Stunning black and white photos show effortless glamour of Hollywood's greatest sex symbol after they were hidden in a drawer for 50 YEARS - She remains one of the most iconic sex symbols of all time.
But newly released photos of blonde bombshell Marilyn Monroe show her in a softer, gentler light, before she blew up as one of the most famous movies stars of all time.
She appears in these photographs in a monogrammed polo, fresh faced at 24, and already looking at ease in front of the camera.
Effortless: Previously unpublished photographs of Marilyn Monroe have recently been found in LIFE archives
A summer afternoon: LIFE photographer Ed Clark shot the actress in Griffith Park, Los Angeles in August 1950. She wore a light-colored shirt upon which is embroidered the letters 'MM'
Queen of the forest: Dressed in a shorts and light-colored shirt, Marilyn stands with her hands on her hips and her legs astride a pair of rocks on either side of a very small waterfall
The photographs, taken by LIFE photographer Ed Clark, were shot in Los Angeles’ Griffith Park in August of 1950.
He revealed in a 1999 interview with Digital Journal that a friend from 20th Century Fox had called him about a ‘hot tomato’ he just signed.
That tomato, of course, would become Marilyn Monroe.
Sporting her signature bobbed flaxen locks, the model and actress was shot in a variety of poses. Mr Clark said he was able to photograph her at his leisure since she was relatively unknown at the time.
Bathing beauty: Dressed in a bikini top, she sits on a wooden bench with a script open in her hands
In action: While sitting on a wooden bench, Marilyn has an open script in her lap and mimes a scene
Unearthed: The previously unpublished photographs have only one clue to as why they weren't run once Marilyn became famous - a note with the photos that say they're 'poorly printed'
He told the magazine: ‘We’d go out to Griffith Park and she’d read poetry. I send several rolls to LIFE in New York, but they wired back, “Who the hell is Marilyn Monroe?”’
The editors weren’t entirely off base. Only four years before, the woman being photograph called herself Norma Jeane Dougherty.
The images were discovered as LIFE magazine underwent the daunting task of digitalizing each negative from every photo shoot.
It remains a mystery why the magazine didn’t publish these photos after Monroe skyrocked to fame.
Studious: Photographer Ed Clark said Marilyn read poetry during their photo shoot. Here, she looks at ease in the middle of the woods
Wood nymph: Marilyn stands tiptoe and leans over a wooden bridge railing, looking into the stream below
How's my hair? The natural brunette brushes her blonde strands aside with her left hand
The only scrap of insight is in the form of a note attached to the photos, saying that one of the takes was ‘over-developed and poorly printed.’
In 2011, a photographer stumbled upon a folder of black-and-white negatives containing even more never-before-seen photos of the actress, in another session before she was well known.
The photographer for that shoot still remains unknown.
The bombshell was discovered in 1946 by 20th Century Fox executive Ben Lyon, who noticed her modelling in magazines.
Long and winding road: Dressed in a shorts and light-colored shirt she walks away down a partially shaded pathway ( dailymail.co.uk )
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