RENEE MONTAGNE, Host:
We turn now to the death of Anna Nicole Smith. An autopsy will determine how she died after collapsing at a Florida hotel. Her death became a major news story because of the outrageous life that she lived.
(SOUNDBITE OF PEOPLE SHOUTING)
MONTAGNE: That was the sound of photographers who surrounded her two years ago in New York City. She wore a white blouse with pink swirls - reportedly her favorite color. Appropriately enough, it was an event to promote The National Enquirer.
LARRY SUTTON: When you look at Anna Nicole Smith, on the surface you see a very beautiful woman.
MONTAGNE: Larry Sutton is a staff editor at People magazine.
SUTTON: You're saying on the one hand, this is not a great actress, this is not a great singer, this is not a great dancer, and yet she's in show business. What's her skill? Well, her skill is she's a model and she looks pretty, and in this country that's considered a talent. And she's in the public eye; she is someone that people are curious about just because she's had a lot of ups and downs in her life.
MONTAGNE: Anna Nicole Smith was born poor in Texas, dirt poor. She dropped out of high school, worked as a topless dancer. And then, still in her twenties, she met and married a billionaire tycoon. He was 89.
After he died, the battle over his estate went to the Supreme Court.
She starred in a reality TV show, posed for Playboy, and appeared on the covers of countless celebrity magazines.
On the surface, a fun and silly life.
Kurt Andersen writes a column for New York Magazine, and hosts the radio program Studio 360.
KURT ANDERSEN: We are interested in her despite ourselves. She is some kind of guilty pleasure for America because here she's, you know, a stripper who we ought not to be interested in, but there she is, this American creation that is famous for being famous.
MONTAGNE: Then, last September, Anna Nicole Smith's only son died at 20, just days after she gave birth to a daughter. People were unexpectedly moved.
And so it happened, that for the last few months of her life, the story of Anna Nicole Smith took on a sense of sorrow.
(SOUNDBITE OF ELEGIAC MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
