Anna Nicole Smith (1967-2007)

What can I say about Anna Nicole Smith that hasn’t been said already, a million times, in a million different ways? Truthfully, nothing new. She was a trainwreck. She was cunning. She was a bimbo. She was a shrewd business woman. She was a success story. She was ladled with numerous setbacks. She was a walking, talking, breathing contradiction. She was what America loves, a triumphant success story. But she was plagued by her past; her demons, that I am sure not even Entertainment Tonight will ever fully comprehend.

She was a woman full of gusto and life and exuberance. She craved attention; from anyone and everyone; even if most of the time people were laughing at her. So what? She joined in on the fun and laughed right alongside them.

She was trashy and didn’t mind showing it. She embraced her roots and histrionics and tangled web of weight gain, death, bizarre behavior and numerous affairs with a non-challant air of indifference. Anna Nicole always seemed like she was part of an inside joke that nobody else was privy to.

Whether she was looking for sugar-pie on Halloween for her reality show, the Anna Nicole Show, or asking millions of viewers if "You like my booody?" on the American Music Awards; it always seemed like she was pulling one over on the entire world.

I think the first time I noticed Anna Nicole Smith was when she got that Guess Jeans campaign in 1992. Her resemblance to Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield is what got her the gig. She was a refreshing change from the bland and personality-free Claudia Schiffer-types.

I wouldn’t really say I was a fan of ANS. But I definitely was aware of her antics and setbacks. (Who wasn’t?) But her missteps and tragedies became greater and greater in severity. Her trials were no longer funny or bizarre but incredibly sad and tragic. Especially posthumously, you can’t help but feel some compassion for her misguided and anguished soul. She was funny and crazy but underneath it all she was unhappy and alone. And it’s so sad and morbid when all these random details of her private life are coming out of every corner. I can't even pay attention anymore. It is too weird and unreal and sad.

Maybe it is a little skewed to say that Anna Nicole was an icon. That is something that remains to be seen. The more bizarre stories that come to fruition following her death the greater the myth and conspiracy stories become. The greater her persona becomes. Maybe in death she will be able to emulate her idol, Marilyn Monroe. Like Marilyn she died too soon; immortalized and sexualized forever at 39.

Her story, ultimately, is a tragic one. All the money and weight loss and success she achieved led her only into deeper water with more sharks waiting to take advantage of her. She was unhappy. She was married, with a newborn daughter and buckets of money but she was still unable to reach happiness. I can barely keep up with all the creepy new developments and innuendo being spouted off daily regarding her life and death. (Zsa Zsa Gabor’s Husband? What!!!! Frozen sperm from her dead octogenarian husband? What!!!)

All these random and gross facts are leading us further away from the simple truth. The rags to riches story of Anna Nicole Smith is over. She is dead and leaves behind a young daughter and hundreds of people fighting for a piece of her money.