Anna Nicole Smith, former Playboy Bunny, collapsed and was found unconscious this afternoon at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, in Hollywood, Fla. Smith, 39, reportedly was taken to Memorial Regional Hospital. Officials there told the Miami Herald, "It does not look good." Smith's lawyer later confirmed her death.
A spokesman from the fire department told CNN that a call was received after 2 p.m. Witnesses told CNN they performed CPR on Smith and a tube was put down her throat. Doctors then announced her official time of death at 2:49 p.m. Her body will be taken to Broward County Medical Examiner tomorrow.
In 1993, Smith was named Playboy's Playmate of the Year. Readers were fascinated by her bombshell good looks and her similarity to the late actress Marilyn Monroe. That similarity was played up in her Guess magazine ads, which boosted the sales of their jeans.
Playboy Inc. founder Hugh Hefner released a statement this afternoon stating, "I am 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."
In 1994, she married 89-year-old oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II, the head of oil-based Koch Industries, which is part of a family fortune worth at least $400 million.
He died in 1995, setting off a feud with her former stepson, E. Pierce Marshall, over whether she had a right to the estate. Then, the stepson died and vowed the court fight would continue.
The former topless dancer, born Vickie Lynn Hogan on Nov. 28, 1967, in Houston, was one of six children to Donald Eugene and Virgie Hart Hogan.
The past year has been a turbulent one for Smith. She was facing a paternity suit filed by her ex-boyfriend, Larry Birkhead, who claimed to be the father of her infant daughter, Dannielynn, who was born Sept. 7, 2006, in the Bahamas. Smith's son, Daniel, 20, died suddenly just days after the baby's birth.
"Larry is devastated," Debra Opri, a lawyer for Birkhead, told CNN. "We hear it's very serious. I've never heard Larry so concerned. He's concerned about Anna, and he's concerned about the child."
