c. 1950: Auditioning Marilyn
While modelling, then-Norma-Jeane Mortensen Marilyn enrolled in acting school — which she loved, as “my first taste of what real acting in a real drama could be, and I was hooked.” Signing with an acting agency in June 1946, she was contracted by 20th Century Fox for six months, and she and a studio exec chose the name “Marilyn Monroe.” But her contract was not renewed. Self-funding acting school, she was signed by Columbia in 1948. But after only one low budget film, she was dropped once more.
This set of photos date from the period after Columbia, and before the seven-year-deal she secured her at the end of 1950. She didn’t get the part.
Images: Richard C. Miller / Donaldson Collection / Getty Images
