Anna Nicole Smith: A Media Circus Inside the Celebrity Zoo

When Vickie Lynn Marshall entered her photos in a national search contest to help her modeling career, she had no idea she would be chosen by Hugh Hefner to appear on the cover of the March 1992 issue of Playboy wearing a low-cut evening gown. She was subsequently referred to as "the next Marilyn Monroe" in press reports, a comparison she encouraged by wearing a hairstyle reminiscent of Monroe's, as well as her trademark white dress. She gained widespread popularity as Playboy's 1993 Playmate of the Year. Thereafter, she was better known by her stage name Anna Nicole Smith. Her highly publicized marriage the following year to oil billionaire J. Howard Marshall, who was 63 years her senior, resulted in considerable speculation that she married the octogenarian merely for his money, which she denied. Following his death, she began a lengthy and ongoing legal battle over a share of his estate. Her case, Marshall v. Marshall stands for the U.S. Supreme Court rule that bankruptcy courts have very extensive federal jurisdiction. Apparently, Anna Nicole is known to have been an American model, actress and celebrity. Yet most of what comes to mind in reminiscence of her career is the sad fact that nothing became her in life like the leaving of it.