Anna Nicole Smith, was an American model, actress and celebrity who first gained popularity as Playboy magazine's 1993 Playmate of the Year. Her highly publicized marriage to oil billionaire J. Howard Marshall, who was 63 years her senior, resulted in considerable speculation that she married the octogenarian merely for his money, which she denied. Following his death, she began a lengthy and ongoing legal battle over a share of his estate. While growing up, Vickie told others she wanted to be the next Marilyn Monroe. She became an exotic dancer at a nightclub in Houston. Her career took off after she was chosen by Hugh Hefner to appear on the cover of the March 1992 issue of Playboy wearing a low-cut evening gown. She was subsequently called "the next Marilyn Monroe" in press reports, a comparison she encouraged by wearing a hairstyle reminiscent of Monroe's, as well as her trademark white dress. Becoming one of Playboy's most popular models, Smith began a trend for a more voluptuous look. She next posed nude for the May 1992 centerfold (under the name Vickie Smith). Though her film appearances in The Hudsucker Proxy and Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult were highly publicized in 1994, little was done to further Smith's acting career. In 2002, she debuted in her own reality TV series on the E! cable network, The Anna Nicole Show. The series focused on her personal and private life in the manner of other "reality" shows, such as the ratings hit The Osbournes. On February 8, 2007, Smith was found unresponsive in a room at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. At 1:38 p.m. (18:38 UTC) Seminole Police Chief Charlie Tiger said a nurse in Smith's sixth floor room called the hotel front desk, who in turn called security, who in turn called 911, and at 1:45 p.m. a bodyguard administered CPR before she was rushed to Memorial Regional Hospital at 2:10 p.m and pronounced DOA at 2:49 p.m. Smith's companion, Howard K. Stern, was with her when she died and has reported to Entertainment Tonight that her temperature was running high the night before.