AN autopsy is set to be performed Friday on the late Anna Nicole Smith, amid speculation the former Playboy centerfold and reality TV star may have abused drugs.
Smith, who battled for years for the fortune of an octogenarian billionaire she married at 26, died Thursday in her hotel room in this town north of Miami. She was 39.
A private nurse found her unconscious, and a bodyguard performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Smith was then rushed to a hospital, where she died, police said.
Smith's younger sister Donna Hogan told CNN she guessed the death could be drug-related.
My heart is beating fast. I'm just very upset, said an emotional Hogan.
It still has not hit me that this is really happening, Hogan said.
But I'm not really shocked because of her lifestyle, and everything.
Hogan was asked if the death could be drug-related.
That would be my first guess, she said.
Smith herself told CNN in a years-old interview that that she had abused painkillers and even checked into a rehabilitation clinic.
Smith was born into poverty in a small Texas town, lived a larger-than-life Cinderella story, and her death bore echoes of her idol, 1950s Hollywood star Marilyn Monroe.
She wanted to be like Marilyn her whole life and ironically died in a similar manner, said her former lawyer, Lenard Leeds.
Smith's death follows by four months the sudden death of her only son Daniel, 20, who died in September in the Bahamas.
That came just days after Smith gave birth to a girl - whose paternity is now being disputed by a former boyfriend, photographer Larry Birkhead, and her attorney and companion, Howard Stern.
The girl, Dannie Lynn Hope, now inherits her mother's claim to the fortune of her late billionaire husband.
It is unclear how long it will take to determine the cause of death, said Broward County medical examiner Joshua Perper, in charge of the autopsy.
Sometimes the findings are very obvious at the time the autopsy is done. Other times the findings are more subtle and require additional microscopic and chemical examinations, said Perper.
Smith and Stern checked into the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel here in Hollywood on Monday, said Seminole County police chief Charlie Tiger.
Police are not treating the case as crime or a suicide but are investigating the matter, he said.
Smith was born Vicki Lynn Hogan November 28, 1967, in Mexia, Texas.
Her parents divorced, and she was raised by her mother and aunt. She first wed at 17 and had her son Daniel, divorcing soon after his birth.
After working as a Wal-Mart cashier and waiting on tables, she became an exotic dancer in Houston.
There she met wheelchair-bound oil billionaire J. Howard Marshall.
On June 27, 1994, 26-year-old Smith married the 89-year-old Marshall, who died the following year.
She spent the next 12 years battling with her stepson E. Pierce Marshall over the Marshall fortune, a battle still unresolved after numerous court rulings and even a trip to the US Supreme Court.
Smith's modeling career took off when she appeared on the cover of the March 1992 Playboy magazine.
Smith, who was voted Playboy Playmate of the Year in 1993, went on to replace German supermodel Claudia Schiffer as a model for Guess Jeans.
Smith also appeared in several Hollywood films, including the comedy Naked Gun 33-1/3.
She starred in a science fiction-comedy movie titled Illegal Aliens, which had been scheduled for release in the next weeks, according to press reports.
On television she starred in The Anna Nicole Show (2002-2004), a reality show which followed her musings at work and at home. Smith's weight gain was reportedly behind the show's cancellation.
A statement posted on Smith's website in September spoke of the model's grief over her son's death.
Anna Nicole is absolutely devastated by the loss of her son. He was her pride and joy and an amazing human being, the statement said. Playboy founder Hugh Hefner described Smith as a dear friend.
I am very saddened to learn about Anna Nicole's passing, Hefner said in a statement.
She was a dear friend who meant a great deal to the Playboy family and to me personally.
Smith worked as spokeswoman for TrimSpa, a weight-loss treatment.
Anna knew both the joy of giving life, and the heartache of losing a child, the company said in a statement.
Smith and TrimSpa were named in a class-action lawsuit this week claiming that the marketing for TrimSpa's weight-loss product was false or misleading.
This is becoming too smutty.
Let her rest in peace.
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