Credited as being the biggest Playboy Playmate of the Year in terms of height, weight, and measurements, former model-turned-actress Anna Nicole Smith was, in the mid-'90s, the epitome of the classic voluptuous blonde. Drawing comparisons to such legendary beauties as Marilyn Monroe due to her penchant for white dresses and sleepy bedroom eyes, the one-time Guess? model would later court controversy for both her marriage to an elderly billionaire and the heated lawsuit pertaining to his estate following his death. Born Vickie Lynn Hogan in Mexia, TX, Smith's ascent to fame began when she was chosen as May 1992's Playboy Playmate of the Month. Voted Playmate of the Year shortly thereafter, the plus-sized platinum-blonde soon appeared in a pair of Playboy videos before making her feature debut in 1994's The Hudsucker Proxy. Following an appearance in that same year's Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult, Smith continued her association with the legendary men's magazine by appearing in a series of videos in addition to producing and starring in the steamy action thriller Skyscraper (1995). Married to first husband Billy Smith, with whom she mothered one son, in 1985, the couple divorced and Anna Nicole remarried oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall in June 1994. Following Marshall's death in August the following year, Smith embarked on a heated legal battle with the former billionaire's remaining family in which she was ultimately rewarded 88 million dollars. Though she would fade from the spotlight moving into the new millennium, Smith would once again find herself in the spotlight when, following the success of the MTV reality series The Osbournes, she was approached by E! Entertainment Television to be the subject of a similar reality series. The Anna Nicole Show would debut to general critical malaise in August 2002. |