Anna Nicole Smith Cannot Rest Easy Even Though Pierce Now With Howard

Dallas Morning News reporter Katie Fairbank reviews the public life and private nature of E. Pierce Marshall in A legacy oil heir never wanted.  Albeit a very private man by nature, E. Pierce Marshall never gave in during the very public legal battle with Anna Nicole Smith over his deceased father, J. Howard Marshall’s, estate.  In fact, he said he was defending his father’s wishes.  He argued in 2000 to a Texas court that his father believed he had adequately provided for Anna Nicole, having spent $6.6 million on real estate, jewelry, and other gifts for her. That is why Pierce Marshall said she wasn’t included in his father’s will.
   

Mr. [E. Pierce] Marshall played down his wealth in his daily life as well. He and his wife lived in a house appraised at $656,780 relatively modest amid the mansions and McMansions of North Texas. In a city awash with millionaires, a high-dollar social scene and billionaires that regularly offer their opinions, Mr. Marshall did his best to stay out of the limelight. He was so successful that many people in the city didn’t even realize he and his wife had lived in Dallas since 1979. “Pierce to me was a very regular fellow. Private, thoughtful, appropriate. Not much flash; that just was not his style,” Mr. Bradley said. His family could describe him in one word: real. He regularly declined interviews and was rarely photographed. When he died, the news was kept quiet for days and released on a Friday evening to avoid attention. Much of his life was spent like many middle-class suburbanites. He flew coach and stayed at modest hotels. He read a lot, was a “doting grandfather,” and was fond of automobiles and racing.
   

Pierce “never expressed any regrets concerning the decision to defend his father’s estate plan. He knew, quite simply, in his heart that he was doing the right thing, and he always had the rest of the family’s support and conviction behind him.”
   

For the more information about the Marshall v. Marshall case on this blog, please go here.