Anna Nicole Smith: You Don't Know Me (2023)

There is no definite answer as to why somebody like Anna shot to fame. No doubt she had a charming presence and an extremely beautiful face, but so did a lot of other women. Anna's destiny was already written, and the way her career progressed was almost magical.

It didn't make sense how Marilyn Grabowski of Playboy magazine got to know about her or how she was introduced to Paul Marciano, owner of Guess. The thing is, Anna's quest was in itself quite toxic, and the kind of desires she had made her incapable of feeling satisfied or happy. She was after money and stardom, and there was no problem with that, but she was ready to do anything and go to any extent to attain them. She made certain choices that wrecked her from within, and no matter what anybody said, the reason behind those choices made others question her principles. Anna lacked meaningful partnerships in her life, not because she didn't have people, but because she always left those behind who were willing to sit down and listen to her and not just use her for their vested interests. Anna was born as Vicky Lynn and came from a humble background though her family always had enough resources for a decent lifestyle. But Anna wanted more. She was not happy living in Mexia, Texas, as she had big dreams and knew that staying in that city would get her nowhere. Anna started working at Jim's Krispy Fried Chicken, and soon, she got married to the chef of the outlet, Billy. Anna got a lot of attention from the male customers who used to come there, but Billy was probably the only one who didn't try to flirt or make any sort of pass at her. Billy's aloofness bothered Anna so much that she made it a point that he liked her, and once that happened, she decided to get married to him. She was 17 years old. This was not merely a life event; it said a lot about Anna's psychology. Anna craved attention to the point that if she didn't get it, she started feeling restless and didn't hesitate to be reckless. Anna probably never loved Billy. Billy used to go to work, and Anna felt bored staying in her house. Billy was a jealous man, and he felt that if Anna worked, she would get a lot of male attention and might end up having an affair. After Anna had her first child, Daniel, she decided to leave Billy in search of greener pastures. Anna worked in a strip club, in Houston in 1986, where she met a colleague named Missy, who probably knew her better than a lot of other people who claimed to be a part of Anna's life. Anna earned a lot of money during this time, and she became the most sought-after performer in the club. She got a breast enlargement surgery and started taking pain medications. In 1991, she met J. Howard Marshall, a geriatric Texan Billionaire, who bought her a car and a house and asked her to marry him. She refused as she wanted to make a name for herself. Anna got a photo-shoot done, and that became a turning point in her life as Marilyn Grabowski was on the lookout for new faces for Playboy magazine during that time, and the photographer asked her to take a look at Anna's photographs. Anna won the playmate of the year title, and after that, there was no looking back. She started modeling for Guess (the biggest jean company of the time. Guess models were always the most famous, it was a big deal), and soon, she started getting offers for films. She changed her to Anna Nicole Smith in 1992. Missy claimed to be her first female lover. Anna loved the spotlight, and the Paparazzi loved her. Her shots went for $2500 and up to $7500 per piece as she was always so animated. Anna believed that she was the re-incarnated daughter of Marilyn Monroe. She still had an off and on relationship with Howard. Howard wanted to adopt Daniel so he could protect Anna and Daniel both. Anna' lawyer felt that their love was real, and Anna was not a gold digger. Anna also sought out her biological father Donald Eugene Hogan and met him after 24 years. She took him, her brother and Daniel to Disneyland. At this point, Anna was not too close to her mother. The brother, Donnie Hogan told Anna that their father was a child molester and had even admitted to forcing himself upon his own wife's sister. Anna stopped seeing Donald after he tried to have sex with her. Anna falls into drug abuse and was even hospitalized for overdosing. The stress of her professional and personal life started to catch up with her. Pierce Marshall is Howard's son and he had to put up with a lot of issues from Howard. He hated Anna even more to come so late in the game and try to take away everything after Pierce had to endure his father for decades. In every interview, Anna always said that she had had a traumatizing childhood. She used to say that her mother used to sexually and physically abuse her. Missy, her colleague from the strip club, noticed one time that she repeated Missy's story in one of her interviews and tried to gain sympathy from the people. Virgie, her mother, asked her why she was spreading lies, and Anna would always reply that a sad story always sold more and worked in the person's favor. Missy also confirmed that whenever they used to get into trouble, Anna's mother always came to the rescue, and she made sure that her daughter was safe. Even Anna's brother, Donald Hart, said that their mother never did anything of the sort, and Anna only propagated the lies to get sympathy from the people. Had Missy not noticed that what Anna was saying in the interview was, in fact, her life story, then maybe we would have believed Anna for a moment and entertained the fact that the mother and the brother were hiding the truth. This fabricated past life was also another means to get attention from the masses. Anna wanted to be in the spotlight at all times, and her desperation was taking her down a path of no return. Anna married J. Howard Marshall, and the age gap between the two was more than 60 years. Though Anna always maintained that she didn't do it for money, to any prudent man, her intentions were blatantly clear. Pierce worked behind the scenes so that Howard lost control over his own money. Howard could no longer spend lavishly on Anna. Howard was worth $1. 6 billion and Anna claims that she was promised half of that. Howard had already given Anna $14 million till his death, but Anna was left with nothing as she had spent everything away. After Marshall's death, Anna fought a case for his property with Marshall's son, E. Pierce Marshall. Anna lost the case and her husband, but she kept finding love in her life. Anna lost the case as she was revealed to be a lavish glutton during the trial. Anna did a MTV show based on her own life. Anna loved Daniel with all her life. She also started gaining a lot of weight. Anna was distressed at what the media wrote about her. She stopped eating and drinking and became really sick. Anna made a comeback representing a diet pills product called Trimspa. By that time Anna has managed to lose weight with diet and yoga. She presents an award at the American Music Awards and flubs a line. She gets more speaking assignments. She was on methadone for back pain relief. She had a breast implant that ruptured and had to be repaired. She was a mess behind the scenes. Methadone is a known prescription for heroin addicts. She was in a relationship with Larry Brikhead (a photographer) and then with her lawyer, Howard Stern. Anna wanted to have another child, and thus, in 2006, she gave birth to a girl named Dannielynn. Both Larry and Howard claimed her daughter, and even Anna's bodyguard, Alexander Denk, claimed a similar thing, but eventually, it was proved in court that Brikhead was the father. Anna hated Larry as she knew that Larry wanted custody of their daughter. Anna was in the Bahamas at this time (Anna went there intentionally as in the Bahamas, whoever signs the Birth Certificate is the legal father), and Daniel, her son, had come to meet her there. Daniel, all of a sudden, died in the hospital room itself, where Anna was staying, and the reports said that he had died due to drug abuse. Approximately two weeks after the unfortunate incident, Anna and Howard Stern got married. Anna died on February 8th, 2007 (she was 39 years old), almost a year after giving birth to her daughter, and at the end of the documentary, we saw that it was concluded by the experts that there was no sign of foul play and the reason for her death was an accidental overdose of prescription medications. There were rumors in the media that Anna was murdered, but no concrete evidence was found, and it merely turned out to be a baseless conspiracy. There was an official investigation to look into Daniel's death too, but like his mother, the authorities found out that consumption of a deadly combination of two antidepressants and methadone had led to the demise of the young boy who was 20 years old, and there was third-party involvement there. Anna idolized Marilyn Monroe, and she aspired to become like her one day. Maybe that is why Anna faked having a very difficult childhood, though everybody who knew her back in the day said that she was lying about it. Anna was solely responsible for whatever happened to her in her life. Whatever repercussions she had to bear and whatever hardships she had to go through were the result of her own actions. A lot of people said that she was hounded by the media when she gained weight, and there were all sorts of defamatory remarks made about her in public. Anna was the paparazzi's delight, and they absolutely loved recording her and taking pictures of her because they knew that she would do or say something that would get sensationalized and become the talk of the town. No doubt Anna loved her son, but it is a fact that he felt neglected and lonely, and when he needed his mother the most, she was nowhere to be found. Maybe he was stealing drugs from her stash, or maybe he was buying them from somewhere else, but the fact that he was using them on a regular basis and Anna was unaware of it was not something that should have ideally happened. In the end, Anna's name was added to that long list of unfortunate and untimely deaths where the celebrities were unable to handle their stardom and lost themselves while desperately running after fame and money.