WhiteCrow]

I think that's why the Marilyn comparison is only superficial, because Monroe was a talented actress and comedienne.

Dunno - I know this might be controversial but I always felt Marilyn a bit overrated, she's not that great an actress, and seemed a very difficult person. Her enduring fame really comes more from her great looks than any acting talent. And unlike someone like say Elizabeth Taylor, because she died young her looks remained iconic.

Mind you, I didn't 'read' "Playboy"

It was the only English language magazine I could get in Germany. Well I could have had Cosmopolitan, but really ...

It did have some great articles - it's over 100 pages, and most of them do not have pictures of women on.

However seriously I don't think many people buy it for "the writing" ...