Larry Birkhead Shares 5 Obscure Facts About His And Anna Nicole Smith’s Daughter Dannielynn

Jun 30, 2023

Anna Nicole Smith, born Vickie Lynn, is widely remembered today for many things, including a paternity battle and the legal battle for her late husband's estate. The late model was also an actress and TV personality, although it took a while for her acting career to take off. She only started to record success in her acting career long after she became an established model. 

Smith had a tumultuous background; her mother and maternal aunt raised her, and she was bullied in high school. The late TV personality eventually dropped out in her penultimate year. At 17, Smith married her first husband with whom she shared a son, Daniel. However, the marriage ended a year later, and she became a strip club dancer to earn some money.  

By chance, one of her friends sent her pictures to Playboy magazine, starting her off on her journey to becoming a model. Smith was hardworking and cheerful and won Playmate of the Year in 1993.

But Smith's life was filled with tragedy. Her first husband, Billy Smith, died in 1993, and when she married a second husband, J. Howard Marshall, their marriage lasted only a year before he died at 90. The late actress became embroiled in a legal battle for his assets that she won and then lost at the Supreme Court. 

The late Playboy model was remembered recently when photographer Larry Birkhead talked about his daughter with Smith, Dannielynn. In the interview published on May 29, 2023, he told PEOPLE five things no one knew about Dannielynn. Continue reading to know what he said. 

Smith announced she was pregnant in 2006, but what followed was unprecedented. Four men battled to claim paternity for the baby, including Larry Birkhead and Howard K. Stern. 

However, more tragedy would soon come for the TV star. Five days after she gave birth to her daughter, Smith's son Daniel came to greet his mom and the newborn in the hospital. He slept next to his mom and never woke up. He was 20, and authorities ruled the cause of his death as a drug overdose. Smith followed less than a year later, in 2007, when Dannielynn was just 5 months old.

The paternity battle raged on after her death, with Stern first laying claim to the baby while Birkhead opposed him based on the timing of his relationship with Smith. Birkhead took the case to court to establish his paternity, and a judge ordered that a DNA test be performed. Birkhead won the lawsuit two months after Smith's death. Following the court's judgment, Stern and the others left off fighting. 

Birkhead and Smith's daughter is now 16 and looks like her mother’s twin. The high school student is also on her school's honor roll, making her dad very proud. Birkhead and his daughter are also very close; the duo attends the Kentucky Derby every year since that is where Birkhead met Smith. Additionally, although the photographer tried to keep her out of the spotlight as he has done since he got custody of her, he has shared a few pictures of Dannielynn and her achievements on Instagram.

Birkhead also spoke with PEOPLE about his daughter in an interview published on May 9, 2023. The proud dad talked about Dannielynn's growth and revealed five things no one knows about her. 

Birkhead disclosed that his 16-year-old girl is already considering a few colleges, and he is not ready for that stage yet. He said: 

"It's one of those things where she's just now dipping her toe into getting stuff, and people are mailing her things." 

He confessed that he is sometimes reluctant to let her know because she might choose that college, adding that, like all parents, he doesn't want her to go but knows she has to. 

Birkhead also revealed that Dannielynn loves forensics and is already considering it for college. The teenager is already taking a course on it in high school, and since he once took it in college, he has some knowledge. However, he keeps his fingers crossed as her interest might change anytime. 

The father of one also divulged that his daughter is fashionable like her mom. Although her style differs from Smith's, she has worn some of her mom’s clothes and "different things that she fits in." And while their taste in clothes may be different, he said Dannielynn is "generous like her mom."

Moreover, Dannielynn is a "picky eater like her mom" and loves the extra sauce on pizza.

"She gets a lot of sauce on her pizza. Her mom was a sauce, a condiment freak," Birkhead shared. 

Additionally, Birkhead's daughter is banned from using social media. The media personality shared that he has strict rules for her, but he also allows her to be on YouTube and have a fake TikTok account. He added that Dannielynn also "likes virtual reality games."

What do you think of Larry Birkhead's disclosures about his daughter? Do you remember the late Anna Nicole Smith? Did you watch any of her movies? Let us know — and be sure to pass this article on to friends and family members!