Top > Entertainment > 2007 > February > 2007-02-17

Anna Nicole Smith, Dead at 39

On February 8, 2007, Smith was found unresponsive in a room at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. She checked in on February 5th at 8 p.m and was due to check out on Friday, February 9th. A bodyguard administered CPR before she was rushed to Memorial Regional Hospital at 2:10 pm and pronounced DOA at 2:49 pm. Smith`s companion, Howard K. Stern, was not with her when in the hotel room when she died. He told Entertainment Tonight that the night before her temperature was running at 104 degrees. She was reported to have had flu-like symptoms for the last couple of days before her death.

Witnesses reported seeing her at the Hard Rock Hotel`s bars drinking profusely to the point where she couldn`t walk independently. Currently the police do not believe there is any indication that a crime has occurred in Smith`s death. Allegedly, many prescription drugs were found in the hotel room, but the preliminary results of the autopsy found no drugs in Smith`s stomach. Playboy founder and friend Hugh Hefner said: "I`m very saddened to learn about Anna Nicole`s passing. She was a dear friend who meant a great deal to the Playboy family and to me personally. My thoughts and prayers are with her friends and loved ones during this difficult time."

Anna Nicole Smith was born Vickie Lynn Marshall on November 28, 1967. She was an American model, actress and celebrity who first gained popularity as Playboy`s 1993 Playmate of the Year. Her highly publicized marriage to oil billionaire J. Howard Marshall, who was 63 years her senior, resulted in considerable speculation that she married the elderly man merely for his money, which she denied. Following his death, she began a lengthy and ongoing legal battle over a share of his estate.