# A question for non-US Dopers: Do you know who Anna Nicole Smith is/was? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 13, 2007, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-non-us-dopers-do-you-know-who-anna-nicole-smith-is-was/391943 "2007-02-13T00:12:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-non-us-dopers-do-you-know-who-anna-nicole-smith-is-was/391943/1 "2007-02-13T00:12:13Z")
This may be more for IMHO, but since it’s pop culture/entertainment related I’ll put it here. I know that most Europeans/Aussies/Asians would recognize U.S. superstars (Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Linda Lavin, etc.), but I’m curious how well the third ring “famous for being famous” are outside of our borders. 1- Is the Anna Nicole death circus making headlines where you are? 2- Do you know who she was? I remember Johnny Carson, who couldn’t go anywhere without being mobbed over here, said it was somewhere between refreshing and humbling to have to show ID when he wrote checks to hotels in Europe and generally only having “OH MY GAWDs!” from fellow Americans. OTOH that was 30 years ago. I was curious where Anna Nicole (and others of her ilk) stood in international Q factor. (Canadian Dopers are certainly free to answer as well, but since it’s generally assumed Canadians have access to U.S. cable and airwaves.) ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-non-us-dopers-do-you-know-who-anna-nicole-smith-is-was/391943/2 "2007-02-13T00:17:16Z")
We know who most US superstars are, no matter what tier they are at, but we probably wouldn’t recognise them in the street if they were just wandering around in a regular way. Though it depends on their level of notoriety. I know when a lot of people were talking about some guy named Andy Richter, I had not one clue who they were talking about. Still not certain, something to do with Conan O’Brien I think. ---
**Author:** ![No\_Me\_Ayudes\_Compadre](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/no_me_ayudes_compadre/32/5224_2.png) [@No\_Me\_Ayudes\_Compadre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_Me_Ayudes_Compadre)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-non-us-dopers-do-you-know-who-anna-nicole-smith-is-was/391943/3 "2007-02-13T00:18:04Z")
Her reality show was on the E! cable channel in Mexico, and before she died her adventures/misadventures were reported fairly regularly in Mexican newspapers’ entertainment sections. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-non-us-dopers-do-you-know-who-anna-nicole-smith-is-was/391943/4 "2007-02-13T00:21:11Z")
I’m afraid that yes, it was front-page news at least in some papers and news programmes here. Naturally, I don’t read or watch that kind of news, but I think she’s the model who married some 90-year-old rich guy. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-non-us-dopers-do-you-know-who-anna-nicole-smith-is-was/391943/5 "2007-02-13T00:22:12Z")
My friend from Scotland had no clue who we were talking about when we were discussing her death. Dunno if it made the news in Korea. It was probably mentioned in passing but I doubt most Koreans know who she was. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-non-us-dopers-do-you-know-who-anna-nicole-smith-is-was/391943/6 "2007-02-13T00:23:58Z")
1- Is the Anna Nicole death circus making headlines where you are? Yes but nowhere near as big as I’ve seen on American news channels. I pay for cable which has CNN, CNBC, CBS news etc. My usual Monday double bill of CSI wasn’t shown tonight on LIVINGtv as a special was shown about her death :rolleyes: 2- Do you know who she was? Yep. knew about since the jeans campaign. Her reality show was shown over here as well. The world is getting smaller and US stuff is showing more and more over here coz it’s cheaper to just buy the shite than produce your own. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-non-us-dopers-do-you-know-who-anna-nicole-smith-is-was/391943/7 "2007-02-13T00:26:40Z")
A RTE(our national broadcaster) news link. It was covered more in depth on the actual broadcast. [http://www.rte.ie/arts/2007/0208/smitha.html](http://www.rte.ie/arts/2007/0208/smitha.html) ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-non-us-dopers-do-you-know-who-anna-nicole-smith-is-was/391943/8 "2007-02-13T00:33:49Z")
Plenty of coverage in Australia. I got the impression that everyone at work knew who she was. I don’t know anything about her at all other than her marriage and subsequent legal battles. In fact if not for the court cases I doubt that I would know about her. I didn’t read anything about her death either, so remain just as vague although from this thread I have learned that she did jeans ads and had a TV show. ---
**Author:** ![According\_to\_Pliny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@According\_to\_Pliny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/According_to_Pliny)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-non-us-dopers-do-you-know-who-anna-nicole-smith-is-was/391943/9 "2007-02-13T00:41:22Z")
When I lived in African countries, the most popular weekly newsmagazines were not local but the international editions of Time and Newsweek, although the latter was grumbled about as being too US-oriented. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-non-us-dopers-do-you-know-who-anna-nicole-smith-is-was/391943/10 "2007-02-13T00:51:36Z")
I always thought she was the one who sat behind me in my middle-school algebra class, and expected me to give her all the answers. But I’m a non-non-US Doper, so that doesn’t really answer your question. I think she married some really rich guy, and I once thought, “Wow. If I’d given her those answers, she might have married me, instead.” But I don’t know if that would have been good or bad. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-non-us-dopers-do-you-know-who-anna-nicole-smith-is-was/391943/11 "2007-02-13T01:12:55Z")
I first heard about it on Fark, which perhaps says a lot by itself. A lot of people will have no idea who she was. A lot of people (myself included) will have a vague idea. Few people know anything other than she married the old guy and had programmes which cropped up on satellite channels. [QUOTE=GuanoLad] We know who most US superstars are, no matter what tier they are at, but we probably wouldn’t recognise them in the street if they were just wandering around in a regular way. [/QUOTE] An exception is in sport - with very few exceptions, a top baseballer/footballer/basketballer could walk down an average British high street unnoticed. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-non-us-dopers-do-you-know-who-anna-nicole-smith-is-was/391943/12 "2007-02-13T01:24:16Z")
I first became aware of her in The Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult. She’s been newsworthy on and off since then. Her son’s death made the news here last year, particularly as the circumstances were so odd (sudden death in his mother’s hospital room just days after the birth of his sister, the two autopsies, the drug connection, the six week interval between death and burial…). I’d be surprised if there were many people around here who didn’t have a vague idea who she was. ---
**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-non-us-dopers-do-you-know-who-anna-nicole-smith-is-was/391943/13 "2007-02-13T04:19:00Z")
Her death was featured on the news and she had about 20–30 minutes on an interest/celebrity show Sunday. Apparently, either she’s known well enough in Japan to warrant that, or her life was so tabloid-worthy that a segment on her was a sure sell. She was quality jerkoff material back in the late 80s, early 90s, but I’m very glad I was out of the country when she got married to the crypt-keeper and later had a show. Even overseas, I heard about them. Telling people that you don’t have a TV and don’t care about celebrity lives doesn’t protect you from the absolute saturation that stuff like this creates. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-non-us-dopers-do-you-know-who-anna-nicole-smith-is-was/391943/14 "2007-02-13T04:20:32Z")
Pretty much, although I didn’t know all of the details. Just that she was another “celebrity” famous for being famous. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-non-us-dopers-do-you-know-who-anna-nicole-smith-is-was/391943/15 "2007-02-13T04:33:59Z")
[QUOTE=Sampiro] I know that most Europeans/Aussies/Asians would recognize U.S. superstars (Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Linda Lavin, etc.), but I’m curious how well the third ring “famous for being famous” are outside of our borders. [/quote] I know the two actors, but have never heard of Linda Lavin. [QUOTE=Sampiro] 1- Is the Anna Nicole death circus making headlines where you are? 2- Do you know who she was? [/quote] It made headlines when the court battle over the inheritance was on. Money + busty blonde will do that! The death received some coverage. Tabloid newspapers no doubt report regularly on ex-Playboy models, but I don’t read them. [QUOTE=Sampiro] I remember Johnny Carson, who couldn’t go anywhere without being mobbed over here, said it was somewhere between refreshing and humbling to have to show ID when he wrote checks to hotels in Europe and generally only having “OH MY GAWDs!” from fellow Americans. OTOH that was 30 years ago. I was curious where Anna Nicole (and others of her ilk) stood in international Q factor. [/QUOTE] I believe Johnny Carson was a talk show host who invited the Beatles onto his show. (He may have been the inspiration for the line in ‘The Shining’ “Here’s Johnny!”) But his shows were never shown on UK TV, so that’s why nobody knew him. I have seen Letterman on late night TV here, but the main reason we would know about US talk shows was an excellent comedy ‘The Gary Shandling Show’. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-non-us-dopers-do-you-know-who-anna-nicole-smith-is-was/391943/16 "2007-02-13T06:13:28Z")
[QUOTE=glee] I know the two actors, but have never heard of Linda Lavin. [/QUOTE] A very naughty Sampiro whooshed you good! Yes, Linda Lavin was a TV star- no, she was never a national or international superstar. [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0492089/](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0492089/) > **[Linda Lavin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linda_Lavin)** > > Linda Lavin (/ˈlævɪn/; October 15, 1937 – December 29, 2024) was an American actress and singer. Known for her roles on stage and screen, she received several awards including three Drama Desk Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two Obie Awards, and a Tony Award, as well as nominations for a Daytime Emmy Award and a Primetime Emmy Award. She was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2010. After acting as a child, Lavin joined the Compass Players in the late 1950s. She had a guest role... I can’t believe Sampiro didn’t add Troy McClure! ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-non-us-dopers-do-you-know-who-anna-nicole-smith-is-was/391943/17 "2007-02-13T07:14:07Z")
[QUOTE=Sampiro] 1- Is the Anna Nicole death circus making headlines where you are? [/quote] No. Her death was in the news, but since then I haven’t heard much about it. > [@](#): > > 2- Do you know who she was? Well, more than I did before her death. I’ve picked a few things from what I’ve read here and on Wikipedia and from what they said on the news when she died. I guess the name was familiar to me even before her death, but I really couldn’t have told you who she was. This said, I’m really not into following stars’ personal lifes, so that probably explains it. > [@](#): > > (Canadian Dopers are certainly free to answer as well, but since it’s generally assumed Canadians have access to U.S. cable and airwaves.) Well not from here, since I don’t even have cable! 😉 But I know what you mean. I don’t usually watch American news and current affairs shows though. ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-non-us-dopers-do-you-know-who-anna-nicole-smith-is-was/391943/18 "2007-02-13T07:42:27Z")
[QUOTE=Sampiro] 1- Is the Anna Nicole death circus making headlines where you are? [/quote] No. Not quite sure if it even made the local news at all – I learned about it here on the Dope. If it did, then it was a small item on an inside page of the News section, and maybe a little more in the “color”/“celebrity” pages. It will probably make a bit more of a splash towards the weekend, when our local TV/Celebrity rags come out, and in the major newspapers’ weekend “color” inserts. > [@](#): > > 2- Do you know who she was? Name vaguely rang a bell when I saw it, but I couldn’t place it. \*Now \*I know, of course (since I read the Dope, and get some of my news from American news-sites) ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-non-us-dopers-do-you-know-who-anna-nicole-smith-is-was/391943/19 "2007-02-13T08:13:18Z")
Even though I live here now, I still carry a Green Card, so maybe it qualifies me as a foreigner. I had only ever heard her name before she died, and got the impression that she was not the sharpest light bulb in the drawer. I was completely unaware of anything she ever did or said, or anyone she married, or any show she was on. In fact, I’ve seen her parodied on some show, but I didn’t have the frame of reference to know why it was funny. (Or maybe it was Paris Hilton… I dunno or care who she is, either) That’s how little an impact she made on me. I work at a news station, and until she died, she was never in any of the news that I’ve heard. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-non-us-dopers-do-you-know-who-anna-nicole-smith-is-was/391943/20 "2007-02-13T08:15:56Z")
[QUOTE=Sampiro] 1- Is the Anna Nicole death circus making headlines where you are? [/quote] Yep, to a silly degree. > [@](#): > > 2- Do you know who she was? Absolutely. One of her first big modelling jobs was for H&M here in Sweden, and since then she’s never really been off the news, what with her marriage to that old zillionaire and the inheritance fight and that shitty reality show. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-non-us-dopers-do-you-know-who-anna-nicole-smith-is-was/391943.md?page=2)