Charming Pin-up: How Young Marilyn Monroe Worked as a Model for Just $10 an Hour (9 photos)

In 1946, an unknown 19-year-old Norma Jean Dougherty (the future Marilyn Monroe) came to conquer Hollywood. Like any other aspiring actress, she was in desperate need of money. By a lucky chance, she was invited to his studio by Earl Moran, a famous pin-up artist. He needed a model for future posters, and the girl happily agreed to work with him.





After all, she was an aspiring actress at the time, while Moran had already established himself as a leading illustrator of beautiful women: his work for magazines and calendars was published alongside illustrations by artists such as Alberto Vargas and George Petty.

Earl Moran draws a pin-up poster of Marilyn Monroe.

How Pin Up was drawn before: the model was photographed, then copied from the photo, outlined with charcoal and colored with pastel, oil. Additional interior details, landscapes, environment, clothing details, depended on the artist's imagination. Occasionally they drew directly from the model, but the process took much more time, and the model and artist got tired faster.

Marilyn Monroe as a model for pin-up posters in 1946-1950.





The girl, who at the beginning of her career signed as Mona Monroe, became friends with the artist. And, over the next four years, she periodically posed for him. Earl Moran spoke of his favorite model: "She did everything naturally. She always did what I asked. And she was the most sensual girl. Better than anyone else. On an emotional level, she did everything right, too. Her movements, her hands, her body, everything was perfect." Marilyn, in turn, joked that Earl drew her legs much more beautiful than they really were.





Partly due to the kind, friendly atmosphere that reigned in the studio, Earl Moran managed to reveal Marilyn's artistry and charm.







Moran's work with Marilyn Monroe was used, among others, by the major calendar company Brown & Bigelow. 40 years later, in January 1987, Playboy magazine published several nude photos of Marilyn Monroe taken by Moran in 1946. At the age of 19, Marilyn Monroe began working as a model for an artist who painted Pin Up posters, and at that time his work was not considered something extraordinary. Now these photos and drawings are worth a fortune.