Soon after Daniel's birth Vickie abandoned Billy and headed to Houston. A new life, a series of new names (she began performing on the club circuit under her childhood nickname of "Nikki" and another pseudonym, "Robin," before choosing the classier-sounding name "Anna Nicole") and thoughts of achieving an old dream - becoming the next Marilyn Monroe - began. As a child, she had learned many of Monroe's songs by heart. Like Vickie, Marylin Monroe didn't know her father and grew up poor. Anna Nicole was obsessed with the idea that it was her destiny to be like Marilyn.
In Houston she was working as a dancer in topless joints, where the only portion of her anatomy that drew attention was her rear. It was so bounteously proportioned that some patrons nicknamed her "Sweet Cheeks." In one of these topless lounge she was discovered by a photographer. But she still wasn't good looking enough to become a well-known person. So Anna gave fate a helping hand by using her body to make some quick money and to become a star. She had several face operation and her bosom was filled up with silicon.
She started her career by becoming 1993's Playboy playmate of the year. She was compared to Marylin Monroe for her full figure and blonde hair.
In an interview on Late Night with Conan O'Brien she was asked what her "playmate diet" consisted of. She replied "fried chicken".
In 1993, Anna Nicole married billionaire J. Howard Marshall when she was 26; he was nearly 90 at the time. He passed away in 1999, and Anna Nicole was involved in a court battle with her former stepson, E. Pierce Marshall, for half of her late husband's $1.6 billion estate. After a series of legal victories and setbacks, in March of 2002 she was awarded $88 million from the estate of her late husband.
In 2002 Anna Nicole starred in a reality TV series on the E! cable network entitled The Anna Nicole Show, which focused on her personal and private life in the manner of such other "reality" shows as the recent hit The Osbournes. Critics blasted her show, saying it was so bad it deserved to be pitied. The show was an initial hit upon its debut, though ratings dropped with each successive week. As of September 2002, it was too early to tell if her show was a brief fad or a genuine hit.
Her filmography includes :
- Skyscraper
- To the Limit
- Hudsucker Proxy
- Naked Gun 33 1/3
- and a great deal of Playboy videos