Anna Nicole Smith photos

Anna Nicole in her Mexia High School year book photo in 1984, the same year she dropped out.

Smith appears here in the film Naked Gun with star Leslie Nielsen. Although she has appeared in a few other films, her success came later with the short-lived The Anna Nicole Smith Show, which lasted 2 years.

Smith became one of Playboy's most popular models even though she was heavier and larger than the typical Playboy model. She was chosen to be the 1993 Playmate of the Year and by then had settled on the name Anna Nicole Smith.

On June 27, 1994, Smith, 26, married oil billionaire J. Howard Marshall, 89. This resulted in a great deal of gossip about her marrying him for his money, yet Smith always maintained that she loved her husband, and age did not matter to her.

Smith attends the memorial service for her husband J. Howard Marshall, who died at age 90. Following his death Smith faced many legal battles over the inheritance.

Smith holds a furry dog while riding in the 32nd Annual LA Gay Pride Celebration.

Anna's ad campaign for Swedish company H&M, included life-sized pictures hung on the sides of buildings. The posters caused 18 car accidents in major European cities.

In an interview on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Smith was asked what her 'Playmate diet' consisted of. She instantly replied, 'fried chicken'. Then in 2003, she became a spokesperson for TrimSpa, which helped her lose a reported 69 pounds.

Smith gave birth to her daughter, Dannielynn on September 7, 2006. 3 days after Danielynn’s birth, Smith’s 26-year old son Daniel died of a drug overdose.

According to Howard K. Stern, Smith was devastated over her son's death. 'Anna and Daniel were inseparable. Daniel was without question the most important person in Anna’s life.' Stern revealed that 'Anna saw herself as both mother and father to Daniel. From the time I met her, everything was for Daniel. I would say that physically, she died last week, but in a lot of ways, emotionally she died when Daniel died,' he added.

On September 28, 2006, Smith and Howard K. Stern exchanged vows and rings in an informal commitment ceremony off the coast of the Bahamas. Although they pledged their love and made a commitment to be there for one another before a Baptist minister, no marriage certificate was issued and the ceremony is not legally binding.

Upon Smith’s death, Larry Birkhead filed an emergency order to get custody of five-month-old Dannielynn. He even had the support of Smith's mother, Virgie Arthur, and in April 2007 was awarded custody of the child.

After Smith's death, various legal battles began regarding: the will, the paternity of her daughter, and her final resting place, which resulted in the delay of her burial. Smith was finally buried March 2, 2007 at Nassau's Lakeview Memorial Gardens and Mausoleum in a plot adjacent to her son, Daniel.