A baby was born on June 1, 1926 in Los Angeles, California who was called Norma Jeane Mortenson. Her mother was Gladys Pearl Baker Mortenson, and her biological father remains unknown.
During her early childhood, her mother Gladys was mentally unstable and financially unable to care for her young Norma Jeane, so she place her in a foster home in Hawthorne, California of which two parents named Albert and Ida Bolender looked after her until she was seven years old. During her childhood, she spent a good deal of her time in many foster homes.
Her early career started with David Conover who belonged to The U.S Army Air Forces' 1st Motion Picture Unit. He worked as a photographer for Yank, The Army Weekly. Norma Jeane who was working in the Radioplane Munitions Factory, mainly spraying airplanes parts, was noticed by him and snapped a few series of photographs of her, none of which appeared in the Yank magazine. He encouraged her to apply to The Blue Book Modelling Agency. She signed the contract, and began researching work of famous celebrities such as Jean Harlow and Lana Turner. She was told that they were looking for models with lighter hair, so Norma Jeane bleached her brunette hair a golden blonde.
Norma Jeane became one of Blue Book's most successful models. Her face appeared on many magazine covers. This also caught the attention of Ben Lyon, a 20th Century Fox executive, who arranged a screen practise test for her. Lyon was very impressed with Norma Jeane's work and commented "It's Jean Harlow all over again." She was offered a six-month contract, with a starting salary of $125 per week. Lyon did not think Norma Jeane was a suitable name for her, and so he suggested the name Carole Lind after Carole Lombard and Jenny Lind, but soon changed his mind after deciding that the name wasn't so great. Norma Jeane was invited to spend the weekend with Lyon and his wife Beba Daniels, at their home. During her stay, they decided on her new name. She decided to go with her mother's maiden name which was Monroe, and Lyon suggested Marilyn. Although at first Norma Jeane did not like the name Marilyn, because it reminded her of Mary Lynn, a name she did not like. But Lyon felt the name had a flow to it, and was lucky due to the double "M".
During her early career at Fox, Marilyn had no speaking roles in any films. She appeared in some movies such as 'The Shocking Miss Pilgrim and You Were Meant For Me'. But it wasn't until 'Dangerous Years' (Released in December, 1947) where she was credited with her first role as a waitress.
In 1947, Marilyn's six month contract with Fox had ended. She met Bruno Bernard a pin-up photographer, who photographed her at the Racquet Club of Palm Springs; it was there, that she was introduced to Hollywood Talent Agent Johnny Hyde.
In 1948, Marilyn signed another six-month contract deal with Columbia Pictures, and met the studios head drama coach Natasha Lytess, who became her acting coach for many years. Marilyn's had her first major role in a movie called 'Ladies of the Chorus' which came with a low-budget.
After 'Ladies of the Chorus' was released, Marilyn had to struggle to find work, since the movie wasn't a big hit. She was interested in film work, and when no offers came, she started modelling again.
In 1949, Tom Kelley a photographer was interested in Marilyn, and convinced her to pose nude. She was laid out on a large piece of red silk and posed for countless shots. This would be the only time Marilyn would get paid for posing nude. She appeared in various movies for the next three years, but only small roles, and in time to come she would be placed as a leading role.
In March 1952, Marilyn faced a possible scandal, when her two nude photos by Tom Kelley, were to be featured on a calendar. Meanwhile, back at the Colombian Productions, they were discussing how to deal with the problem. Marilyn suggested that she would simply admit that she posed nude, because she had no money to pay her rent. One of the photographs was published in the first issue of Playboy in December 1953, making Marilyn the First Playmate of the Month. This made the new Playboy magazine a success.
