'SHE LOST EVERYTHING'

The tragic life of pin-up Anna Nicole Smith is revealed in a new Netflix documentary

Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith was one of the most recognisable stars of the 90s – but only a handful of people knew the real woman behind the blonde bombshell image.

As one TV reporter says in Netflix’s new documentary Anna Nicole Smith: You Don’t Know Me, “She was adored by millions but loved by few.”

The revealing film stitches together a clearer picture of Anna Nicole, real name Vickie Lynn Hogan, through home video footage and interviews with her nearest and dearest. The model and actress, who first appeared in Playboy in 1992, was just 39 when she died from an accidental prescription drug overdose in February 2007. The tragedy came just months after an accidental drugs overdose also killed her 20-year-old son Daniel. She left behind a five-month-old daughter, Dannielynn.

Her shocking death made headlines around the world, but the truth about her rise to fame remained shrouded in mystery – thanks in part to the stories she created herself and built her image on.

Anna Nicole’s longtime pal and ex-lover Missy is interviewed in the documentary. The women met while working in a strip bar before Anna Nicole became a model.

Missy explains, “She did very much get swept away by a story she created. Can you tell so many lies and tell it so many times that all of a sudden it’s true?

“But she lost her son, she lost her life, she lost everything. That’s what it cost her.”

Anna Nicole grew up in the small Bible Belt town of Mexia, Texas, and married her first husband when she was 17 after they met in a fast food restaurant where they both worked.