Inside The Tabloid Romance Of 89-Year-Old Oil Tycoon J. Howard Marshall And 26-Year-Old Playmate Anna Nicole Smith
The marriage of billionaire J. Howard Marshall and stripper-turned-model Anna Nicole Smith shook up the media in 1994 — and eventually led to a Supreme Court case
On June 27, 1994, J. Howard Marshall married Anna Nicole Smith. The billionaire was 89; Smith, a former stripper, was 26. Their marriage raised eyebrows — and Marshall’s death just 14 months later threw Smith and Marshall’s family into a decades-long dispute about his fortune.
But both Marshall and Smith long insisted that their marriage had nothing to do with money. Rather, they described their connection in October 1991 at a Houston strip club as the meeting of two lonely, lost souls.
So who was the billionaire who fell in love with Anna Nicole Smith before she was famous? What led them both to a club called Gigi’s on that fateful day? And how did Marshall’s death after just 14 months of marriage lead to one of the greatest legal fights in American history?
How J. Howard Marshall Became A Billionaire Oil Tycoon
Born on Jan. 24, 1905, James Howard Marshall II led a colorful life long before he crossed paths with Anna Nicole Smith. According to New York Magazine, he worked for the Department of the Interior after graduating from Yale Law School and played a prominent role in the Truman and Eisenhower administrations. But he made his billions in oil.
US News reported that Marshall had long dabbled in the oil business. He wrote about oil laws for the Yale Law Journal, penned the Connally Hot Oil Act of 1935, and worked as a lawyer for Standard Oil. Marshall’s big break, however, came from his business with the Koch brothers.
According to New York Magazine, Marshall was friends with Fred Koch, who offered him a minority interest in what would become Koch Industries. Marshall went on to become the director of the company and its largest shareholders and saw his fortune flourish as a result.
Along the way, he also married twice and had two sons, J. Howard Marshall III and E. Pierce Marshall. But Marshall’s personal life was also dotted with tragedy. His first marriage ended in a divorce, and his second wife died of Alzheimer’s disease in 1991 after 30 years of marriage. That same year, his long-term mistress also died following a face-lift procedure.
Battered by loss, J. Howard Marshall fell into a deep depression. Then on a fateful day in October 1991, his driver suggested that they visit a local strip club.