Rare Photos of Marilyn Monroe’s Early Years Before She Was Famous

By Closer Staff March 18, 2018

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Hollywood

Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe spent her entire life as an enigma. She was considered the world’s most beautiful woman, but she was “one of the most terrified people on the planet,” Andrew Norman, author of Making Sense of Marilyn, exclusively told Closer Weekly in a new interview. His book — which will be available in June — takes a hard psychological look into the sex symbol’s troubled youth, as well as her brilliant acting career and tragic death from a drug overdose at age 36 in 1962.

(Photo Credit: Getty Images)

“Why was this successful, glamorous lady so unhappy in her life?” Norman asked. “That’s the big question: How could these two people exist in one person?” As Marilyn herself once said, “I’m trying to find myself. Sometimes, that’s not easy.”

This article originally appeared on our sister site, Closer Weekly.

Scroll down to see photos from Marilyn’s early years and learn more about the iconic star!

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"She had a very difficult childhood," Norman said of Marilyn (circa 1936), who never knew her father.
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"Marilyn’s mother was loving," Norman said of Gladys, with Marilyn, left. "But she ended up in a mental hospital, and Marilyn was shipped around to various foster homes."
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"She seemed like such a caring, kind, nice person," Norman said of Marilyn as a teenager.
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To escape her unhappy home life, Marilyn, 16, married former high school football star James Dougherty, 20, in 1942.
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Marilyn’s star rose after she divorced Dougherty in 1946. "Her contract with Fox said she couldn’t be married," he recalled. "They didn’t want a pregnant starlet."
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"I am good, but not an angel. I do sin, but I am not the devil," said Marilyn (center), with two gal pals. "I am just a small girl in a big world trying to find someone to love." More from Closer Weekly Jerry Lewis and Marilyn Monroe Once Had a Secret Affair, and We Can't Believe Our Ears! Marilyn Monroe's "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" Dress Sells for $4.8 Million at Auction See Marilyn Monroe and More Classic Stars Who Changed Their Names for Acting! Photographer Bill Ray Shares Vintage Photos of Late Actress Natalie Wood — See the Pics!