Anna Nicole Smith was dead on arrival after she was found unconscious in her hotel room at the Hard Rock Cafe and Casino in Hollywood, Florida.

Anna Nicole Smith

Smith’s life had all the makings of a soap opera. She started out working at a chicken restaurant in Mexia, Texas — about 80 miles south of Dallas. After working at Wal-Mart and Red Lobster, she ended up as an, ahem, exotic dancer in Houston. She rose to national fame 1994 when she married oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall, II when she was 26 and he was 89. Marshall died the following year and she was caught up in a battle for her late husband’s estate.

It’s easy to criticize Anna Nicole. She was obviously a gold-digger who hit it lucky. I mean really lucky. Shoot, I would have gone to Massachussetts and married J. Howard Marshall if it meant getting a part of his $1.6 billion estate.

Smith claimed that Marshall offered her half his estate if she would marry him. Marshall’s family thouoght otherwise, of course, and a legal battle ensued, reaching all the way to the Supreme Court, which affirmed that Smith had the right to pursue a portion of the estate in federal court.

Personally, I have very little sympathy for either Anna Nicole or Marshall’s heirs. $1.6 billion is a LOT of money and they certainly could have reached some sort of agreement. Give her $50 million and tell her to go away. No one needs $1.6 billion and anyone can get by for the rest of their lives on $50 million.

Smith parlayed her fame into a couple of television shows and advertising contacts. Regardless of whether she got a dime of Marshall’s estate, she was still set for life.

The cause of death has not yet been determined.