by bill biss
It’s been over three years since celebrity model, television reality star and blonde bombshell Anna Nicole Smith tragically died of a drug overdose at 39 years old.
Some would say she died of a broken heart after the passing of her only son Daniel.
The tumultuous press that followed and the work of those in the medical field determined that friend and lover Larry Birkhead was the father of her second child Dannielynn—born shortly before Anna’s death.
Losing a loved one for anybody is one of the most difficult things to experience. Larry Birkhead knows this first hand but is now ready to let a bit of his physical attachment to Anna go.
On June 26, Birkhead, along with Julien’s Auctions, is allowing Anna’s countless fans across the globe a chance to own a keepsake or possession of her’s at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.
Speaking with Larry Birkhead during his press junket in New York, The Rage Monthly found him strong in remembering the important things—and also reveling in the joy of being a father to Dannielynn.
The Rage Monthly: I read your quote, “I realize you don’t have to have something in your hands for it to be a memory.” This is a self-realization on your part that saving money for Dannielynn’s future is really what counts—while at the same time helping underprivileged children through Anna and Daniel’s foundation. I think that’s really super.
Larry Birkhead: Thank you. A lot of people don’t get it right. They think it’s just a fire sale of Anna Nicole memories. It’s not really that. That’s not what it is. It’s basically a long, thought-out process and a year in the planning.
I went to an auction at Julien’s and I ended up buying some things of Anna’s for Dannielynn that were up for sale that I will keep—which is ironic because we’re getting rid of some things but we don’t have to keep everything. I’ll continue to collect Anna Nicole’s stuff for Dannielynn.
I’ll go on eBay sometimes and I’ll buy little things. She was the spokesperson for Con-Air…the box with the curlers in it where she’s on the box, little things like that that tell some kind of story, I will keep.
Some things…you don’t know if they are going to last that long or if [Dannielynn] is going to be the same size as her mom. Like a 1993 Mercedes in the year 2022 or whenever she’s able to drive, you don’t know how well that’s gonna run or if we’ll be driving spaceships (laughter)! We had ten storage bins to go through.
Just trying to simplify things…it was a little bit of a messy estate. She had a house in the Bahamas, she had a boat in the Bahamas, my daughter is 3 years old and she doesn’t need to ride around on a 36-foot yacht. This [auction] is the first step of trying to move in the right direction so the money is put up for Dannielynn wisely and for charity as well.
We’re just trying to do some good. We’ve actually done some great things with the foundation. We were able to build a home for Habitat for Humanity in my home state of Kentucky, sponsored under Anna’s and Daniel’s name.
Rage: As time passes, I sincerely hope you remember the happiest of times. Will you share one instance of when she had you completely doubled over with laughter?
LB: There were a lot of times. She was really, really funny. She had a gnarly sense of humor. One time she got trapped in the Trim-Spa bus at the time she was spokesperson and we couldn’t get out. She had to go to the restroom and we were pulled over at a truck stop.
Basically, (laughter) basically she had to get creative. I’ll just say that. She borrowed Sugar Pie and Marilyn’s little portable on-the-road pottie to go to the bathroom!
That made me laugh! Little things like…she would want to act like a little baby sometimes and fix her hair like a little girl. She could make you laugh most all the time, you know?
People didn’t know that about her. She was quite funny.
Rage: She was a huge admirer of Marilyn Monroe. How would you describe her fascination for Marilyn?
LB: One time I told her that in my opinion, she was prettier than Marilyn. She slapped me. I said, “What was that for? That was a compliment.” She said, “Nobody is prettier than Marilyn.” She thought that basically Marilyn was the deal. She was as good as it gets.
I think the press makes it out to be more than it actually was. She collected Marilyn Monroe things. Some of them are in the auction. She knew everything about Marilyn.
Basically, she could have been a Marilyn Monroe historian. It wasn’t to the point where she was obsessed or talked about her every single day.
Closer to the end of her life, some people would bring her M.M. gifts and she said, “Why does everybody think that I need Marilyn Monroe stuff all the time?”
She had M.M. furniture in her house and some of that is in the auction and purses, trinkets, lunchboxes and clothing. Even pocketknives…she didn’t want people to think it was an obsession but obviously she really loved Marilyn Monroe.
Rage: What music did Anna rock out to?
LB: She had this obsession. I call it an obsession because I didn’t like it. No matter where we would go, she would always rock out to Queen. But her favorite was ABBA.
She had a wide variety of musical tastes. She had multiple CDs of ABBA, one in the car, one by the pool…she’d turn on “Dancing Queen” and that would be the end of it.
She’d roll around. But, she’d also go to the opposite of the spectrum and turn on Anne Murray. She had an old-time record player and she would slip it on and play that.
She was kind of a big music fan. She also had a karaoke machine and she’d sing all the time. She also performed for the troops at different functions singing.
Rage: Lastly, please explain your comment, “In Anna’s world, you never try to predict the future.”
LB: It just means you never know what’s gonna be next. One minute you could be sitting on the couch at her home and the next minute you could be packing your bags to go to Australia. Next minute, you find yourself on a bus going from Los Angeles to New York.
One minute, she could love you and the next say, “Go home.” And seconds later she would say, “Where’d you go?” “You told me to go,” and she’d say, “Come back.”
She’s unpredictable but some of that spontaneity was kind of fun and some of it was a little bit of a challenge. Overall that was Anna…you had to love Anna for Anna. That’s really what I did.
