Anna Nicole Smith, the iconic 90s Playboy centerfold who went on to become the face of the chaotic reality TV of the 2000s, would have turned 58 today. She passed at 39 in Hollywood, Florida in 2006, with the last few months of her life mired by tragedy. But in the nearly two decades since, Smith has grown into even more of a cultural icon: a rags-to-riches legend, a portrait of bubbly blonde beauty and a symbol of the complexity of American womanhood.
Much of the media presented her as a ditz, trailer trash plucked from obscurity for our entertainment — New York Magazine even put her on their cover with the title “White Trash Nation.” But Smith was ambitious in her rise out of her hometown of Mexia, Texas. After dropping out of high school, she worked at a fried chicken restaurant and married a co-worker who turned abusive. Fleeing with her six-month-old son, she made a living on her own as a stripper — where she famously met 86-year-old petroleum billionaire J. Howard Marshall. It was soon after this that she caught the eye of Playboy, where she first appeared as a centerfold in ‘92. The following year, her infectious personality and vivacious curves earned her the role of Playmate of the Year.
Marshall and Nicole wed soon after, thrusting the much-younger Smith into the spotlight as an alleged gold digger. Upon Marshall’s death just fourteen months later, Smith entered years of litigation over his estate. But Nicole didn’t let the battle define her. Instead, she cemented herself as a pop culture legend in modelling and her reality TV show, The Anna Nicole Show.
She remains a beloved figure of both worlds today, her beauty and irrepressibility a shining light of an era of mainstream culture now passed. The words that may have been used to insult her have now been reclaimed: for many young women, her “bimbo” aesthetic is one to embrace. The world is lucky to have enjoyed a woman like Anna Nicole Smith even for a short time — luckier, still, that we may still look back on her photos and remember her, now.
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