Anna Nicole Smith and Marilyn Monroe--Similar Lives?

Anna Nicole Smith died of a suspected overdose last week at age 39. Marilyn Monroe died of an overdose in 1962 at age 36. Both these beautiful, blond women were former Playboy Playmates. Marilyn Monroe was the first-ever Playboy Playmate, in December, 1953. Anna Nicole was Playboy Playmate in June, 1993 and Playmate of the year in 1994.

About Marilyn...

Marilyn Monroe was the name Norma Jean Baker chose as her screen name when she came to Hollywood. Marilyn was a legendary and very troubled California movie star and sex symbol. In 1962, she was found by her housekeeper, lying nude in her bed, face down, unresponsive and apparently dead. Marilyn had problems with drug and alcohol addiction. She was married and divorced three times and had countless affairs, some with very famous men, including President John F. Kennedy. Marilyn Monroe spent her entire life looking for someone who would love her.

Marilyn led a sad and very lonely life. She was abandoned by her mentally ill, dysfunctional mother shortly after birth and spent her childhood living first with a family friend, and then in an orphanage. Two weeks after Marilyn turned 16, she married the son of the family friend with whom she had lived so she wouldn't have to stay in the orphanage any longer.

Mysterous circumstances surrounded her untimely death, and it was suspected by many that she had been murdered. This has never been confirmed, though due in part to the mishandling of evidence at the death scene. After a 1982 review of the inquest into her death, it was determined that Marilyn either accidentally overdosed or killed herself.

Lavish comedy films established Marilyn Monroe's 'Dumb Blonde' on-screen persona. Most of her parts involved playing gold-diggers and materialistic women, and the studio insisted Marilyn work in productions which she herself considered inappropriate. The studio heads told her that was how the public saw her. The public was often very unkind in their remarks about Marilyn, and their accusations of 'sleeping with anyone who could get her to the top' followed her through her entire Hollywood career.

In his autobiography, director, Joshua Logan wrote, "I found Marilyn to be one of the great talents of all time... She struck me as being a much brighter person than I had ever imagined, and I think that was the first time I learned that intelligence and, yes brilliance have nothing to do with education" Sadly, until long after Marilyn's death, the public did not see her in this way.

About Anna Nicole...

Anna Nicole Smith's life played out as an extraordinary tabloid tale, much like her childhood idol, Marilyn Monroe. Anna Nicole was famous for being famous. Her Marilyn Monroe looks, her exaggerated curves, her little-girl voice, her dumb blonde persona, and her over-the-top outfits mimicked her childhood idol. Both their lives were surrounded by dysfunction, drugs, alcohol, loss and sadness.

Anna Nicole Smith was the name Vickie Lynn Hogan chose as her public name when she began a topless dancing career in Houston, Texas. She was born in a small Texas town in 1968, abandoned by her father shortly thereafter, and shipped back and forth between her aunt and her mother throughout her childhood. Anna Nicole dropped out of school in the 8th grade and went to work at a fried chicken shack, then later at a Wal-Mart store. Anna married at 17. She had a son, Daniel, and was divorced soon afterward. Anna then moved to Houston, changed her name to Anna Nicole Smith, and became a topless dancer.

It was there she met and married her second husband, 88 year old Texas millionaire J. Howard Marshall. Shortly after their marriage, Anna Nicole decided to have a breast augmentation and Playboy magazine, soon after, offered her a full page spread. Later, she was named 1994's Playmate of the Year. This jump-started her Hollywood career, the Guess? Jeans campaign and other roles in movies and on television.

Howard Marshall died in 1995, just 14 months after they were married. Bitter court battles over his money ensued, and the next six years were spent in appeals.
In 2002, E! featured Anna Nicole Smith in a reality TV series that lasted two seasons. The show featured Anna Nicole, her son, Daniel and her personal attorney, Howard K. Stern. Soon Anna Nicole Smith became known to almost everyone who owned a TV set. Anna Nicole's fluctuating weight, slurry Southern drawl and druggy demeanor became familiar as she guest-starred on many television shows. In 2004, Anna Nicole used her newfound fame to become the spokesperson for TrimSpa and quickly returned to her original, sexy shape.

Anna Nicole Smith again made headlines in 2006 when she gave birth to her daughter, Dannie Lynn, in Nassau, The Bahamas. Her 20 year old son, Daniel died inexplicably in his mother's hospital room just three days after the baby's birth. Soon after, paternity suits were filed by both Howard K. Stern, her current boyfriend, and Larry Birkhead, an ex-boyfriend. Both men claim to be the baby's father.

Anna Nicole had been distraught since the death of her son. She was also facing stressful court appearances and DNA testing in the pending paternity suits. Also, some other legal problems involving her home in the Bahamas was surfacing. Anna Nicole Smith was found unresponsive in her bed in a Hollywood, Florida hotel room on the afternoon of February 8, 2007, and pronounced dead on arrival at a local hospital. The cause of death is still under investigation, but it is speculated that she died from either an accidental drug overdose or a suicide. Some people believe she died of a broken heart.

After Anna Nicole's death , Frederic Prinz Von Anhalt, actress Zsa Zsa Gabor's ex-husband stepped forward, also claiming to be the father of Anna Nicole Smith's daughter.

A former attorney of Anna Nicole Smith, Lenard Leeds, said that Smith "Always had problems with her weight going up and down, and there's no question she used alcohol. It was no secret that she had a very troubled life and had so many, many problems. She wanted to be like Marilyn (Monroe) her whole life and ironically died in a similar manner."

Another former attorney for Smith in the Bahamas, Michael Scott, stated, "Undoubtedly it will be found at the end of the day that drugs featured in her death as they did in the death of poor Daniel."

Anna Nicole Smith spent her whole life looking for someone who would love her.

Marilyn Monroe and Anna Nicole...Even their names rhyme...