Of the varied roles that Anna Nicole Smith has played—dancer, actress, 1993 Playboy Playmate of the Year—none, perhaps, has been so demanding as that of grieving widow. For the past three months Smith, 33, was fighting in a Texas courtroom for what she regarded as her share of the estimated $1.6 billion estate left by her late husband, Texas oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II, who had died of heart problems in 1995 at age 90. For each court appearance the flamboyant Smith would dress demurely, gazing often at the framed photo of Marshall that she kept by her side.
But on Jan. 3 the old Smith reemerged with a vengeance. Dressed in a gold lame cocktail dress, Dolce & Gabbana pumps and a leopard-print coat from Versace, she exited the probate court in Houston and announced that she was withdrawing from the Texas case. Why? The judge presiding over an L.A. bankruptcy suit that she filed to ward off creditors in 1996 had finalized an earlier decision that Smith be paid $475 million from Marshall's estate. "We did it. We made it," Smith said after withdrawing from the suit. "Thank you, Jesus. I just want to go home."
Lord knows, that may not be immediately possible. Marshall's son Pierce, 62, has vowed to appeal the California award and has threatened to call Smith as a hostile witness in his ongoing legal struggle with his estranged brother J. Howard Marshall III, 64—who was left nothing in his father's will—over who will ultimately win the bulk of the family fortune. But for now Smith, who dreams of playing Marilyn Monroe-style roles onscreen, is eager to get back to work. "My husband is looking down on me right now," she says. "He's watching me, and he's proud."
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