Anna Nicole Smith, a platinum blonde former Playboy model, lived constantly beneath a spotlight but her flamboyant personality belied a troubled private life.
A model, actress and occasional TV star, she grew up saying that she wanted to be like Marilyn Monroe - and posed as her heroine in a campaign for the anti-fur group Peta.
Her marriage, at the age of 26, to octogenarian billionaire J Howard Marshall, drew accusations of gold-digging. After 14 months of marriage, he died.
His death triggered a lengthy series of court battles for his estate. She won a victory at the Supreme Court in 2006.
Her attorney, Howard Stern, always by her side during her court appearances, became her husband.
But her final months were marked with tragedy. The birth of her daughter, Dannielyn, in September last year was followed, just a few days later, by the death of her 20-year-old son.