There are few figures in Hollywood quite as tragic as Anna Nicole Smith. At first, she had a kind of meteoric rise in fame: almost overnight, she became a household name, and she was known for her bubbly personality and voluptuous body. Most of her early fame (some would say notoriety) came from her career as a Playboy model, and her nude body caught the eye of men all around the world. That included 89-year-old billionaire J. Howard Marshall, whom she married in 1994. His 1995 death was supposed to set Smith up for life, but legal drama kept the money away, and she later died in 2007 from a tragic drug overdose.
These details of Anna Nicole Smith’s life are relatively well-known. What you might not know is that she had a daughter, Dannielynn Birkhead, who is growing up to be the spitting image of her mother. And while the young woman didn’t get a chance to really know her mother in life, she has spent years trying to understand the woman who brought her into this world. What is Dannielynn’s story? How has she connected herself to her mother’s legacy, and what does she look like now? Keep reading to find out!
A baby battle (and an early victory)
Unfortunately, Dannielynn Birkhead was the center of some major family drama almost as soon as she was born. Her 20-year-old brother, Daniel, died from a drug overdose four days after she was born. The young girl was born with the name “Hannah Rose,” but Anna Nicole Smith changed the name to Dannielynn in order to honor her son. Tragically, the mother would suffer a similar fate, and Smith died of her own accidental drug overdose one year later.
After Smith died, young Dannielynn found herself at the center of some bitter family drama. There had to be a paternity test owing to the fact that Smith had been sleeping with Larry Birkhead around the same time that she was sleeping with a lawyer named Howard K. Stern. Complicating things even further is that Smith maintained that Stern was the father and even had his name on the birth certificate. Fortunately, a DNA test confirmed that Larry was the father, and he began raising young Dannielynn Birkhead on his own.
Returning to her mother’s past
Dannielynn Birkhead had a relatively normal life growing up, though she got quite the head start after being named the sole heir of Anna Nicole Smith’s $1 million estate. She also developed an ocular condition, but surgery fixed that. For the most part, she’s enjoyed a quiet life outside of Hollywood, bonding with her father. That bond has grown over time, and the two have some fun family rituals, including going to the Kentucky Derby every year. He also helped her land her first modeling gig. All of this bonding gave Dannielynn plenty of time to learn more about her father; as she got older, though, she wanted to learn more about her famous mother.
In 2020, when most were freaking out about COVID-19, Dannielynn Birkhead and her father traveled to Mexia, Texas, the hometown of Anna Nicole Smith. Their visit was captured by an episode of 20/20. It was a fruitful visit: teenage Dannielynn wanted to know more about her mom, and she got to visit one of Smith’s closest childhood friends, Jo McLemore. Between this and visiting her mother’s favorite places to hang out (like her old high school and a favorite restaurant), the teen was finally able to get some closure.
Killing it in mom’s old dress
Eventually, Dannielynn Birkhead graduated from high school, and she faced the same daunting question that all grads face: “what do you want to do with the rest of your life?” She effectively deferred her answer by taking a gap year. This gave her time to focus on modeling and figure out if she wanted to fulfill a childhood dream of double-majoring in forensic science and Japanese studies. It also gave her time to focus on fun events, like attending the Barnstable Brown Gala.
This was an event that Anna Nicole Smith attended in 2004. Dannielynn Birkhead attended the event in 2025 and honored her famous parent by styling her hair like Smith and even wearing the same dress that Smith wore to this event. She got downright emotional about the dress in an interview with Access Hollywood, saying “I’m going to once again try not to cry when I say this, but I can’t know my mom sadly, and this is one of the only reasons and ways I can.” Continuing, she admitted that, “This is the closest I’ll ever get to a hug from her. So, I’ve been like, on and off tears the whole day.”
Staying out of the spotlight (for now)
Dannielynn Birkhead turns 20 this year. As a young, beautiful model and the daughter of a famous sex icon, you might expect her to have a crazy presence on platforms like Instagram and TikTok. Her father has clarified that she does have a social media profile, but she uses it like the rest of us do: to connect with family and friends rather than connect with millions of fans all around the world.
Why is she not chasing social media clout? According to Larry Birkhead, it’s simply that she wants to keep a low profile. This makes sense, really: while her mother’s career made her rich and famous, the life and death of Anna Nicole Smith is also a cautionary tale of how dangerous fame can really be. Young Dannielynn Birkhead has her whole life ahead of her, and she’s content to live it one day at a time instead of chasing her own slice of viral fame. Honestly, that’s probably the healthiest approach to life from the daughter of a Hollywood icon!