Anna Nicole Smith's ex Larry Birkhead remembers star 15 years after her death: ‘Your love is still alive’
The Playboy centerfold passed away in 2007
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Larry Birkhead is remembering his former partner, Anna Nicole Smith, 15 years after her death.
The photographer took to Instagram on Tuesday and wrote an emotional tribute to the Playboy cover girl and GUESS model, who passed away on Feb. 8, 2007, at age 39.
"Still remembering this one 15 years after her death," the 49-year-old captioned a candid shot of the pair in a loving embrace. "She was truly one of a kind. She struggled for love and acceptance. Just when she found a little piece of one or the other, life seemed to sabotage."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Today, I remember your heart, your soul and your beauty, both inside and out," Birkhead shared. "Your love is alive still to this day, in the form of a truly one of a kind teenager with her Mom’s smile, beauty and courage. Thanks to Anna’s fans for helping keep her memory alive. We love you Anna Nicole."
ANNA NICOLE SMITH'S FORMER DOCTOR CLAIMS PLAYMATE 'MISUSED' DRUGS, BUT WASN'T AN ADDICT
Anna Nicole Smith, a small-town stripper-turned-Playboy-centerfold, reality TV star and widow of an oil billionaire who was 63 years her senior, passed away in 2007 at age 39 from an accidental drug overdose. (Photo by The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images)
Smith was found unresponsive in her hotel room at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida while vacationing with attorney Howard K. Stern. It was later confirmed that the star died of an accidental overdose on prescription medication five months after giving birth to her and Birkhead’s daughter Dannielynn.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Previously, Smith’s son Daniel died of an accidental overdose in Smith’s Bahamas hospital room just three days after his sister was born. He was 20. Birkhead has always maintained that Smith died of a broken heart.
Back in 2020, Birkhead spoke to Fox News Digital about how he struggled with losing the mother of his child.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Former companion of Anna Nicole Smith, Larry Birkhead (C) stands outside as the star's coffin leaves the Bahamas church. The private funeral ceremony followed bitter legal battles over custody of the body that in life had won Smith Playboy fame and a marriage to an 89-year-old billionaire. A throng of Bahamians, tourists and media crushed behind police barriers as the pink-laced white coffin was carried into the Mount Horeb Baptist Cathedral in Nassau Bahamas for a funeral ceremony closed to all but 300 invited guests.The church was reportedly filled with pink roses, and sources close to the funeral said Smith's body was clad in a gown and tiara. (ROBERT SULLIVAN/AFP via Getty Images)
"Really for me, it was tough," Birkhead admitted. "I went to the point where I had dropped 30 or 40 pounds. I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep. It was a tough spot to be in. Not having to witness your child being born, to then having to hear that Anna’s son died, then having to deal with Anna’s death, then planning Anna’s funeral. I went from buying a tombstone to buying my daughter’s first birthday present and planning her birthday party. It was a lot for me to process. And... I was in a spot where I was numb for a while. I just walked through it."
Today, Birkhead is a single parent living a quiet life in Kentucky where he’s been raising Dannielynn, 15, — far away from Hollywood.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Anna Nicole Smith in a publicity portrait for the film 'Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult', 1994. (Photo by Paramount/Getty Images )
"I’m proud of my daughter because without her mom she’s [still] such a great kid and she does her best every day," said Birkhead. "She makes me laugh and smile and I embarrass her every day like most dads do. She does not like the dad jokes and there are certain rules we have where I’m banned from social media and I’m not supposed to say things and I’m not supposed to post things. It’s not cool to walk with her to school anymore, show up at the school dance and start dabbing or doing a dance that I think might be cool. But she’s funny and I’m proud of her. She’s a great kid."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.