01:04 PM EDT 05/11/2012
Anna Nicole Smith
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Anna Nicole Smith's Life Gets the Opera Treatment
Originally posted 02/17/2011 11:55AM
Her life was like a soap opera. Now it's an actual opera.
Anna Nicole Smith is the subject of a brand-new opera, simply titled Anna Nicole, set to premiere Thursday at London's Royal Opera House. Here, PEOPLE.com has a sneak peek at Dutch soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek in the title role.
The piece was written by British composer Mark-Anthony Turnage, and the libretto by Richard Thomas, whose previous credits include Jerry Springer: the Opera.
While the reviews aren't in yet, a trailer for the opera promises a salacious spectacle. (Watch it below.) Its cast list reveals, among many characters, four lap dancers, an equal number of meat-rack girls, as well as members of Smith's family, including her deceased son Daniel, her former partner Howard K. Stern (billed as "The Lawyer Stern" and played by bass-baritone Gerald Finley), as well as TV interviewer Larry King.
Smith died on Feb. 8, 2007, at age 39, of an accidental drug overdose.
– Brian Orloff
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Felony Charges Dismissed Against Howard K. Stern
Originally posted 01/06/2011 02:15PM
Howard K. Stern had a good day in court.
A Los Angeles judge dismissed two conspiracy felony charges against Stern, 42, on Thursday, ruling there was no evidence he intended fraud or deception when he got drugs for his former client and lover Anna Nicole Smith under fake names.
L.A. County Superior Court Judge Robert J. Perry also dismissed the two conspiracy charges against Dr. Khristine Eroshevich, 63, a psychiatrist who was Smith's neighbor, and rejected a charge against her of unlawfully prescribing a controlled substance. He also reduced a fraud charge to a misdemeanor and sentenced Eroshevich to a year of probation.
Eroshevich wept at the news and Stern smiled broadly.
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Anna Nicole Smith's Boyfriend Found Guilty in Drug Case
Originally posted 10/28/2010 05:15PM
He was once Anna Nicole Smith's lawyer, confidant, reality show costar and lover.
Now Howard K. Stern has another label: convicted felon.
A Los Angeles Superior Court jury on Thursday found Stern guilty of two counts of conspiracy for fueling the starlet's raging prescription drug problem that ultimately killed her.
One of her doctors, Khristine Eroshevich, was also convicted of four charges; a second doctor, Sandeep Kapoor, was cleared of all counts.
The six-man, six-woman jury heard two months of testimony in the case of Stern, 41, and doctors Kapoor, 42, and Eroshevich, 62, who were charged with multiple felonies for allegedly conspiring to furnish prescription drugs to an addict.
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INSIDE STORY: Jury Gets the Anna Nicole Smith Drug Case
Originally posted 10/09/2010 05:00PM
Was Anna Nicole Smith a loopy drug addict led down the path to destruction by her boyfriend-lawyer and two doctors?
Or was she a clear-eyed celebrity who required a laundry list of prescription drugs to manage her chronic pain and broken heart?
After two months of testimony and a week of closing arguments, a Los Angeles jury on Tuesday will ponder those questions.
The panel will try to decide whether Howard K. Stern, 41, and doctors Sandeep Kapoor, 42, and Khristine Eroshevich, 62, are guilty of multiple felonies, including conspiring to furnish prescription drugs to an addict. The three are not charged with Smith's 2007 death at age 39 from an accidental prescription overdose.
Prosecutors argued that the doctors, motivated by a desire for fame, crossed ethical boundaries by becoming too friendly with their patient.
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Judge Reduces Charges Against Anna Nicole Smith's Former Boyfriend
Originally posted 09/29/2010 08:05PM
The judge in the Anna Nicole Smith drug conspiracy trial tossed out two felony charges against Smith's former beau Howard K. Stern on Wednesday.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert J. Perry – who earlier this week accused prosecutors of overcharging the case because a celebrity death was involved – discarded two charges against Stern of obtaining drugs by fraud and deceit.
The judge also dismissed part of a conspiracy count against Stern and one of the two physicians on trial, Dr. Sandeep Kapoor, saying there wasn't enough proof that the men conspired to obtain controlled drugs through fraud and deceit.
Judge Perry allowed the rest of the conspiracy charge to stand and said the majority of the 11-count complaint can go to the jury for a decision.
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Judge May Dismiss Several Charges in Anna Nicole Smith Trial
Originally posted 09/21/2010 05:40PM
Several felony charges against Howard K. Stern and Anna Nicole Smith's two doctors may be dismissed before their drug conspiracy trial reaches a jury.
Since the trial began on Aug. 4., Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert Perry has expressed concerns about the prosecution's case – namely that Stern and Smith's personal physician Sandeep Kapoor, 41, and psychiatrist Khristine Eroshevich, 61, conspired to give an addict highly addictive drugs.
On Monday, Perry said next week he would consider a request by the defense to dismiss some of the charges.
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Nanny: Medicated Anna Nicole Smith Slept Two Days Straight
Originally posted 09/08/2010 08:20PM
Anna Nicole Smith drank medication that put her into a slumber for two days as her frantic boyfriend Howard K. Stern cried and tried to shake her awake, the late model's former nanny said in court Wednesday.
"He kept saying, 'Anna, Anna, get up. Do you want me to go to jail? Do you want to die?'" nanny Quethelie Alexie recalled outside the jury's presence.
L.A. Superior Court Judge Robert Perry allowed Alexie to repeat the story for the jury. But when she did, the story changed somewhat, with her now saying Stern told her that Smith was "trying to make him go to jail." Perry then struck the testimony from the record, saying he did not consider it reliable.
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Nanny Recalls Anna Nicole Smith's Tragic Last Weeks
Originally posted 09/07/2010 08:40PM
As Anna Nicole Smith's daughter Dannielynn turned 4 on Tuesday, her former nanny testified in a Los Angeles courtroom about the sad, final months leading up to Smith's death.
Quethlie Alexie became the latest witness against three defendants, including Smith's lawyer/confidante Howard K. Stern and psychiatrist Khristine Eroshevich, accused of plying the Playboy model with dangerous and addictive drugs.
Dannielynn was an infant when Alexie allegedly saw her mother brought into a bathroom by Stern and Eroshevich, who'd leave bloody syringes and cotton balls as Smith stumbled out, acting drunk.
Alexie testified that before the three went into the bathroom, Stern "would say, 'Baby, come and we'll take our medicine.'"
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Anna Nicole Smith's Boyfriend, Doctors Go to Trial in Drug Case
Originally posted 08/04/2010 07:50PM
Anna Nicole Smith was doped up on drugs – with the help of two doctors and her lawyer boyfriend – until the model-actress died, a prosecutor told jurors in a Los Angeles courtroom Wednesday.
Smith's boyfriend Howard K. Stern, personal physician Sandeep Kapoor, 41, and psychiatrist Khristine Eroshevich, 61, face several felony charges in the long-awaited trial that kicked off Wednesday.
In opening statements, Deputy District Attorney Renee Rose told the L.A. jury that Stern helped get drugs for Smith in illegal ways. She also alleged that Kapoor and Eroshevich "prescribed powerful and addictive medications without treating the underlying" addiction.
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Appeals Court Rejects Big Inheritance for Anna Nicole Smith's Estate
Originally posted 03/19/2010 06:50PM
A federal appellate court panel ruled Friday that the estate of Anna Nicole Smith is not entitled to any of the millions of dollars left by Smith's late oil magnate husband, J. Howard Marshall, when he died.
The decision comes as another blow to the main beneficiary of Smith's estate: her 3 1/2-year-old daughter, Dannielynn Birkhead.
"It's been a very sort of sad story – so many people involved in this case have died," says Kent Richland, the appellate lawyer for the model's estate. Still, he vows that "this is not the final step" in the legal battle.
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