Who’s the REAL Anna Nicole Smith?
Anna Nicole Smith is getting the Marilyn and Pamela treatment – the once-vilified voluptuous blonde is now reframed to embody the glamorous yet tragic arc that our culture often projects onto Hollywood’s iconic blonde bombshells. Her story, like those of other bombshells, is a potent cocktail of fame, beauty, and sadness, illustrating the high price of stardom.
The new Netflix documentary, “Anna Nicole: You Don’t Know Me” sets out to present Smith as the heroine of this recognizable arc: exceptionally beautiful and loving, who lived her life on her terms, but who was deeply misunderstood, exploited and destroyed by society. In theory, the premise is an important re-evaluation of a woman who wasn’t given enough respect and benefit of the doubt while she was alive. Once heavily criticized and dismissed during her lifetime, labeled as a gold-digger, today Smith is increasingly seen as an ideal of vulnerable femininity who fell victim to society’s unyielding scrutiny and harsh judgment. Like Pamela A Love Story – which sought to give Pamela Anderson back control of her narrative – the Anna Nicole documentary uses archive clips to let her tell her story in her own words. Time writes that the documentary “fails” Anna Nicole and The New York Times says she’s “mistreated” as the movie ventures “squarely into the territory of what it’s attempting to condemn: lurid voyeurism”
Even if the documentary doesn’t go much beyond slotting Anna Nicole into this tragic-bombshell narrative, isn’t it striking that we’ve seen this same trajectory with so many other Hollywood bombshells through the ages – from Jayne Mansfield, Jean Harlow, and Marilyn Monroe, to Pamela Anderson and Megan Fox in modern times? These women go through an eerily similar cycle where they’re blamed and attacked for their sexuality, then adored much later, sometimes only after they’re gone. Which leads us to ask, why do we keep repeating this tragic revolution and is there any lesson in Anna Nicole’s story about how to stop the deja vu?
Let’s take a look at Anna Nicole’s life story to understand more about who she really was.
Anna’s Early Life & Beginnings
Anna Nicole was born in 1967, in Houston, Texas, as Vickie Lynn Hogan, with a life that was pretty far removed from the glitz and glamor of her later years. Her parents divorced when she was just a year old, leaving her to be raised by her mother in a low-income family. Nevertheless, she harbored dreams of stardom, inspired by the likes of Marilyn Monroe and Jean Harlow.
At a young age, she dropped out of high school, taking on a job at Jim’s Krispy Fried Chicken to help support her family. It was here she met the cook Billy Wayne Smith and married him when she was just 17. A year later, she gave birth to their son, Daniel Wayne Smith.
After she and Billy divorced in 1987, she sought a way out of her small-town life and found work as an exotic dancer, adopting the stage name ‘Nikki’, which she would later change to ‘Anna Nicole’.’ Her career began to gain traction in 1991 when she applied for a job at a topless bar in Houston. Her voluptuous figure, reminiscent of the classic Hollywood bombshells, caught the attention of customers and ultimately led her to pose for Playboy magazine in 1992. In 1993 she was named Playboy’s Playmate of the Year, catapulting her into the national spotlight. She went on to do 5 US and a whopping 42 international Playboy covers.
How Her Modeling Career Took Off
Anna Nicole became a highly sought-after model, landing a contract with Guess Jeans in 1992. Her voluptuous curves and blonde hair drew comparisons with Marilyn Monroe, and she was often portrayed as a symbol of glamorous femininity. But her career in the fashion industry was controversial due to her curvaceous figure, which deviated from the waifish models popular during that time, and made her an object of both fascination and criticism in the media. Some critics over the years harshly scrutinized her weight fluctuations and questioned her fast rise to fame.
In 1994, Smith’s personal life took a surprising turn when at age 26 she married 89-year-old oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall. The marriage was widely derided, Smith was accused of marrying Marshall for his money. She defended herself saying: “I’ve never had love like that before. No one has ever loved me and done things for me and respected me.”
The Controversial Court Cases
The situation escalated when Marshall died just 14 months after they married. According to Marshall’s will, his $1.6 billion estate was left to his son, E. Pierce Marshall, and nothing was left to Smith. Smith contested the will, initiating a series of lawsuits that made their way through the Texas state courts, U.S. bankruptcy court, and even the U.S. Supreme Court—twice. In her initial claim, Smith argued that Marshall promised her half of his estate, which would amount to approximately $800 million. And the fight for the inheritance became a legal saga that captured national attention. The drawn-out battle saw numerous court appearances, legal maneuvers, and dramatic moments.
In 2000, a Los Angeles bankruptcy judge awarded Smith $475 million, but that decision was later overturned two years later by a Texas probate court. Then, in 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Smith could continue to pursue her claim in federal court, despite the Texas court’s decision. However, Smith tragically died in 2007 before the case could be resolved. After her death, the legal battle was continued by Smith’s estate, represented by her former partner and lawyer, Howard K. Stern. In 2011, the Supreme Court ultimately ruled against Smith’s estate, effectively ending its claim to Marshall’s fortune. So in the end, Anna Nicole Smith and her estate received nothing from Marshall. The exact amount she spent on legal fees is unknown, but the protracted legal battle likely cost millions.
The legal battle was not only about the inheritance but also became a symbol of a larger narrative. Smith, the blonde bombshell from a small town, was pitted against a well-established, wealthy family. The media reveled in this narrative, often painting Smith as the gold digger, adding to her public vilification.
Amidst the media frenzy and legal battles, Smith developed a tumultuous relationship with the press. She was often treated with contempt, mocked, and made into the butt of the joke. Despite this, she would go on to star in her very own reality TV show.
Starring in the Anna Nicole Show
“The Anna Nicole Show,” which ran from 2002 to 2004, offered viewers an unfiltered, candid look into Smith’s life. Often compared to “The Osbournes,” the show capitalized on Smith’s fame and the public’s fascination with her personal life. Smith was presented as a larger-than-life character, whose outrageous behavior, flamboyant persona, and extravagant lifestyle were the main draws of the show.
However, the show also revealed a more vulnerable side to Smith, capturing her human side and struggles with fame—a stark contrast to her public persona. The show was criticized for its exploitative nature. A review from The Guardian stated, “The Anna Nicole Show is a sad spectacle of a woman who can barely string a sentence together.” Critics argued that the show capitalized on Smith’s eccentric behavior and personal struggles, cementing her image as a tabloid spectacle.
Still, The Anna Nicole Show succeeded in its ratings: its voyeuristic appeal and the public’s fascination with Smith’s life made it a pop culture phenomenon. And while Smith was often portrayed as an object of ridicule on the show, it also offered glimpses into her resilience and determination. It presented a woman who, despite hardships and constant scrutiny, strived to live life on her own terms.
Also, in retrospect, “The Anna Nicole Show” can be seen as a precursor to the current wave of celebrity reality shows. It blurred the lines between public and private life, paving the way for the Kardashians and other celebrities to bring their lives into the living rooms of millions.
Her Tragic Fate
Tragically, Smith’s life began to unravel with the sudden death of her son, Daniel, in 2006. Just three days after the birth of her daughter, Dannielynn, Daniel died from a drug overdose. This devastating event was followed by Smith’s death due to an accidental drug overdose in February 2007. Her untimely demise at the age of 39 added another layer of tragedy to her already tumultuous life.
Despite the controversies surrounding her life and death, the public opinion of Smith shifted posthumously. The woman once vilified as a gold digger began to be seen in a different light - as a victim of society’s harsh judgments and the relentless pursuit of fame. A narrative that had been largely defined by scandal and ridicule began to be reconsidered and reevaluated.
Why This Narrative Keeps Repeating
The narrative of Anna Nicole Smith’s life is reflective of the cultural script often imposed on blonde bombshells, which involves a painful paradox. These women are celebrated and commodified for their beauty and sexuality, yet they’re also vilified for those same attributes. Anna Nicole’s sexuality, much like Monroe’s and Anderson’s, was relentlessly exploited, often overshadowing her individuality and reducing her to a one-dimensional caricature: as if by consenting to be viewed by the masses, she should, in turn, be owned by the masses. Yet, following her tragic death, a shift occurred. The narrative transformed, and Anna Nicole, like her blonde bombshell predecessors, was idealized and mourned as a lost symbol of perfect femininity.
The way that this arc, from exploitation and vilification to idealization (often posthumously), continues to get repeated is a sad reminder of how our society seems set on never learning from the past. On the other hand, the whole tragic bombshell narrative can also get a bit reductive when it’s applied too indiscriminately to the stories of women whose lives also have important differences.
Anna Nicole’s entertainment output involves a lot of humor and not taking herself too seriously. And while Smith shared certain surface-level commonalities with Monroe and Anderson, her personal journey and the public’s perception of her were uniquely her own.
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