Anna Nicole Smith fulfilled several roles in her lifetime: the blonde bombshell, the reality TV spectacle, the bubbly pop culture icon. In the nearly twenty years since her passing, her reputation has warmed and shifted. She is remembered less for her public hardships and more for the woman we see here in these pages of Playboy’s February 1994 issue: gorgeous, flirty, fun—a person entirely embodied in her sensuality. Anna Nicole Smith, America’s forever Valentine.
This pictorial, “My Sudsy Valentine,” featuring text by Christopher Napolitano and photos by Stephen Wayda, originally appeared in our February 1994 issue. Check out the rest of the Playboy archive here.
Nobody fills a dress, charms a camera or takes a bath like Anna Nicole Smith. The first two qualities are why she’s a Playmate of the Year and a soon-to-be movie star (look for her in the upcoming Naked Gun 33⅓ and The Hudsucker Proxy); the last trait is why, to mark Valentine’s Day, we’ve asked her back for her steamiest pictorial yet. But you don’t have to take our word for it. We suggest you put yourself in Tom Johnson’s flip-flops.
Johnson, Anna Nicole’s rubber ducky in these photos, was new to us. At 38, the native Californian and former model was making a fresh start as a photo assistant and interviewing at Playboy Studio West, which is how he met Anna Nicole.
“After my interview I was given a tour,” he recalls. “We went by the makeup room, and there was Anna Nicole. We said hello. I was trying to act cool—like it’s every day that I see a Playmate of the Year.”
Incredibly, Anna told Contributing Photographer Stephen Wayda that she wanted Tom in the shoot. “I couldn’t believe this was happening,” says Tom. “I thought, No way!” Sure enough, he was asked to get ready to pose.
“I was in the makeup room. All of a sudden, Anna Nicole walked in—naked, except for this feather boa. I was, like, aaaahhh! I was so nervous. I tried small talk. I remembered that she’s from Texas, like my father, so I asked her ‘Where in Texas?’ She said, ‘Houston. Now take off your clothes.’”
And so began for Tom the ultimate male fantasy. “I thought, This is the best. I have died and gone to heaven,” he says. And Anna Nicole proved to be a real water sport.
“It was great. She was so nice,” continues Tom. “She was friendly, she was fun, she was playful. In Los Angeles you find a lot of women with attitude. But she was genuine. I’m just a struggling photographer and she treated me straight. I appreciated that. When she gets in front of the camera she lights up. She just pulled me along.”
It worked—it looks like the water in the bubble bath was boiling. “She insisted that they keep the water warm,” says Tom, laughing. “We got into it. It wasn’t sexual, it was more romantic, glamourous. When we did the Marilyn Monroe pictures, I felt like Fred Astaire. I think she knew it was a fantasy for me.”
She topped it off by inviting him to drive her home in her Playmate of the Year Jaguar. “I drove down Sunset Boulevard in a Jaguar with a beautiful blonde,” says Tom. “You can’t get better than that.”
What a STEAMY pictorial... And Anna Nicole was a HOTTIE!
I had that issue. Bought it for the articles ofc