Courtney Howard Throughout her all-too-brief life, Anna Nicole Smith played a variety of roles on screen and off, identifying as someone different to everyone in her orbit.
Even her name was part of a manufactured persona, carved from the same marble as Marilyn Monroe — an aspirational idol of hers.
The buxom blonde bombshell represented the dynamic range a woman’s identity could span, from the saintly (wife, mother, girl next door) to the sinful (exotic dancer, calculating gold digger, tabloid-courting sensation).
Born Vickie Lynn Hogan, she swapped her small-town woes for a ticket to stardom as a Playboy Playmate, Guess Jeans pinup girl and glamorous movie star: a walking, talking billboard for fashion, sex and, later, severe misfortune.
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