Anna Nicole Smith became one of the most well-known models in the world since she was selected to represent GUESS in its numerous ad campaigns begining in 1992. A native Texan, she is certainly more the '50s starlet than the typical '90s model. Anna's voluptuos 5'11" (39-27-39) proportions put her in a league with Jayne Mansfield and Jane Russell. Anna's rise to fame is a true Cinderalla story. At 24, she entered and won the Playboy Magazine cover contest and was ultimately discovered by Paul Marciano, President of GUESS. Anna first modeled for GUESS in its San Antonio campaign and went on to model for its Miami and New York campaigns. Anna was quickly recognized due to her tremendous exposure in GUESS advertisements which were placed in the top international fashion magazines. In 1993, Anna won Playboy magazine's coveted Playmate of the Year title. In addition, several popular television programs in the United States such as Entertainment Tonight, The Tonight Show, Larry King, Arsenio Hall, A Current Affair, Inside Edition, E! Entertainment and Regis and Kathy Lee have interviewed Anna. Anna's first screen tests won her roles in The Naked Gun 33 1/3 and Tim Robbins' film, The Huddsucker Proxy. Anna Nicole Smith's assets are just fine, thank you. A federal judge in Santa Ana, California, has awarded the former Playboy Playmate of the Year $88.5 million in the contentious drawn-out battle over her late husband's billion-dollar fortune.
In an 80-page written opinion released Thursday, U.S. District Judge David Carter said the union of Smith and J. Howard Marshall II wasn't quite a storybook romance, but the jurist believed Smith deserved a portion of his vast estate. "Their lives were intertwined in need, driven by greed and lust," Carter wrote. "Nevertheless, the court is convinced of his love for her." Carter ruled that half of the $88.5 million will go as punitive damages against Smith's former stepson and the late oil tycoon's youngest son, E. Pierce Marshall, for interfering with Smith's claim to the inheritance, while the other half will go towards compensatory damages. Carter also rebuked Pierce Marshall for meddling in his father's relationship with Smith, as well as conspiring to keep the buxom blonde from gaining any of the inheritance. The judge's decision essentially upheld an earlier verdict by bankruptcy court judge who found that Smith was due a plus-sized chunk of Howard Marshall's fortune and that Pierce Marshall "interfered" with her claim.
Smith was not in court for the decision, but her attorney, Philip Boesch, called Judge Carter's decision "a complete victory." "She's happy that a second federal judge has ruled in her favor and found malicious misconduct [by Pierce Marshall]," Boesch told Los Angeles' City News Service Saying that Smith has "gone through six years of litigation hell," Boesch added his client was ready to get on with her life. Pierce Marshall, who once labeled Smith "Miss Cleavage" and accused her of being a gold-digger who milked his father for $7 million in gifts while he was alive, released a statement saying his father "would be appalled" by the court ruling. He is expected to appeal.
Despite her victory, the 33-year-old curvaceous ex-model (real name Vickie Lynn Marshall) didn't get as much as she could have. In September 2000, a federal bankruptcy judge awarded her a whopping $474 million of her late husband's estate; however, that ruling was eventually overturned by Carter. After reviewing all the facts of the case himself, Carter urged both parties to work it out, saying they might not like his final verdict. But the two sides refused to settle, and the judge eventually found in favor of the former pinup, saying she had every reason to believe her hubby would take care of her, despite their 63 year age difference. "J. Howard made numerous promises to Vickie that she would receive half of what he owned," wrote Carter in his opinion. Smith, a ninth-grade dropout and former chicken restaurant worker, met the geriatric tycoon in 1991, while she was a dancer in a Houston strip club. In 1994, they married. She was 26; he was 89.
Anna Nicole Smith Filmography
Playmates of the Year: The 90's (1999) (V) .... Playmate of the Year, 1993
... aka Playboy's Playmates of the Year: The 90's (1999) (V) (USA: complete title)
Anna Nicole Smith: Exposed (1998) (V) .... Herself
Playboy's Blondes Brunettes Redheads (1998) (V) (uncredited)
Portrait of a Pin-Up Queen: Anna Nicole Smith (1998) (V) .... Herself
Taste of Playboy: Personalities Volume 1, A (1998) (V) .... 1993 Playmate of the year
Playboy: The Best of Anna Nicole Smith (1995) (V) .... Herself
Skyscraper (1995) (V) .... Carrie Wisk
To the Limit (1995) .... Colette
Playboy Video Playmate Calendar 1994 (1994) (V) .... Miss January
Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994) .... Tanya Peters
Hudsucker Proxy, The (1994) .... Za-Za
... aka Hudsucker - Der große Sprung (1994) (Germany)
Playboy Video Centerfold: Anna Nicole Smith (1993) (V) .... Herself... aka Playmate of the Year 1993: Anna Nicole Smith (1993)
Playboy Video Playmate Calendar 1993 (1993) (V) (as Vicki Smith) .... Miss January
Television Guest Appearences
"Ally McBeal" (1997) playing "Myra Jacobs" in episode: "Pyramids on the Nile" (episode # 2.14) 2/15/1999
"Sin City Spectacular" (1998) (episode # 1.13)
"Naked Truth, The" (1995/I) playing "Herself" in episode: "Wilde Again" (episode # 1.1) 9/13/1995
"Howard Stern Show, The" (1994) playing "Herself" 8/18/1995
"Howard Stern Show, The" (1994) playing "Herself" 8/17/1995
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