Scandalicious.

I was wondering when that would be posted. people just can't help themselves.

She was a messed up soul. and once upon a time a truly gorgeous woman. and she had some rough breaks. RIP, miss.

I find it heartbreaking. Poor woman.

I always though Anna Nicole was a gentle soul; she lived fast and she died young.

Brownpau - it's interesting that you called her an actress. To me she is a model, first and foremost. Like jon says, in her time she was an iconic figure of goddess-like beauty (my "Visions of the Divine Feminine" professor hung an old centerfold of her at the front of our class, to show that even Americans worship a fertile-looking woman).

People would say that Kurt Cobain was a wreck when he was alive, and I would always say "Naaah, he's fine!" Then, clearly, he wasn't fine at all and I had a sudden realization that I had fed off of that not-fine-ness. I consumed it, supported it with money. I feel sick to my stomach once again. RIP.

Sad. Here are some of my favorite photos of her, from back in her Guess Jeans days. I feel sorry for her, and for her baby.

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Oh, model and exotic dancer.

Dark Roots is a really good documentary.

Absolutely wild story.

So who gets the baby???????

I always felt kind of sorry for her, then VERY sorry for her when her son died. She was SO wrecked by that. Now this... what an unhappy end these last few years were to her.

I'd hate to have been inside her head (although I'm sure being in other parts of her was lots of fun)

There was an article in the now defunct LA New Times a long time ago that claimed she was gay--I always thought that the poodle's owners in Best in Show came from that.

I just heard this. I doubt she led much of a happy life. I can't imagine the anguish of giving birth to a baby and then two days later her son dying.

May she rest in peace.

U R NOT FORGOTTEN

muddgirl - But ah, to me she will always be Tanya Peters.

She lived her life like she had gotten the script for her True Hollywood Story in advance. So much drama. So many awful decisions. May she rest in peace.

I'd post some of my favorite pictures of her like ico did, but mine would probably get me a timeout.

Slight derail--Did this event kill ONTD? I keep getting a message that it's been suspended. Anyone know what's going on?

I never realized how very pretty Anna Nicole Smith was as a young woman. Marilyn Monroe meets Madonna.

It's sad, but I feel like this sort of hard, fast celebrity lifestyle is an ill wind that blows no good. Look at Britney Spears, who was so vivacious and sweet (looking) only a few years ago and is already a wreck at, what, 25? The worst of it is that we mock her, ruthlessly, and she is just living the life she has.

Hmm.

That fast lane is too hard on some.

Since I can't think of anything nice to say.


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while it is not surprising that the usual Gatekeepers Of Teh Best Of The Web on mefi are whining about the post there, the news is -- shamefully, of course -- leading msnbc.com and foxnews.com and the TV cable/satellite news channels.

so maybe, just maybe, if one hates celebrity news so much, one would be better off venting one's anger at msnbc and Fox instead that breaking some mefi user's balls about a post on a guy's website.

just sayin'.


having said that, I didn't mind her. and God bless her for that curvalicious Guess! campaign in the early 90s, a serious reminder to the fashion community that beauty comes in different sizes, not just in size 0s.

AlJazeera International, to their credit, are ignoring this. Their Arabic-language channel, too.

yeah. she looked a hell of a lot better in those guess ads than any current models i can think of, including the various victorias secret ladies.

Finally a story to replace the crazy astronaut from the US media.

And I did think Ms. Smith was the bee's knees when she was a Guess girl.

Is it 2 or 3 confirmed miracles that are required for sainthood?

Actress? Model? I never heard of her until she was a full-blown media whore who didn't really do anything but appear on E! for no good reason.

jrossi - lj_maintenance just posted this message:
"We ran in to a snag with queries on our popular community ohnotheydidnt which was impacting performance for the entire site. We're terribly sorry for the inconvenience but had to temporarily suspend the community while we found and fixed the bug. We've got a fix in place and the world will be right again for your celebrity news!"

So yes, I think ANS broke ONTD, and by extension livejournal!

She was a beautiful woman who led a very mixed up life. I don't think the last several years were very kind to her. I hope she passed quickly, poor thing.

I think this is truly sad. Girl was messed up, no doubt. She lived waaaaaaaay up in her head and it showed in everything she did. But damn. She's in peace now, and that's what matters.

Hmm. Why does the AP article refer to her as a "pneumatic blonde"? Is this a meaning of the word I don't know?

Definitely a sad story, if for no other reason than to show how fame fucks up people's lives.

Hospital personnel tried to revive Daniel Smith, but his mother, who could not accept his death, continued to do so after doctors had given up, Stern said. Eventually, she had to be sedated and checked out of the hospital to avoid the media.

That is one of the saddest things I've ever read.
She had a rough life, and was not cut out for the meatgrinder that is fame in America. That, if anything, is what made her the wreck we saw on E.

Hopefully she's standing with St. Peter now, gently reminding him "my eyes are up here."

Pneumatic:

1. of or pertaining to air, gases, or wind.
2. of or pertaining to pneumatics.
3. operated by air or by the pressure or exhaustion of air: a pneumatic drill.
4. filled with or containing compressed air, as a tire.

It's a awkward, sorta-dirty reference to her breasts, suggesting that they were so large that they must have been somehow inflatable.

Or somethin'.

Wow, ONTD broke LJ. Crazy! At least it's fixed now.

I'm rather speechless at this news. Just ...wow.

Pneumatic: the word Aldous Huxley used in Brave New World to describe young, nubile, sexy women.

Perhaps also T.S. Eliot's Whispers of Immortality

Grishkin is nice: her Russian eye
Is underlined for emphasis;
Uncorseted, her friendly bust
Gives promise of pneumatic bliss.

We had a wall full of pin-ups torn from newspapers in my sixth-form common room at school in the mid 90s - a whole corner was reserved for ANS. That's how I'll remember her, I think, rather than what she was like near the end.

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Wow. I must say that her (possibly) sudden, mysterious death so soon after her son's sudden, mysterious death struck me as suspicious... At this point, I'd want to put a 24-hour bodyguard on the baby. I am assuming her daughter's paternity hasn't been settled yet? I wonder who, now, will have custody of her... and, my god - what a daft, tangled tragic tale for her to be born into.

It's all very sad. I've always liked Anna Nicole. She was harmless and sweet, and stunningly beautiful. At times I have felt sorry for her. I was at work yesterday when I heard the news. Just about every patient had the news turned on. The entire floor was talking about her, the patients, doctors, employees. What a tragic ending.

Doohickie, you and I must not live in the same universe. This is at least the third time I've heard you say you hadn't heard of somebody that seemed like a cultural icon to me.

Thanks for posting those images iconomy.
I'd forgotten about her Guess Jeans days, even though they never got to see the light of day over here, I do remember hearing snippets of her every now and then. Sad to know in her later years she was more renown for her weight issues and marital problems. I wonder if that law-suit ever did get resolved, and if she ended up losing all that weight (I think I might've heard something about that).

Rest in peace.

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dano... I think so. I really don't pay too much to the entertainment industry. I guess I had heard her name around and was vaguely aware of her, but she was always a sideshow kind of thing... she married some rich guy for is money. So, I'm supposed to take note of this.... why? Her whole life, from my viewpoint was a cliche of a sitcom but ended as a melodrama.

I've got enough drama in my life to worry about celebrities. My coworker's wife just died of breast cancer at 40, leaving behind a young daughter; my bother-in-law is gravely ill after an appendectomy gone horribly wrong. I just don't have it in me to be really concerned with the famous. Lots of other people are concerned, though, so I guess they have what they need.

As a follow-up... I lived in Los Angeles for three years in the mid-80s. Prior to that, the entertainment industry was just movies and music and stuff. In L.A., it was the nightly news. A huge (and in my opinion, disproportionate) amount of time was spent during the local news discussing which actor was making what movie, what actress divorced what actor, etc. Frankly, I didn't see the point... but I figured that was L.A. It was about that time that shows like Entertainment Tonight and E! and whatever started becoming popular. They just never grabbed me.

I kind of have an antipathy toward the priviledged I suppose. Maybe it's jealousy, maybe it's a kind of apathy. I just don't see the point of examining the lives of the famous. Anna Nicole lived a charmed life, died a tragic death. Tom Cruise went off the deep end. Why should I spend an extraordinary amount of time studying their lives? Is there any benefit in seeing how fame messes people up? Are they somehow more worthy of our empathy and sympathy? If so, why?

I think paying too much attention to the famous, especially Hollywood/entertainment industry famous, is a symptom of a flaw in our society. Instead of idolizing entertainers, I think we should be holding up our best and brightest- teachers, scientists, etc., and making them the examples for children to admire. American society is going down the tubes just as Roman society went down the tubes. Our cultural priorities are all messed up.

So it isn't so much that I never hear of the same people you hear of, it's that I try my best to block them out of my consciousness.

Considering all this is being written 3 days after the last post to the thread, this may never be read by dano. I'm not even sure why I'm writing it.

I should GMOFB.

And then maybe I'll be famous.

Ugh.