Playboy Playmate Of The Year 1993 - Anna Nicole Smith

With her famously breathless voice, platinum blond hair, knockout figure, and plucked-from-the-country innocent charm, many considered Anna Nicole Smith the second coming of Marilyn Monroe. Anna Nicole embraced the comparison, telling Playboy that her ambition was to “be the new Marilyn Monroe.”

Indeed, Anna Nicole was ambitious, as she famously moved beyond her rural hometown, adopted a more Hollywood-friendly moniker, engaged in controversial marriages, become a talked-about tabloid sensation, and ultimately died too soon, just like her idol.

Anna Nicole was born Vickie Lynn Hogan in the small town of Mexia, Texas. After working odd jobs and splitting from her first husband, whom she married at 17, she was hungry for bigger things. She submitted her photos to Playboy, and in May 1992 she made her debut as Playmate of the Month.