In October 1991, an 86-year-old oil tycoon was wheeled into a Houston strip club, where he fell in love with a woman who was working the day shift. The octogenarian's name was J. Howard Marshall, and he was worth over $1 billion. And the woman was Anna Nicole Smith, a 23-year-old aspiring model. The two were reportedly smitten at first sight, and the very next day, Marshall gave Smith an envelope with $1,000 in cash and told her, "Don't go to work, my Lady Love. You don't have to ever go back to work."
The rest was history. Marshall showered Smith with expensive gifts, including a red Mercedes convertible, access to a bungalow that had once belonged to Marilyn Monroe, and over $1 million worth of jewelry. And shortly after Smith found fame as a Playboy model, the pair married in 1994—but their wedded bliss lasted just 14 months before Marshall died.
