Smith’s life as tragic and glamorous as her hero Monroe’s
Both women found fame as glamour models, went on to star in movies, had marriages that made the headlines and died at a relatively young age.
Smith, like Monroe, was known for her platinum blonde hair and a voluptuous figure that became her calling card.
From her time as a Playboy playmate to appearances in films such as Naked Gun 33 1/3 she was instantly recognisable for her curves.
Born Vickie Lynn Hogan in Houston, Texas, Smith worked in a fast food store in nearby Mexia as a 17-year-old, and met and married one of the cooks, Billy Smith, then aged 16.
“For our wedding I wore a short dress — he had on jeans. We got married and had Chinese food then went home and went to bed,” Smith said.
The teenage couple had a son Daniel but they separated in 1987, a few years after the wedding.
The struggling young mother moved back home to Houston and began working in clubs as a topless dancer after having breast implants and dyeing her hair blonde.
Her career took off when she was chosen as a Playboy model, and, in 1993, she was Playmate Of The Year.
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 she met 89-year-old billionaire oil mogul J Howard Marshall, whom she married.
With a 63-year age gap between the couple, there were accusations that the model had wed for money.
Smith reportedly told her critics: “I’m sick of being accused of gold-digging. It just so happens I get turned on by liver spots.”
She also said: “Nobody has ever respected me and done things for me and loved me. So when Howard came along, it was a blessing.
“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 died just 14 months after the wedding and a battle ensued between Smith and his son over Marshall’s fortune.
A federal court in California originally awarded the model $474 million (€365m) from his will against the wishes of the oil mogul’s son, but that was later overturned.
In May last year, the US Supreme Court revived her case, but it was never concluded.
Smith’s high-profile appearance in Playboy earned her a contract to become a Guess jeans model.
Although she starred in the comedy movie Naked Gun 33 1/3, The Hudsucker Proxy and a number of other films, her acting career never really took off.
Smith suffered from personal problems and began a battle against weight gain in the mid-1990s that was to last for the next 10 years.
She gained six stone, reaching a peak of 16 stone in 1996 but slimmed down, only to regain most of the pounds again before losing them, once more, by 2005.
In 1995, she was admitted to hospital after mixing prescription drugs with alcohol and was later dogged by claims of drug abuse.
The Anna Nicole Show — an Osbourne-style reality TV series starring the model — came in 2002.
Described by one critic as “the ultimate in car crash TV”, it earned the model only a cult following and was dropped.
Last September Smith gave birth to a baby girl, but her 20-year-old son Daniel died just three days later.
He was found dead at the Bahamas hospital where he was visiting his mother and half-sister Dannielynn.
A private pathologist concluded that low levels of methadone and two antidepressants interacted to cause his accidental death.
At the time of her death, Smith was involved in a paternity dispute over her five-month-old daughter.
She claimed lawyer Howard K Stern was the father, but photographer Larry Birkhead says the baby is his.
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