The Love Between J. Howard Marshall and Anna Nicole Smith

J. Howard Marshall married Anna Nicole Smith on June 27, 1994. The billionaire was 89 years old, and Smith, a former stripper, was 26. Their marriage raised curiosity, and Marshall's death 14 months later sparked a decades-long feud between Smith and Marshall's family over his inheritance.

But Marshall and Smith argued for a long time that their marriage had nothing to do with money. However, they portrayed their meeting in a Houston strip club in October 1991 as the meeting of two forlorn souls.

J. Howard Marshall The Billionaire Lover

James Howard Marshall II, who was born on January 24, 1905, had a varied life before meeting Anna Nicole Smith. After graduating from Yale Law School, he worked for the Department of the Interior and was a key figure in the Truman and Eisenhower administrations. Yet he made his fortune in oil.

Marshall, according to US News, had long dabbled in the oil sector. He contributed to the Yale Law Journal by writing about oil laws, drafted the Connally Hot Oil Act of 1935, and worked as a lawyer for Standard Oil. Marshall's big break, on the other hand, came through his work with the Koch brothers.

Marshall was pals with Fred Koch, who offered him a minority stake in what would become Koch Industries, according to New York Magazine. Marshall went on to become the company's director and one of its major stockholders, and his fortune grew as a result.

He married twice and had two kids, J. Howard Marshall III and E. Pierce Marshall, along the way. But Marshall's personal life was not without catastrophe. His first marriage ended in divorce, and after 30 years of marriage, his second wife died of Alzheimer's disease in 1991. That same year, his long-term mistress died as a result of a face-lift procedure she underwent.

J. Howard Marshall fell into a deep despair as a result of his loss. Then, one fateful October day in 1991, his driver recommended they go to a local strip club.

J. Howard Marshall Meets Anna Nicole Smith

According to New York Magazine, the loss of J. Howard Marshall's wife and mistress had put the oil mogul in a terrible place. His staff was concerned that the 86-year-old was suicidal, so his driver advised that they go to Gigi's, a Houston strip club, in search of a "fresh young lady."

Marshall's attention was drawn to a stunning blonde. Vickie Lynn Hogan was her given name, but the world would soon recognize her as Anna Nicole Smith.

Smith's life had been very different from J. Howard Marshall's up to that moment. She'd dropped out of high school after being born in Texas to a teen mother and had spent the last several years working various jobs to support herself and her son. But she always wanted to be a model.

Smith was selected to work the day shift on that fateful day because she was a mediocre dancer. Meanwhile, J. Howard Marshall was unable to go out at night. They met at the right moment and at the right place.

“He had no will to live and I went over to see him,” Smith told 20/20 in 2000, calling J. Howard Marshall “really, really funny” and “brilliant.” “He got a little twinkle in his eyes and he asked me to dance for him, and I did.”

The following day, during lunch at a nearby hotel, Smith informed Marshall that she needed to return to work. According to New York Magazine, Marshall responded by handing her an envelope containing one thousand dollar bill and urging her, "Don't go to work, my Lady Love. You don’t have to ever go back to work."

As a result, he lavished Smith with extravagant presents such as a red Mercedes convertible. He also began to flood her with marriage proposals, which she turned down several times. She informed the billionaire that she needed to concentrate on her work.

Smith posed for a Playboy scout seeking for possible models around the same time she met the oil tycoon. Playboy editors in Los Angeles liked what they saw, so they flew her out there and put her — and her 42DD enhanced breasts — on the cover of Playboy in March 1992. Anna Nicole Smith posed for Centerfold in May of that year.

Smith was named Playboy Playmate of the Year in 1993, to to J. Howard Marshall's joy. He lavished her with numerous presents, including a stay at Marilyn Monroe's Los Angeles bungalow and other properties. And he proposed again and again, until Smith agreed in the spring of 1994.

J. Howard Marshall’s Death And The Lawsuit That Ensued

J. Howard Marshall and Anna Nicole Smith married in the summer of 1994 at the White Dove wedding chapel in Houston. The newlyweds and their 63-year age gap were extensively criticized in the media.

Yet their marital joy was transient. J. Howard Marshall became ill 14 months later.

J. Howard Marshall died on August 4, 1995, at the age of 90, after a struggle with stomach cancer. Anna Nicole Smith and J. Howard's younger son, E. Pierce Marshall, began fighting for his estate almost immediately.

Despite his love for his wife, J. Howard Marshall had left her nothing in his will. According to New York Magazine, this is because E. Pierce made certain that Smith had no share of the family riches, even having his father, who couldn't read without his glasses, sign many agreements relinquishing ownership of his inheritance.

Their legal fighting lasted so long that it outlived both of them. E. Pierce Marshall died in 2006 from a "brief and extremely violent" infection, while Anna Nicole Smith died the following year from an overdose. In the end, she received none of J. Howard Marshall's estimated $1.6 billion wealth.