Billy Wayne Smith Ignored Anna Nicole Smith and Got Her Interested in Him – He Became Her 1st Husband

Before Anna Nicole Smith became the star that she was, she was first married to Billy Wayne Smith, a fry cook who used to ignore her until he got her interested in him.

Long before Anna Nicole Smith rose to fame, she was a wife to Billy Wayne Smith, her first husband and the father of her son Daniel. It was through her marriage to Smith that she got her stage name, one that she went by until her death in 2007.

Anna Nicole was born Vickie Lynn Hogan, but she needed a screen name that was both catchy and easy to remember. So, with the help of Paul Marciano, the head of Guess, they came up with the name "Anna Nicole Smith," inspired by her first marriage.

Billy Wayne Smith Was a Year Younger than Anna

When Anna Nicole was 14, she dropped out of school and worked at a fried chicken restaurant. It was there that she met Billy Wayne, who was a fry cook.

Although Anna Nicole worked as a waitress and Billy Wayne was at the back frying food, she had nothing but heart eyes for the baby-faced boy. He was a year younger than her and had been a fellow schoolmate at Mexia High.

Anna Wanted to Win the Attention of Billy Wayne Smith

Anyone would have noticed Anna Nicole's beauty, but not Billy Wayne. He paid her no attention, which made her frustrated. According to Anna Nicole, it was his ignoring her that caused her to pursue him until they wed. About the whole ordeal, she said:

"He drove me crazy. I chased him and chased him the way young girls do until I finally got him and married him. By then, of course, I wasn't interested."

In 1984, Anna Nicole married Billy Wayne, and they had a son that same year. She named him Daniel, "like Daniel in the bible," she once described.

Their marriage did not last long, and they ended up separating shortly after Daniel's birth. At the time, Anna Nicole was recorded to have said that the marriage was a "disaster."

She claimed that when they were dating, Billy was nice to her, until they got married and he started becoming possessive. "I wasn't allowed to go out of the house or go to the store. He was so jealous," she disclosed.

Anna Nicole initially thought that having a baby would change things for the better, but it didn't improve anything. Their relationship ended in divorce, and papers cited it officially ended in 1993.

Billy Appeared Publicly after His Son Died

After Billy's divorce from Anna Nicole, not much was heard from him until the death of their son Daniel in 2006. He was only 20 years old when he died of an overdose three days after Anna Nicole welcomed her daughter Dannielynn.

When Daniel passed, Billy made a rare public appearance at his son's memorial service in Mexia, Texas. At the time, Anna Nicole was in the Bahamas with her newborn daughter.

After that, Billy Wayne appeared in public again after Anna Nicole's death just five months after giving birth to her daughter, and the death of her son. Billy petitioned to exhume the remains of their son Daniel from the Bahamas, so he could be reburied in Texas.

Anna Nicole, just like Daniel, died of an accidental drug overdose. While Daniel was found unresponsive by his mother at the hospital where she gave birth, Anna Nicole was tragically found at the Seminole Hard rock Hotel and Casino in Florida.

Anna Nicole is survived by her daughter Dannielynn, who lives with her father Larry Birkhead. The young child inherited approximately $700,000 from her mother, who had been working for years until her death.