Anna Nicole Smith died in February 2007 at just 39 years old of an accidental drug overdose, leaving behind her infant daughter, Dannielynn.
The blonde bombshell had endured a devastating blow several months prior to her untimely death – she welcomed her long-awaited daughter on September 7, 2006, before her only son Daniel tragically died three days later at age 20 in her hospital room from an accidental overdose of methadone and antidepressants.
In the wake of her son’s death, Smith spiraled further into a spiral of depression, mental illness and substance abuse, culminating in her passing away in a Hollywood, Florida hotel room with a cocktail of drugs in her system.
Her ex-partner and father of her child, Larry Birkhead, testified at her 2008 inquest that Anna preferred Daniel to do drugs when she was present rather than “running around and experimenting with his friends” – and had once given him an ecstasy pill.
Daniel also took a bottle of methadone from his mother in April – with Birkhead saying he wasn’t sure if Daniel took it to prevent his mother from using it.
A new documentary – Anna Nicole Smith: You Don’t Know Me – arriving on Netflix May 16 – will explore the star’s rise to fame, family and untimely death through the eyes of those closest to her.
Continue reading below for everything you need to know about Anna Nicole Smith’s cause of death:
Anna Nicole Smith died in February 2007 aged just 39 of an accidental drug overdose, leaving behind her infant daughter Dannielynn (2004 photo)
RIP: The blonde bombshell endured a devastating few months leading up to her untimely death — she welcomed her long-awaited daughter on September 7, 2006, before her only son Daniel tragically passed away three days later at age 20 (pictured with Daniel in 2004)
LAST DAYS – FEBRUARY 5 – FEBRUARY 8, 2007
Smith had nine prescription drugs in her system when she died, including methadone, valium diazepam and lorazepam, and chloral hydrate.
Her guard Maurice Brighthaupt claimed that he had often seen her slurping chloral hydrate – a strong sedative used in the short-term treatment of insomnia – from a bottle.
At the time of her death, she had a 105-degree fever, stomach flu, and a fever caused by a pus-filled infection on her buttocks from repeated injections of other drugs.
A hotel employee testified that Smith had looked “out of it” when she leaned on boyfriend Howard K. Stern while checking into the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on February 5, 2007 – just three days before her death.
She was also accompanied by psychiatrist Dr. Khristine Eroshevich – who would later become embroiled in a legal drama about prescribing drugs to Smith under an assumed name – she would eventually be sentenced to a year of probation in 2015.
Baby Dannielynn was left behind in the Bahamas where Smith lived after her son’s death.
Eroshevich said the model had the flu and asked for help getting a prescription – sending a doctor to Smith’s room to treat her.
However, the Doctor was turned down by Stern due to fears of negative press coverage – which became feverish due to Smith’s recent tragedies, the birth of her daughter and the ensuing paternity battle.
Smith also refused to go to a hospital for treatment and decided to stay in her hotel room filled with Tamiflu tablets, pill bottles, SlimFast and soda.
Fall of an icon: Smith had nine prescription drugs in her system when she died, including methadone, valium diazepam and lorazepam and chloral hydrate
Last Love: A hotel employee testified that Smith had looked “out of it” when she leaned on boyfriend Howard K. Stern (pictured together) while checking into the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on Feb. 5, 2007 — just three days before her dead
RIP: Smith is pictured with her daughter Dannielynn (pictured together)
Smith was said to be so weak when she got to the hotel that she drank Pedialyte from a baby bottle.
Her last days were spent semi-conscious under a duvet on a bed – before she was found lifeless by a friend of the family on February 8.
Her staff resuscitated her and dramatic footage was captured of her final moments as paramedics continued to work on her as they took her to an ambulance.
She was pronounced dead at the hospital that afternoon.
She was put on 44 different medications before her death, many of them strong prescription drugs.
Smith’s death was ultimately ruled an accidental overdose of the sedative chloral hydrate that became increasingly toxic when combined with other prescription drugs in her system, specifically four benzodiazepines: Klonopin (clonazepam), Ativan (lorazepam), Serax (oxazepam), and Valium (diazepam). ).
Smith was buried in a beaded gown and tiara. She was buried next to Daniel.
ADDICTED TO PRESCRIPTION MEDICATIONS
Dr. Eroshevich and Anne Nicole’s lover and manager, Stern, were convicted in 2010 of two counts of conspiracy to obtain prescriptions under an assumed name and were acquitted of several other charges.
They were not charged with causing the Playboy model’s death.
The doctor reportedly wrote prescriptions for opiates, muscle relaxants and other drugs that were found in the Florida hotel room where Anne Nicole died.
In the spotlight: Smith’s doctors fell into legal turmoil after her death for getting prescriptions under an assumed name (Smith above in 2000)
Down and out: Former doctor Sandeep Kapoor (left in 2009 booking photo, right in 2010 in court) was charged with illegally prescribing drugs to Smith and while losing his medical license, he was cleared of criminal charges
However, in 2011, Judge Robert Perry dismissed the post-trial convictions, saying that it was not unusual in the celebrity world for fake names to be used to protect privacy.
An appeals court reversed his ruling, leading to the 2015 re-sentencing.
This time, Judge Perry decided that the doctor was only guilty of felony conspiracy, saying she had no criminal record and no malicious intent. Misdemeanor charges against Stern would later be dismissed again.
Another of Smith’s doctors, Sandeep Kapoor, went on trial in 2009 after being accused of contributing to Smith’s death by providing her illegal prescriptions.
He had begun treating Smith around 2004, when he gave her prescriptions for Valium and methadone.
Their relationship was professional until Smith invited Kapoor to attend a Gay Pride event in Los Angeles in 2005, which reportedly ended with a shirtless Kapoor touching Smith at a West Hollywood gay bar.
Kapoor continued to treat Smith afterward and prescribed her medication under the name Michelle Chase for “privacy reasons.”
He also said Smith was particularly careful not to abuse any of her prescriptions during her pregnancy in 2006.
Close bond: Larry Birkhead, 50, was revealed to be Dannielynn’s biological father in 2007 via a paternity test, with the photographer moving to Kentucky to keep his daughter out of the spotlight (pictured together in 2022)
“She followed what she had to follow, especially during her pregnancy. She had very strict guidelines for handling the drug during pregnancy, which she followed,” Kapoor said.
Two years after Smith’s death, Kapoor was charged with eight felonies, including unlawful prescription of controlled substances, obtaining fraudulent prescriptions and conspiracy to dispense controlled substances.
Kapoor lost his medical license, but was eventually acquitted by a jury.
Smith rose to fame as a nude model for Playboy and then became a model for Guess. She later starred in her own E! reality series The Anna Nicole Show.
Born Vickie Lynn Hogan, Anna married 89-year-old oil magnate J. Howard Marshall II in 1994 after meeting him while performing at a strip club.
After Anne Nicole’s death, Howard fought for custody of her daughter Dannielynn, believing him to be the father, but a paternity suit later revealed that the child was fathered by part-time celebrity photographer Birkhead.