Police in the southeastern U.S. state of Florida say former stripper and Playboy magazine model Anna Nicole Smith has died at age 39.
Authorities say paramedics tried to revive Smith after she was discovered unconscious Thursday in her hotel room in Hollywood, Florida. The reports say she was later taken to a hospital.
There has been no official word on the cause of death. Besides modeling, Smith appeared in movies and a reality television show.
Smith was 26 years old when in 1994 she married 89-year-old J. Howard Marshall, whose oil fortune was estimated at $1.6 billion. He died the following year.
His death set off a legal battle between Smith and Marshall's son, E. Pierce Marshall. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Smith could pursue part of Marshall's oil fortune.
Smith's sudden death comes just five months after her 20-year-old son, Daniel, died in the Bahamas three days after the birth of her daughter. The paternity of the child remains in dispute.
Some information for this report provided by Reuters, AFP and AP.