MARILYN BEFORE SHE WAS MARILYN! by Dave Goode

If you're like me you're fascinated by the rich and famous before they became famous. There are very few true overnight success stories in the world of show business. Take for instance the definitive "blonde bombshell" of the Fabulous 50s...Marilyn Monroe.

Before she was a glamorous movie star the former Norma Jean Dougherty modeled for camera clubs and figure studies to help pay the rent while appearing in such forgettable movies like THE DANGEROUS YEARS (1947) and SCUDDA HOO! SCUDDA HAY! (1948). And as eye candy in LOVE HAPPY (1949) and RIGHT CROSS (1950). From 1946 to 1950 she modeled for famed pin-up illustrator Earl Moran at 10 dollars an hour. Which was a good piece of change in that era.

Marilyn and Moran would become friends. And she credited the painter for making her legs look better than they were. Of note Moran's daughter from his first marriage was 1940s B-Movie Queen Peggy Moran.

And speaking of B-Movies I was thinking the other day of Marilyn co-starring with Johnny Weissmuller in one of his Jungle Jim movies from Columbia. In VOODOO TIGER (1952) Jean Dean portrays Shalimar, an exotic dancer who works with a tiger in her act. When her plane crashes in Africa she is taken as the high priestess of the tiger god. A perfect role for the young, yet to be star Marilyn.