Marilyn Monroe laughs in the front seat of a car during filming ofThe Misfits. 1960.Ernst Haas/Ernst Haas/Getty Images
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Marilyn Monroe takes a break from filming. Date unspecified.Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis/Getty Images
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Marilyn Monroe lies down on the floor in front of a fireplace. 1955.Gene Lester/Getty Images
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Marilyn Monroe fixes her hair in front of a mirror. 1951.Hulton Archive/Getty Images
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Marilyn Monroe and ex-husband Joe DiMaggio attend the opening day game at Yankee Stadium. 1961.Lee Lockwood/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images
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Marilyn Monroe does a cartwheel in the Beverly Hills backyard of Hollywood agent Johnny Hyde. 1950.Earl Leaf/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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Marilyn Monroe laughs as she leans back on a couch. 1954.Bettmann/Getty Images
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Marilyn Monroe applies her makeup. Date unspecified.Flickr
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Marilyn Monroe plays softball on the beach. Circa 1950s.Mondadori Portfolio/Getty Images
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Marilyn Monroe breaks down into tears after facing a press corps in front of the honeymoon cottage she was sharing with husband Joe DiMaggio. 1954.Bettmann/Getty Images
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Marilyn Monroe cuddles up to a small dog during filming of The Misfits. 1960.Ernst Haas/Getty Images
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Marilyn Monroe relaxes in a restaurant in New York. 1955.Ed Feingersh/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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Marilyn Monroe smiles on the set of Some Like It Hot. 1959.Bettmann/Getty Images
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Marilyn Monroe reads the book To the Actor: On the Technique of Acting by Michael Chekhov in a quiet moment at the Ambassador Hotel in New York. 1955.Michael Ochs Archives/Stringer/Getty Images
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Marilyn Monroe wells up with tears of frustration in a Madison Square Garden dressing room before a charity event because her costume doesn't fit right. 1955.Ed Feingersh/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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Marilyn Monroe lays down in the back seat of a car after a long day on the set of Let's Make Love. 1960. John Bryson/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images
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Marilyn Monroe relaxes during a quiet moment in a New York restaurant. 1955.Michael Ochs Archives/Stringer/Getty Images
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The cast and crew of The Misfits line up for a publicity shoot. 1960.Ernst Haas/Ernst Haas/Getty Images
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Marilyn Monroe laughs inside a limousine while celebrating her 30th birthday in 1956.Bettmann/Getty Images
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Marilyn Monroe smiles as she signs an autograph for a young man. 1952.Bettmann/Getty Images
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Marilyn Monroe tries on different swimsuits with the help of the wardrobe mistress. 1953.Bettmann/Getty Images
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Marilyn Monroe spontaneously hugs fiancé Arthur Miller during a sidewalk interview. 1956.Bettmann/Getty Images
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Marilyn Monroe meets with news commentator Edward R. Murrow at the Ambassador Hotel in New York in preparation for her guest appearance on his show. 1955.Bettmann/Getty Images
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Marilyn Monroe gets her makeup done. 1953.Ullstein Bild/Getty Images
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Marilyn Monroe cries after her divorce with Joe DiMaggio. 1954.Ullstein Bild/Getty Images
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Marilyn Monroe wears a bored expression as her playwright husband Arthur Miller shoos photographers away at the Boston Arts Center Theater. 1959.Bettmann/Getty Images
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Marilyn Monroe stands on the set of Let's Make Love. 1960.Flickr
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Marilyn Monroe, wearing a negligee, listens to advice from director Billy Wilder during the filming of Some Like It Hot. 1958.Bettmann/Getty Images
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Marilyn Monroe out for a bicycle ride. 1956.Harold Clements/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
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Marilyn Monroe laughs as ex-husband Joe DiMaggio sticks out his tongue for photographers. 1961.Bettmann/Getty Images
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Director George Cukor watches actress Marilyn Monroe rehearse moves with dance director Jack Cole on the set of Let's Make Love. 1960.John Bryson/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images
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Marilyn Monroe dabs at tears at a divorce hearing, testifying that husband Joe DiMaggio treated her with "coldness and indifference." 1954.Bettmann/Getty Images
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Marilyn Monroe with husband Arthur Miller on the set of The Misfits. 1960.Bettmann/Getty Images
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Marilyn Monroe picks up a paper at a newsstand in New York. 1955.Ed Feingersh/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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Marilyn Monroe and actor Lon McAllister ride a train from New York City to Warrensburg, New York. 1949.Archive Photos/Getty Images
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Marilyn Monroe causes a scene with her low-cut dress at husband Arthur Miller's premier of A View from the Bridge. 1957.Bettmann/Getty Images
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Marilyn Monroe, husband Arthur Miller, and his dog relax at Miller's home. 1956.Seymour Wally/NY Daily News Archive/Getty Images
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Marilyn Monroe is fitted for a costume in a dressing room as photographer Ed Feingersh is seen in the reflection. 1955.Ed Feingersh/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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Marilyn Monroe, visibly distressed, leaves a hospital while being hounded by the press. 1954.Bettmann/Getty Images
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Marilyn Monroe adjusts her makeup using a handheld mirror on the set of Bus Stop. 1956.Hulton Archive/Getty Images
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A candid shot of Marilyn Monroe waiting for the cameras to start rolling on the set of Let's Make Love. Yves Montand watches from off set. 1960.George Rinhart/Corbis via Getty Images
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Marilyn Monroe flirts with co-star Yves Montand at a cocktail party in January, 1960.Bettmann/Getty Images
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A tired-looking Marilyn Monroe avoids the press in a checkered coat and scarf. 1961.Bettmann/Getty Images
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Monroe stands outside the Elizabeth Arden salon in New York. 1955.Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
44 Candid Marilyn Monroe Photos As The Girl Next Door
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Marilyn Monroe photos showcase a sex symbol, a goddess, an icon. She was beautiful, there's no doubt about that. After all, it was her looks that got her out of her anonymous life before fame in the first place.
Monroe had spent her childhood years in foster homes and orphanages before getting married at the age of just 16. Shortly after, Monroe (then still known as Norma Jeane Mortenson) was working at an aviation factory when she was spotted by military photographer David Conover who was there to capture photos of female workers in order to boost wartime morale. Monroe's looks dazzled Conover, and she soon embarked on a successful modeling career.
Monroe's seductive photos landed her a number of minor film roles that eventually led to bigger roles in more popular films, and before Monroe knew it, she was a major movie star.
Unfortunately for Monroe, she was almost always typecast as the "dumb blonde." Practically all of her notable films, including The Seven Year Itch, Some Like It Hot, and Bus Stop, showcase Monroe as little more than a sex object. Monroe was devastated; she deeply wanted to play serious roles in serious films. Alas, no one took the blonde bombshell seriously.
Since it was Monroe's appearance that turned the previously beautiful albeit anonymous woman into a movie star, she was terrified of losing her good looks. To create the woman captured in iconic Marilyn Monroe photos, she supposedly washed her face up to five times a day to prevent breakouts, slathered her face in olive oil to keep it hydrated, and sewed marbles into her bra to create the appearance of hard nipples.
Likewise, much to the annoyance of directors, Monroe spent hours in her changing room, applying makeup and doing her hair. Every element of her appearance had to be perfect before she was ready to be captured on camera. Monroe was constructing a character, and she knew exactly how to act in front of the camera in order to seduce her audience.
"I worked with Marilyn Monroe. A rather dull person. But when I said 'Now!' she lit up. Suddenly, something unbelievable came across. The minute she heard the click of the camera, she was down again. It was over. I said, 'What is it between you and the camera that doesn't show at any other time?' She said, 'It's like being screwed by a thousand guys and you can't get pregnant.'"
Monroe's charm is indeed evident both in her movies and her still photos. But Cunningham was wrong: Monroe was no less charming when her charisma was turned off, when she was caught off guard, when she wasn't "on."
See for yourself in the gallery of candid Marilyn Monroe photos above.
John Kuroski is the editorial director of All That's Interesting. He graduated from New York University with a degree in history, earning a place in the Phi Alpha Theta honor society for history students. An editor at All That's Interesting since 2015, his areas of interest include modern history and true crime.
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Martisiute, Laura. "44 Candid Marilyn Monroe Photos As The Girl Next Door." AllThatsInteresting.com, August 24, 2017, https://allthatsinteresting.com/marilyn-monroe-photos-candid. Accessed February 22, 2025.
