[1] Smiley arrived in Gothenburg from the United States in 1924, at approximately the age of two, and died on 9 February 1987.

At the time of her death Smiley weighed 75 kilograms (165 lb) and measured 265 centimetres (8.69 ft), which is small for North American alligators (males can grow to a length and weight double that).

[4] In 1990, three years after Smiley's death, she was once again put on display, this time as a cast made by taxidermist Erling Haack for the Gothenburg Natural History Museum.

The eyes were built with double lenses created by Hendén Optik AB.

Smiley's physical remains are preserved in the museum's scientific collection, catalogued as number 17246.