by Ted Sherman

Created on: February 08, 2007   Last Updated: May 09, 2007

Before Paris Hilton and other celebrities with no talent except to make news, Anna Nicole Smith set the pattern for those who've followed her into the headlines. A teen-age single mother and exotic dancer out of a small Texas town, she first made herself nationally seen as a Marilyn Monroe look-alike in Guess jeans series of ads and TV commercials. After playing the same buxom bimbo in a series of small movie parts, she hit the jackpot by marrying an 89-year-old multimillionaire. However, when he died a year later, her expected cashing in was delayed by family court battles and gold-digger image that continued to the day she died.

After an inept, short-lived reality TV show, she spent most of her time showing up to pose for photographers at various events and her seemingly endless court appearances. Last year she gave birth to a baby girl, and created further front page news by creating a paternity fight between two men claiming to be the father. And just days after the baby's birth, Anna Nicole's 20-year-old son died while visiting his mom during her maternity hospital stay.

Since then, most of her continuing news exposure showed a much more subdued, often sad and confused woman whose former flamboyant personality seemed to have been devastated by her son's death. And now, her own mysterious death only adds a sad finale to the troubled life story of Anna Nicole Smith.

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