Anna Nicole Smith’s Mom Virgie Arthur Reportedly Dead at 66

Anna Nicole Smith’s mother, Virgie Arthur, has passed away according to a report by The Daily Mail.

Arthur was 66 years old. She passed away in her home in Montgomery, Texas after surviving both her daughter and Smith’s father, Donald Hogan. Arthur’s heartbreak was shared around the country, as her daughter was a beloved model and performer.

Arthur was reportedly suffering from cancer for quite some time before succumbing. Back in 2009, Hogan also died of lung cancer.

In her life, Arthur did not try to shy away from her daughter’s scandals and drug problems, though she did speak in Smith’s defense from time to time. Smith was 39 years old when she died from an accidental drug overdose in her hotel room in Hollywood, Florida.

Smith was born Vickie Lynn Hogan. Her parents divorced when she was two years old, and she was effectively raised by Arthur and her aunt. She began her career modeling for Playboy in 1992, and quickly rose to fame.

Last year, to mark the tenth anniversary of Smith’s death, Arthur gave an interview with The Daily Mail where she discussed her daughter’s legacy, and the uphill battle it was to raise her “beautiful, funny” child.

“She was very young, very beautiful and very funny when she was Vickie Lynn,” she recalled. “People won’t know her as Vickie Lynn like we do. Her family knows her because they were raised with her. Other people don’t, they just know her as Anna Nicole. Vickie Lynn was a great kid and now she’s gone.”

Smith first changed her name to Nikki Hart when her mother re-married to Donald R. Hart in 1971. She then took on “Anna Nicole Smith” later as a professional moniker.

“People say that you get over it but you never get over it,” Arthur went on. “You never forget and you never get over it. God just makes a way for you to accept it.”

Smith’s death was a tragic time for Arthur, as it followed the death of her grandson, Smith’s 20-year-old son Daniel. Daniel passed away of a drug overdose in his mother’s hospital room, while he was there visiting her. Smith had just given birth to a daughter named Daniellynn.

“I cry on Danny’s death day and I cry on Vickie’s death day,” Arthur said. “It is very hard and it brings up such terrible, terrible memories of her death and what happened to her.”

Dannielynn is now 12 years old. She has been raised by her father and Smith’s former partner, Larry Birkhead.