Larry Birkhead is auctioning off Anna Nicole Smith's Mercedes and dog bed to help earn cash to raise their 3-year-old daughter, Dannielynn.
"It's like, do I want to hold on to one of Anna's dresses, or do I want to try to help Dannielynn's future," Birkhead, 37, tells Reuters. "We have money. We have more than enough to survive on. [Auction proceeds] would just supplement that."
Birkhead — who has been raising Dannielynn on his own since Smith's 2007 death at age 39 – says he's spent the last "three or four months buried in storage bins, archiving and cataloguing."
Items to be auctioned off beginning June 26 include a 1992 Mercedes-Benz 300SL roadster given to her by her ex husband, the late billionaire J. Howard Marshall; Marilyn Monroe-themed furniture from her California home; a fluffy pink canopied doggy bed used by her pooch, Sugar Pie and various pieces of artwork and clothes.
"You'll see Anna's love for the finer things, but you'll also see the down home girl that would paint pictures and carry little, fun purses," said Birkhead, who splits his time between homes in Kentucky and Los Angeles.
Proceeds from the sale — to be conducted by Julien's Auctions at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas — will benefit the Anna Nicole and Daniel Wayne Smith Foundation. Both mother and son died from accidental drug overdoses; Daniel shortly after Dannielynn's birth in 2006.
Last Friday, a federal appeals court refused to reconsider a court ruling that denies Smith $300 million from Marshall's estate.
