NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Entertainment

Anna Nicole Smith's daughter Dannielynn Birkhead makes rare appearance in new doco

news.com.au
5 Feb, 2021 02:35 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

American model, actress and television personality Anna Nicole Smith died in 2007. Photo / Getty Images

American model, actress and television personality Anna Nicole Smith died in 2007. Photo / Getty Images

Dannielynn Birkhead was only a baby when her famous mother, Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith, died of an accidental drug overdose aged just 39.

The now 14-year-old, whose father is photographer Larry Birkhead, has lived largely out of the spotlight, a stark contract to her mother's life.

But Dannielynn is set to make a rare feature in a US 20/20 TV special Tragic Beauty, where she sets off on finding out more about Anna Nicole.

Anna Nicole Smith's daughter Dannielynn Birkhead in a new special for 20/20. A young Anna Nicole Smith pictured on the right. Photo / ABC
Anna Nicole Smith's daughter Dannielynn Birkhead in a new special for 20/20. A young Anna Nicole Smith pictured on the right. Photo / ABC

Joined by her dad Larry, the duo visit Mexia, Texas, where Anna Nicole spent most of her childhood before she shot to fame.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"They meet her high school friend and see the places she frequented before becoming famous," a press release reads.

"Dannielynn sees for the first time some of Anna Nicole's memorabilia from her life and career, tucked away in a storage locker following her death."

Meanwhile Larry tells the camera, "Dannielynn's a teenager now, and she doesn't really know a ton of things about her mum.

"As a dad who has a child whose mum's passed away, I thought, "Why not go back to Anna's beginnings?' To be really honest, I didn't know a whole lot about Anna, you know, her early years."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The two-hour programme also features interviews with Anna Nicole's closest friends and family and never-before-seen videos.

Model Anna Nicole Smith announces the performance by Kanye West during the 32nd Annual American Music Awards in 2004. Photo / Getty Images
Model Anna Nicole Smith announces the performance by Kanye West during the 32nd Annual American Music Awards in 2004. Photo / Getty Images

Anna Nicole famously married 89-year-old Texas billionaire J Howard Marshall in 1994 and was involved in a bitter inheritance battle. She died in 2007 in a Florida hotel room as a result of an overdose of prescription drugs.

Anna Nicole's son Daniel died of an accidental overdose in 2006 while visiting her in hospital, where she had just days earlier given birth to Dannielynn. He was 20.

Anna Nicole died the following year.

Dannielynn and Larry in the doco.
Dannielynn and Larry in the doco.

Around the same time, questions about Dannielynn's real father were dominating tabloids.

In an interview on CNN's Larry King Live, Anna Nicole's personal lawyer Howard K. Stern said he had been intimate with his client for "a very long time" and he was confident that he was the father of the baby.

Larry maintained that he was the baby's father and filed a lawsuit to determine the paternity.

Larry Birkhead, flanked by his lawyer Debra Opri, arrives at Supreme Court in the Bahamas in 2007 to fight for custody of the late Anna Nicole Smith's baby daughter, Dannielynn. Photo / Getty Images
Larry Birkhead, flanked by his lawyer Debra Opri, arrives at Supreme Court in the Bahamas in 2007 to fight for custody of the late Anna Nicole Smith's baby daughter, Dannielynn. Photo / Getty Images

Dannielynn's birth certificate recorded the father as Stern, however a Bahamian judge ruled that DNA tests established Larry as the father.

Dannielynn Birkhead and Larry Birkhead attends the 145th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 04, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. Photo / Getty Images
Dannielynn Birkhead and Larry Birkhead attends the 145th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 04, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. Photo / Getty Images

In an interview in 2019, Larry told DailyMailTV he doesn't hide anything about their family history from his daughter, but does his best to protect her from negativity.

"[Dannielynn] knows just really that her mum was famous and she knows about Daniel," Larry revealed.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I try to incorporate both of them because sometimes Daniel gets forgotten.

"We try to talk about him and I shared a birthday with him, so we always celebrated together.

"You know, I tell her stories about them and I try to not make it heavy because she's just now becoming a teenager and I think some of that stuff will come.

"That's the thing, there's so many bad things that people say and rarely do you hear the good things she did for charities and different people.

"Those are the stories I like to tell, you know? Not the ones you see in the checkout stand."

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Entertainment

Premium
Opinion

Disneyland Aotearoa: Is it a dream worth considering?

23 Jun 03:00 AM
Entertainment

British TV star says he's 'haemorrhaging money' running $30m NZ estate

21 Jun 10:53 PM
Premium
Entertainment

‘I just wanted it to fly’: Tom Hiddleston dances with joy in The Life of Chuck role

21 Jun 10:00 PM

Inside Leigh Hart’s bonkers quest to hand-deliver a SnackaChangi chip to every Kiwi

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Entertainment

Premium
Disneyland Aotearoa: Is it a dream worth considering?

Disneyland Aotearoa: Is it a dream worth considering?

23 Jun 03:00 AM

Opinion: Weta collaborations and wide spaces make the possibilities endless, and complex.

British TV star says he's 'haemorrhaging money' running $30m NZ estate

British TV star says he's 'haemorrhaging money' running $30m NZ estate

21 Jun 10:53 PM
Premium
‘I just wanted it to fly’: Tom Hiddleston dances with joy in The Life of Chuck role

‘I just wanted it to fly’: Tom Hiddleston dances with joy in The Life of Chuck role

21 Jun 10:00 PM
Tātaki’s Daniel Clarke's favourite spots in Tāmaki Makaurau

Tātaki’s Daniel Clarke's favourite spots in Tāmaki Makaurau

21 Jun 05:00 PM
Why wallpaper works wonders
sponsored

Why wallpaper works wonders

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP