Anna Nicole Smith
Wow. We did not see this one coming.
There is barely a differential diagnosis to discuss in such a sad case. It is a safe bet that drugs were involved as they are in almost every youthful Hollywood death, and when we say drugs, we mean opioids (heroin and the like), benzodiazepines, or less likely, barbiturates. Whether it was intentional or not is out of the realm of this column, as it is pure speculation and we will not guess whether Anna Nicole was in so much pain as to wish for the end of her life.
We have to admit that a part of us feels sorry for the persistent badgering and exploitation she suffered at the hands of a ruthless media. Constantly being pegged as a terrible mother, a gold-digger, a bimbo, an adulterer had to eventually take its toll on her psyche. And finally, at the end of her life, she was sued as part of a class-action lawsuit for advocating the use of TrimSpa, a weight-loss supplement.
Born Vickie Lynn Hogan in Houston, Texas, Smith worked in a fast food store in nearby Mexia while a 17-year-old, and met and married one of the cooks, Billy Smith, then aged 16.
After a few years of working in topless clubs around Houston, she struck oil when she was chosen as a Playboy model and in 1993 became the famous magazine’s Playmate Of The Year.
Now being hailed as the “the next Marilyn Monroe” by the media and calling herself Anna Nicole Smith, she continued working the clubs and in GiGi’s met 89-year-old billionaire oil mogul J Howard Marshall, whom she married.
“He is the only person in my life who does not care about what other people say about me. He truly loves me and I love him for it.”
But the oil mogul passed away just 14 months after the wedding and a battle ensued between Smith and his son over Marshall’s fortune.
In 1995 the model was admitted to hospital after mixing prescription drugs with alcohol and was later dogged by claims of drug abuse.
In 2002 the Anna Nicole Show - an Osbourne-style reality television series starring the model - was aired. This was really the beginning of thge end as she almost seemed ot relish the negative media attention as a substitue for no attention at all. Her massive weight gain and platinum blonde hair pegged her as the ultimate failed starlett. But through it all, there were actually moments of real sentiment in her show whenever her son showed up.
Four years and a lot of dieting later, Anna Nicole finally seemed to be normalizing with the birth of a baby girl. But tragedy was to follow her to the Bahamas when her 20-year-old son, Daniel, died of a lethal combination of methadone and antidepressants - [Aside: Torsades de Pointe (TdP) is a known complication of high doses of methadone, usually above 200 mg]. And then this.
There is not much else to say, but it is worthwhile to note that we can count on one hand the number of young Hollywoodites who have not been attached to stories of drugs and debauchery (see: 20 yo Lindsay Lohan) - it is a slippery slope that these young stars are on and it might be worth their while to pause and reflect on this tragedy to avoid their own.
2007-02-10
