A DNA test proved young Dannielynn to be the daughter of photographer Larry Birkhead, and not Smith's long-time attorney turned lover, Howard Stern. Nor had Smith become pregnant, as rumours had it, using frozen sperm from Marshall, who was a ripe 90 years old when he died in 1995.

The moral of Smith's story was seemingly lost on a gaggle of other 'celebutantes' who got themselves in all kinds of trouble this past year. Paris Hilton led the pack by going to jail for 23 days after violating the probation she was serving for a drink-driving conviction in May.

Hilton's billionaire grandfather said last week that he would leave 97 per cent of his US$2.3 billion fortune to charity, giving the now former heiress a comparative pittance. The move is not likely to change the party princess' lifestyle dramatically. Forbes magazine recently estimated that the star of The Simple Life last year earned US$7 million from the TV show, her perfume line and appearances.

Nicole Richie, Hilton's 'BFF' (though apparently neither 'best' nor 'forever' given their on-and-off friendship) likewise spent time in the clink for drink-driving - 82 minutes.

Party pal Lindsay Lohan had her own drink-driving stunt - two, actually - one only a month after being found passed out in a hotel doorway in January. Lohan was lucky enough to avoid jail but the 21-year-old ended up in rehab - three times.

British singer Amy Winehouse made a career from her song Rehab but saw it derailed after a reported drugs overdose in August that sent her back in again. Two months later she was arrested for drug possession in Norway, had to cancel or cut short tours in the US and England, and was weeks ago photographed outside her home wearing only jeans and a bra trying to get over a neighbour's fence.

Britney Spears lost her knickers, her hair and her children, in that order.

Not all the news was of debutantes and debauchery. Several others settled down to start families or otherwise found themselves in the family way. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie added a Vietnamese boy to their brood in March, three-year-old Pax. A decidedly single Sheryl Crow followed suit a month later, adopting two-week-old Wyatt Steven.

Julia Roberts and Salma Hayek each had one of their own while Jennifer Lopez, Christina Aguilera, Halle Berry, Cate Blanchett and even Richie all announced they had one on the way. Last week, 22-year-old British songstress Lily Allen revealed she had a bun in the oven put there by her 37-year-old boyfriend of three months, Chemical Brothers' Ed Simons.

David and Victoria Beckham got a fresh start to their life by moving to California. The reason was so that the star English midfielder could take his game to the Los Angeles Galaxy, but the move has seen Victoria step up her own game. She's had Hollywood agents cosy up to her, tossed out the ball at a Dodgers' game and is in the midst of a sellout Spice Girls reunion tour.

David has scored one goal and sprained his ankle. Paul McCartney and former model Heather Mills, meanwhile, were falling out of a family way in their divorce, with their private lives becoming a dreadfully public affair and Mills moaning about Macca to anyone who would listen.

Lastly several actors, artists and literary figures took their final curtain call in 2007: luminaries Luciano Pavarotti, Beverly Sills, Marcel Marceau, Kurt Vonnegut and Norman Mailer, directors Ingmar Bergman and Michaelangelo Antonioni, and actors Robert Goulet, Deborah Kerr, Kitty Carlisle Hart and Jane Wyman, among others.

Entertainment icons Merv Griffin, Jack Valenti and Ike Turner also passed on, as did the last remaining member of the Rat Pack, Joey Bishop.

Daredevil Evel Knievel succumbed to diabetes at age 69. Like Smith, his estate has been the focus of a heated court battle, but for the one bone he broke that wasn't his own.

Sports promoter Shelly Saltman had his arm shattered by a baseball-bat-wielding Knievel, who was unhappy about what Saltman had written of him in a 1977 memoir. Saltman was awarded US$12.75 million in damages that Knievel never paid. The bill with interest today: US$100 million.