Vintage And Rarely Seen Photos Of Marilyn Monroe
Those who knew Marilyn Monroe or have studied her history closely are likely well aware that she had a surprisingly tough life. Behind all the glamor and fame was inner turmoil, underestimation, and worst of all, mistreatment from so many men in her life (famed acting coach Lee Strasberg being a notable and beloved exception).
However, it’s also fair to say that in the short time she was here, Monroe left an unforgettable legacy that still inspires the aesthetics, grace, and ambitions of so many others today. As we’re about to see, there was hardly a time in her life when she wasn’t a style icon.
Before Anyone Called Her Marilyn
Monroe was born Norma Jeane Mortenson on June 1, 1926. Like many actresses of her era, that meant that her more famous stage name was invented by Hollywood studio executives.
Before she met any of them, however, she had a modelling career in the 1940s under her own name. Although her hair and general aesthetic was radically different back then, she had a recognizable face.
Her Modelling Career Could Get A Bit Risqué
Throughout her time modelling during the ’40s, Monroe was known to wear cutting-edge swimwear that would have been considered fairly scandalous at the time.
However, the legitimate threat to her early film career concerned the fact that she posed, putting it all out there, before she began working as an actress. However, what people in later generations could have predicted was that this only attracted public interest in her movies.
The Humble Start Of Her Film Career
By the time this picture was taken in 1948, Monroe had started dipping her toes into the acting world. Indeed, of the five movies she first appeared in, four of them were released that year.
Of course, these early roles — including a minor character in the amusingly titled 1948 film Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay! — consisted of very small parts that often left her uncredited. Nonetheless, it was a start.
The Marilyn Monroe We Know And Love
After these first few minor roles, Monroe saw her image transform into the name and persona the world would forever remember. Although she continued to play small roles in fairly obscure movies, she would appear in her first all-time classic by 1950.
Although Bette Davis and Anne Baxter co-starred in All About Eve, Monroe would make her captivating debut to many moviegoers as Miss Caldwell. She may not have received top billing but it was a more sizable role in a bigger movie than ever before for her.
She Made An Unforgettable Impression On People
When the ’50s began, Monroe stuck out in the minds of moviegoers as an irresistible blonde bombshell. Although her later career saw Monroe depart from this image into more serious fare like The Misfits, many of her other movies were comedic or otherwise frivolous enough to establish her trademark shtick.
As we can see in this shot from 1950, her electric presence was such that all eyes were on her, whether that refers to the other characters in the scene or the movies’ audiences.
An Icon Of Sensuality
Although Monroe was hardly the first actress to enchant and entrance audiences with a sensual persona — Mae West had been similarly titillating for about 20 years by that point — the combination of her shyness and primal magnetism made her a deeply alluring figure.
So much so that she all but perfected that kind of image in a way that has only felt more pioneering and aspirational in the decades since her passing.
A Carefully Crafted Image
By the time she became a rising star in 1951 — when this photo was taken — everything that would make Monroe an eternally recognizable icon was already a part of her persona.
In addition to her name, everything from her distinct voice to her signature fluffy blonde hairstyle had been concretely decided by either her or her management. At just about any time during the ’50s, this was what she looked like.
A Busy Period For The Up-And-Comer
While it’s true that it would take a couple of years before Monroe would sign on for another movie that most people remember today, her rising star years from 1951 to 1952 were a productive period for her.
Monroe appeared in nine movies between those years, including Fritz Lang’s 1952 film noir drama, Clash By Night. However, many of her roles in this period saw her act in romantic comedies like Let’s Make It Legal and We’re Not Married! or otherwise zany fare like Monkey Business.
Monroe Hits Her Star-Making Role
While Monroe had ironed out everything about her image that made her a star by the time she became a household name, the movie that truly achieved this was the 1953 comedy Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
Monrow starred alongside the similarly adored Jane Russell but cemented her legendary status with the classic music number “Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend.” Although Monroe’s unique voice sang most of the song, she had some help in the high-octave intro from Gloria Wood.
Her Momentum Keeps Going
Although women’s clothes protested her revealing outfits and even more esteemed peers like Joan Crawford called her behavior “unbecoming an actress and a lady,” Monroe nonetheless proved irresistible to male and female audiences alike.
Indeed, the third and last of her movies to be released in 1953 — How To Marry A Millionaire — would earn the most commercial success her career had seen up to that point. She starred in the film alongside Betty Grable and Lauren Bacall.
She Was Active In The USO
By the time her star had risen, Monroe saw an opportunity to make a difference for Americans fighting overseas in The Korean War. Indeed, that’s exactly what she did through the United Services Organization.
In January 1954, Monroe toured various American military bases and performed a total of ten shows for about 100,000 soldiers.
Her Brief But Significant Marriage
Soon after she was cemented as a certified film star, Monroe entered a marriage to baseball legend Joe DiMaggio. Although she had been married once when she still went by Norma Jean Mortenson, this marked the first of two marriages she would have after she entered the public eye.
Although Monroe and DiMaggio were able to become platonic yet dear friends before her passing, that doesn’t mean they had a particularly happy marriage. Indeed, one of Monroe’s most iconic moments had a dark context behind it for this reason.
Monroe’s Sadness After This Joyful Moment
Perhaps the most often-imitated moment of Monroe’s career and life saw her pose over a Manhattan subway grate while wearing a white dress. As she laughed, the updraft from the grate blew her skirt up, revealing her undergarments to busy photographers.
This move was intended to promote her movie The Seven Year Itch but it reportedly enraged DiMaggio. Allegedly, that night saw him mistreat her enough that if he had been caught, it would have warranted a domestic violence charge.
Their Marriage Didn’t Last Long
Although Monroe’s marriage to DiMaggio is a significant part of her story, it only lasted until their divorce in 1955. Rather than focusing on the events of the aforementioned night, Monroe described an overall pattern of neglect and mistreatment on DiMaggio’s part.
This period also marked some fairly lean years for Monroe in a professional sense, as only The Seven Year Itch and the 1956 movie Bus Stop came out in the months after this divorce.
A Rare Positive Influence Entered Her Life
Although The Seven Year Itch would be one of 1955’s biggest commercial successes, a contract dispute with Fox led to a public smear campaign against her that even included a mocking jab in the Broadway show Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?
This ridicule came in the wake of Monroe starting her own production company, but she also took it as an opportunity to hone her acting skills. For that reason, she spent most of 1955 studying in Manhattan, particularly under method acting pioneer Lee Strasberg.
More Than A Teacher To Her
Although Monroe started lessons with Strasberg as the famous Actor’s Studio, her shyness was severe enough that he instead invited her to his home so he and his wife Paula could tutor her privately.
Not only did Monroe grow close enough to fire her existing acting coach in favor of Paula but she would eventually be considered a treasured member of their family. They were trusted advisors for the rest of her career.
A New Professional And Personal Phase In Her Life
Although Monroe would find that her production company didn’t have the funds to operate on its own, she was nonetheless in a position where she was able to negotiate a new and more favorable contract with Fox by the end of 1955.
Not only that, but she was starting to get much closer to playwright Arthur Miller despite the fact that he was under investigation by the FBI and subpoenaed by the House Un-American Activities Committee for allegations of communism.
Things Look Up For Monroe
By 1956, it was clear that her training with the Strasbergs was paying off, as Monroe’s accent work in Bus Stop gave her some of the most promising critical acclaim of her career.
Although her lateness to set and perfectionism had also given Monroe a reputation of being difficult to work with, her skills and bankable status compelled some directors not to worry about that perception.
Another Classic In Her Later Career
One of those directors was Billy Wilder, who fit Monroe’s soft, sensuous charms perfectly into the landmark, timeless 1959 comedy Some Like It Hot.
Although Tony Curtis reportedly found their romantic scenes nightmarish due to the length of the shoots required, the film was both commercially and critically successful to the point of earning Monroe a Golden Globe.
More Ambitious Right Before The End
Although Some Like It Hot and the 1960 film Let’s Make Love weren’t too far removed from Monroe’s usual shtick, it was clear that she was seeking more dramatically challenging roles by the end of her life.
Before her sudden and mysterious death in 1962 at the age of 36, Monroe starred in The Misfits. Directed by John Huston and written by her soon-to-be-ex-husband Arthur Miller, this saw Monroe engage in her most dramatically intense performance ever. It was a bittersweet sign of what was to come in her career had she lived.
