Anna Nicole Smith was pronounced dead Thursday (February 8) in a Florida hospital. She was 39.
The former model and reality-TV star was rushed to Memorial Regional Hospital after an operator at the Seminole Hard Rock Cafe Hotel and Casino in
Hollywood, Florida – where Smith was discovered unconscious – called 911 at 1:38 p.m. ET.
According to Seminole County authorities, Smith’s personal nurse found her and called the hotel operator. Smith’s bodyguard administered CPR.
Smith was pronounced dead at 2:49 p.m. The cause of death will be determined by the medical examiner at Memorial Regional.
Her death came just months after another family tragedy: Smith’s 20-year-old son, Daniel, died nine days after she gave birth to a daughter, Dannielynn, on September 1 in the Bahamas. It was later determined he died of a lethal combination of Zoloft, Lexapro and methadone.
On September 28, Smith – the 1993 Playboy Playmate of the Year – and her lawyer, Howard K. Stern, exchanged vows and rings in an informal commitment ceremony in the Caribbean.
Recently, she’s been involved in a paternity suit involving Smith’s ex-boyfriend, Larry Birkhead, who claims he – not Stern – is the father of Dannielynn. Smith was also named in a class-action lawsuit against diet-pill maker TrimSpa, for which she has worked as a spokesperson.
Smith was perhaps best known for her marriage to 89-year-old billionaire J. Howard Marshall in 1994 when she was 26. After Marshall died 14 months later, Smith claimed she was promised half of his estate and spent years battling the courts for the money.
Anna Nicole, who was born Vickie Lynn Hogan, became an exotic dancer to support Daniel, whom she had with her first husband, Billy Wayne Smith, when she was just 17. They divorced a year later.
She appeared in Kanye West’s “The New Workout Plan” video as well as several movies, including “Be Cool,” “Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult” and “The Hudsucker Proxy.” Smith’s reality show, “The Anna Nicole Show,” debuted on E! in 2002 and was the channel’s highest-rated program that year.
“She was a dear friend who meant a great deal to the Playboy family,” Hugh Hefner, the magazine’s founder, said Thursday. “My thoughts and prayers are with her friends and family.”
Smith and Stern reportedly checked in to the Seminole Hard Rock on Monday and were due to check out Friday. Dannielynn is still in the Bahamas.
