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Anna Nicole Smith was America's sweetheart in the 90s and early 20s. Smith started out from humble ranks as a teen mother and stripper from Houston, Texas before eventually launching her modeling career. Appearing on the Playboy magazine cover, and becoming the face of brands like Guess and H&M, the model's life was far from what the media portrayed it to be.
Anna's life was filled with scandals, lawsuits, and the most devasting tragedy was probably the death of her son, Daniel Wayne Smith, within days after she gave birth to her daughter in September 2006. Daniel, 20, was reportedly visiting the former Playmate in her hospital room when he died of an accidental overdose of a lethal combination of methadone and antidepressants.
According to reports, Daniel was the tabloid star's son from her first marriage and was born in 1986 and raised in the town in Texas as his mother. He was raised by his grandmother and Anna before she shot to fame and after his parents' divorce. Daniel also went on to appear on his mother's reality TV show, The Anna Nicole Show, and a few of her films.
Anna Nicole Smith: You Don't Know Me is now available to stream on Netflix.
Anna Nicole Smith worked as a stripper at a Texas Club in the late 80s to provide for her son Daniel Wayne Smith
Daniel Wayne Smith was born on January 22, 1986, to Anna Nicole Smith, originally known as Vickie Lynn Hogan, and Billy Wayne Smith. Anna was only 17 years old when she married Billy, 16, in April 1984 after first meeting him at her workplace, Jim's Krispy Fried Chicken. But one year after their son was born, the couple separated and ultimately divorced in 1993.
According to the RadioTimes, Daniel was raised by his mother and maternal grandmother, Virgie Arthur, in Texas until the age of six. Anna worked odd jobs and even performed as a stripper at a local club to provide for her young son. At that very same strip club, she met oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II, who fell in love with her immediately and helped her launch a modeling career.
Anna Nicole Smith then went on to become the face of many brands such as Guess and H&M, appeared on the Playboy cover in 1992 and the following year, was named Playmate of the Year. Daniel then became the step-son of J Howard Marshall after his mother married him in 1994, and he followed his mother on a turbulent yet glamorous road.
The same RadioTimes report mentioned that Daniel even appeared as himself on his mother's reality TV show on E! Network titled The Anna Nicole Show which aired from 2002 to 2004. Daniel made limited appearances before revealing that he no longer wished to be a part of the series in its second season. He then played roles in two of his mother's films – Skyscraper and To the Limit.
Both Anna Nicole Smith and her son Daniel died of accidental drug overdozes within months of each other
Tragically, on September 10, 2006, Daniel Wayne Smith died in Anna's room at the Doctors Hospital in the Bahamas while visiting her three days after she gave birth to his half-sister Dannielynn. He was reportedly attending Los Angeles Valley College that summer. The cause of his death was later confirmed to be an accidental overdose of a fatal combination of methadone and two antidepressants.
At the time of his death, American forensic pathologist Cyril Wecht reported that Daniel accidentally overdosed on methadone and antidepressants. Two days after his death, Her Majesty's Coroner declared that the 20-year-old's cause of death was "not natural." Moreover, the incident devastated Anna Nicole Smith to the extent where she "experienced memory loss of the event."
Following his unfortunate death, there were inquiries and inquests into the circumstances surrounding his demise, which finally resulted in the finding that he had accidentally overdosed on drugs. In early 2007, about four months after her son's demise and daughter's birth, Anna also died of an accidental drug overdose, but the drugs weren't the same.
Learn more about the death of former Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith's son Daniel on Netflix's latest documentary.
