It’s been 14 years since the accidental overdose death of Playboy model, Anna Nicole Smith. Though, her fascinating life and mysterious past continue to be a topics of discussion to this day. Now, details about her private life, career and relationships will be uncovered when Anna Nicole’s ex, Larry Birkhead, 48, and their teenage daughter Dannielynn Birkhead, 14, peel back layers from her past in a new 20/20 special, Tragic Beauty — which will air during Super Bowl weekend on ABC, Friday February 5 at 9/8c. SO, who is Larry Birkhead? HollywoodLife has 5 key things to know about him, below:
NEW: Anna Nicole Smith | What happens when her family goes in search of her secrets, past and possessions? ‘Tragic Beauty’ the new #ABC2020 event premieres Friday night at 9|8c on ABC. https://t.co/ZGewRPfd2o pic.twitter.com/4UnUIvKlvv
— 20/20 (@ABC2020) January 30, 2021
1. Larry Birkhead is a photographer from Kentucky.
Larry is a photographer, who also dabbles in real estate. He currently resides in Kentucky with his daughter, where they enjoy being away from the spotlight. Additionally, Larry has a twin brother named Lewis.
2. How did Larry Birkhead meet Anna Nicole?
Larry met Anna Nicole at the Kentucky Derby in 2004, and while sparks flew between the pair, they kept their romance under wraps. “No one ever knew one time that I was her boyfriend,” Larry said in a separate 20/20 special in 2017. “The whole time we dated, if you look at all the video, I’m in the back carrying my camera bag … she didn’t want me in the spotlight.”
While the father-daughter duo live a mostly private life, they make one annual trip into the spotlight each year at the Barnstable Brown Kentucky Derby Gala in Louisville — the same party in which Larry met Dannielynn’s mother. The pair dresses in their derby best for the annual event, where they usually pose for photos on the red carpet. Larry and Dannielynn last appeared at the Kentucky Derby in 2019, since they were forced to watch the event from home in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
3. Larry fought for sole custody of Dannielynn after Anna Nicole died.
In 2007, Larry went through a tumultuous custody battle over Dannielynn. After Anna Nicole’s death, he ordered a paternity test to prove that he was the father of his then five-month-old daughter (born on September 7, 2006). At the time, several other men were claiming to be the father of Anna Nicole’s baby, including her personal attorney at the time, Howard K. Stern — who was initially legally named as the child’s father.
In the aforementioned 2017 20/20 interview, Larry claimed that he had a fight with Anna Nicole five months into her pregnancy and that she left him and traveled to the Bahamas. In 2006, when Anna Nicole gave birth to Dannielynn, Stern (who was also believed to be her partner at the time) was listed as the father on her birth certificate. — Something Larry challenged with a lawsuit. After a DNA test in April of 2007, Larry was confirmed as Dannielynn’s real father.
4. He’s appeared in several TV shows.
Since Anna Nicole’s death, Larry has made cameos in a number of television shows including Life after Anna on E! Network, Wife Swap and The Millionaire Matchmaker.
5. Larry hasn’t found love since Anna Nicole.
Through the years, Larry has noted that his daughter has tried to assist with his love life. “It’s cute when she tries to push me out of the house and get me to date and do things,” he told Entertainment Tonight in September of 2017. Dannielynn was just 11-years-old at the time. “She told me today, ‘I think you need to go out with Kylie Jenner. “I said, ‘Well, she’s a little young,’ and she said, ‘OK, what about Kim [Kardashian]?’ I said, ‘Well, she’s married,’ and she goes, ‘OK, what about the mom, Kris Jenner?’ I [asked why she’d] say that and she goes, ‘I remember she had a frozen yogurt machine in her house,'” Larry hilariously recalled. Also in 2017, Larry told Wendy Williams that doesn’t get out much because he’s “packing the lunches” and “doing the field trips.”
