Marilyn Monroe's Never-Before-Published Pictures (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

LIFE.com uncovered some never-before-published photographs of a 24-year-old Marilyn Monroe, taken by LIFE photographer Ed Clark in August 1950.

See a few of the photos below, and check out more here at LIFE.com.

Scroll down to watch a "Today" Show segment on the lost photos.

Marilyn flashes a brilliant smile. It's hard to believe that just four years earlier, she was Norma Jeane Dougherty, the wife of a Merchant Marine and a worker in a munitions factory.

Marilyn pats her curls. Naturally a brunette, Monroe reportedly dyed her hair blonde during her modeling days, after hearing that's the look agencies wanted.

Lounging in the shade, Monroe studies lines of an unknown script. It was still early in her career, and she'd just begun to grab attention: Three months before this shoot, she appeared as a crooked lawyer's girlfriend in "The Asphalt Jungle," and two months after, she had a small role as an aspiring starlet in "All About Eve."

WATCH:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Comments

[LeftLeanWing]

In her photos she always appears Glowing and Radiant, like a source of Light.

[Khirad]

Never really thought she was worth the iconic fuss before I saw these. Well, of course she was pretty, and talented, and marrying Arthur Miller is a plus in my eyes; but her look has become a very conventional mold by now. These; however; have given me a fresh view, beyond the banal kitsch surrounding her.

[Chuck Citrin]

if you think marrying arthur miller is a plus, that she was "pretty", and the banal kitsch has anything much to do with her, you've never seen "gentlemen prefer blondes" or "niagara". that's marilyn monroe and we've seen no one, nothing, like her since 1953. that's why she's an icon.

[june52009]

http://dailynoz.blogspot.com/

[RobertFromMN]

All the fuss is warranted. Such a classic girl.

[Chuck Citrin]

classic?. . . CLASSIC? there's no less classic girl than marilyn. a miss porter's school girl would be classic, but no one in any class is marilyn monroe! she's more a unique being who stands alone.

[Bobertbobert]

Away back, delivering newspapers, I saw a spread in MATCH(French Magazine)of Marilyn clad only in vertical-s­triped-tig­hts at approximately the age in these photos, that sizzled. Nudes are different than teasers and these topless pictures emphasised her appealing youthfulness in a way that captured viewers.

[lilkunta]

ARGH. Perhaps bc it is 09
-- just what 50 yrs after her modelling & " acting " --
is why she is still unneccesarily fawned over.

By 2026 will we have moved on?

Bc in this digital age where every person on the street is a photographer & high schools sell pics for the $, there wont be "never before seen" pics of 2day's stars.

Show me the never before seen pics of Farah Fawcett ot Diahann Carroll orTina Turner or Phylicai Rashad !

[JZ735]

Marilyn will always matter...get a LIFE!

[elimenez]

Why do we idolize this woman, what has she ever done? The only reason she will always matter is because she banged JFK.

[Foodbuff]

What nonsense, What is wrong with you?

[Phoebe917]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVDg1B_jPVg best photos of marilyn monroe ever.

[cinnamonlady]

Hi Phoebe! When he was a skinny, freckled teenager, my father delivered flowers to Marilyn while she was staying in Southampton. Oh, to hear him describe coming face to face with this goddess as she opened the door - sans make up & very little clothing. I could kick myself for not having recorded my dad as he recalled that stammering moment!

[YonderHero]

She was Marilyn Monroe. Nothing else matters.

[Agentlady007]

"Isness" matters. Oh ? ---Right?

[cinnamonlady]

Agentlady, it's up to you to carry the torch! We babes have a lot of responsibility!

Love,
Dorothy ;-)

[tatianalensky]

I feel sorry for your gf.

[Furby]

And I for you tatiana. Marilyn Monroe footage was used in film school to demonstrate the extremely rare quality of someone who looks fabulous in every single frozen frame of film footage. Never a distorted face in any frame. It's a gift. It's compelling, You can't take your eyes off Ms Monroe when she's in a scene, whether she has lines or not. This quality alone raised her to icon status.

[1sparrow]

as a son of a merchant marine i am opposed to your character mutilation of this character with the crows feet in her eyes. merchant marines were stamped with government tattoos left arm and right. more merchant marines died in the second world war than the army, navy, marines, combined. they were stamped like cattle. they behaved like animals. they were not like bikers

[Nina28]

No Nose Job, No Boob Job, Just Marilyn. Where are real women like that in Hollywood now days.

[2CoolCats]

Take a second look.

http://www.celebrityplasticpics.com/marilyn_monroe_plastic_surgery.htm

[Chuck Citrin]

i love her more but she did have a nose job.

[BlackYowe]

She would never make it today she would have to loose weight and get her nose done. Sad how life has changed so much.

[ChelseaC]

Her nose and body were great.

[Agentlady007]

I heard from a reliable source she had three nose jobs.

[Agentlady007]

I heard she had her chin done too.

[Nina28]

I agree on the nose job remark, but lose weight? Geezus, she looks fit to me, unless of course folks think Lindsey Lohan's meth-corpse grin is the attractive goal.

[Akat1973]

She was so beautiful

[Agentlady007]

If we live forever we should eliminate the word " was" from our consciousness iMo.

[ZenCrusader]

sucha wonderful tought to discover here - thank you 007 !

[wsoxstretch05]

I think she's prettier here than after she really made it big in hollywood. She just looks like a normal beautiful woman.

[Chuck Citrin]

um. . .she was so much more than a natural, beautiful woman. in 1953 she became the most beautiful thing anyone had ever seen! makeup, glamour and tight dresses are the realm of the goddess, who is not really a housewife.

[Organotic]

First Hitler photos and now Marilyn photos. Who suppressed these images and why!!! I demand answers, dammit!

[joycehelene]

She was just gorgeous, bu a lot of woman are just as gorgeous at age 24, it was more than her beauty that made her so special. If she lived I wonder what she would have looked like at age 83.