Late model and actress Anna Nicole Smith is remembered 16 years on for her tragic demise far too soon.
The former Playboy Playmate, who was an easy target for cruel tabloid fodder in the ’90s due to her heavy partying and unlikely romances, died in 2007 at the age of 39.
Smith was recently immortalised in a bombshell documentary about her early life and downward spiral – but one fascinating fact of her short yet memorable time on earth was her brief marriage to billionaire J. Howard Marshall.
In 1994, at the age of 26, Smith tied the knot with wealthy oil tycoon Marshall. At the time he was 89 – a whopping 63 years her senior.
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Their union was met with shock, raised eyebrows and, of course, widespread suspicion she was only in it for the money.
Pop culture fans won’t soon forget the photo of Smith, dressed in a veil and clutching a bouquet of flowers, standing at the altar next to her new husband as he sat in a wheelchair.
This marked Smith’s second time walking down the aisle, after she wed her first husband Billy Wayne Smith in 1985.
Her journey to marrying Marshall was littered with controversy. The pair first met in 1988 when she was working as a dancer at a club in Texas when he was still married to his second wife Bettye Bohannon.
After their paths crossed a second time in the early ’90s, Marshall immediately began lavishing gifts and money upon Smith, according to People.
Reports also claim the billionaire popped the question just months after their first date in 1991.
Smith didn’t actually accept the proposal until three years later, when she had earned her status as a rich and famous celebrity in her own right.
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By this time, Smith had appeared in films including Naked Gun 33 1/3 and won major modelling contracts for brands such as Guess.
Pat Walker, who owned the wedding chapel where Smith and Marshall tied the knot, said the actress was insistent she wasn’t marrying for money.
She revealed to the Texas Monthly that Smith told her: “I’m not marrying him for his money. He’s been begging me to marry him for over four years. But I wanted to get my own career started first, I have my own money.”
While Smith was intent on carving out her own career, Marshall still spent millions on his bride-to-be.
According to the Texan publication, the actress once spent an eye-watering $2 million (approx. $3.04 million) on his credit card during a single shopping spree.
The couple’s infamous nuptials took place on June 27, 1994 at a small chapel in Houston.
It was a low-key affair, with Smith’s loved-ones reportedly choosing the venue in a bid to avoid paparazzi and media attention.
The bride and groom didn’t even spend their wedding night together. Smith jetted off to Greece that very same evening.
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According to NY Mag, Smith sealed their union with a kiss and said she had to leave town for a photoshoot.
The newlyweds didn’t spend a lot of time together as man and wife following their marriage.
And not long after their wedding, Marshall’s son Pierce was granted power of attorney and the elderly billionaire’s health began to wane.
On August 4, 1995 – just 14 months after their nuptials – Marshall died from pneumonia at the age of 90.
Smith’s dramatic white outfit, complete with a veil, worn to his memorial was a sombre reminder of their short, ill-fated marriage.
Marshall sensationally did not name his wife of just one year in his will, instead leaving his $1.6 billion (approx. $2.3 billion) to his son Pierce.
The young widow, then aged only 27, fought for half of the late oil tycoon’s estate in court but lost out in 1997.
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Eventually, she won $88 million (approx. $131 million) after claiming Pierce had conspired for decades to be the only one named in the will.
Smith, much to everyone’s surprise, never married again. Her family members later insisted she genuinely loved her late husband.
Larry Birkhead, the father of Smith’s daughter Dannielynn, told the Wendy Williams Show in 2017 every man Smith dated would be compared to the billionaire.
“The thing is that you kind of had to live up to this guy,” he explained. “You would roll over in bed and there was an oil painting of him over on one side. You’d roll over to the other side and there was a picture of him on the dresser.”
Smith died in February 2007 following an accidental drug overdose. She left behind a daughter, Dannielynn, now aged 16. Her first child, Daniel Wayne Smith, sadly died a year before his mother in 2006.
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