Marilyn Monroe before and after facial plastic surgery

How Marilyn Monroe's face changed throughout her life

In her youth, the actress was a typical “girl next door” with a sweet face and a charming smile. A little-known Norma Jeane had a head of curly brown hair, expressive light brown eyes, a small nose, well-defined cheekbones and an expressive chin with a barely noticeable dimple.

Young Marilyn Monroe: photo before plastic surgery

If you compare photos of her in her youth with photographs taken after changing her image, in addition to the obvious changes, for example, turning into a blonde and changing the way she painted her eyes (the “trademark” look with a droop), you also notice more “deep” metamorphoses, indicating that The film star's face underwent surgical correction.

Pictured is Marilyn Monroe in her youth and after her image change

Marilyn Monroe herself always denied plastic surgery, but in the records of Dr. Michael Gurdin put up for auction, evidence was found that she had an implant inserted into her chin and the shape of her nose was changed.

Compare Marilyn Monroe before and after plastic surgery

In addition, the actress had her bite corrected - in photographs of Marilyn Monroe in her youth, her upper teeth protrude slightly forward, and in later photographs she has a perfect “Hollywood” smile.

This is what Marilyn Monroe looked like at the peak of her popularity

Jewelry work

Fifty-three-year-old Johnny Hyde, a millionaire, an influential Hollywood agent, the son of a Russian emigrant and a desperate heartthrob, lost his head from Norma’s charm from the first seconds of their acquaintance in Palm Springs. It was from this moment that the jewelry cutting of Norma Jeane Baker Mortenson's diamond began and its transformation into the dazzling diamond of Marilyn Monroe. Many of her fans think that Marilyn was born when simpleton Norma dyed her hair platinum. This is not so, the transformation was much more radical. In 1946, Johnny Hyde, in love, insisted on plastic surgery and paid for it. At that time, there were not even a thousand plastic surgeons in the United States, and operations were mainly carried out to correct significant congenital or acquired defects in appearance: cleft lip, scars, and so on.

Norma Jeane had rhinoplasty. The bridge of her nose became thinner, and its tip became neat and upturned. Fans subsequently began to consider her pretty nose very sexy, and few people knew about the intervention of a surgeon.

How Marilyn Monroe's figure has changed over the years of popularity

Today the actress would be considered “fat,” but sixty years ago such forms caused envy and admiration. The star was proud of her slender legs and ample bust, which she did not hesitate to show off in revealing outfits, even without a bra. Experts say that Marilyn Monroe did not have breast augmentation. There is evidence that she kept her mammary glands in shape by exercising with dumbbells.

Photo of Monroe in a swimsuit

A resident of sunny California, Marilyn Monroe never sunbathed. Therefore, her skin was not only snow-white and smooth, like marble, but also healthy, without signs of dryness, ptosis and aging.

Photo of Marilyn Monroe in nude style (photo from Playboy magazine, 1953)

Fake frame

Knowing that the legendary Marilyn, fashioning herself from the unremarkable Norma Jeane, turned to surgeons, journalists in our time raised a wave of rumors that Monroe, among other things, also had her breasts enlarged with the help of the same surgeons. The information turned out to be fake. This has been clear since 1962, since Marilyn's death. An employee of a funeral home organizing the funeral of a legendary woman stole the pads that she put in her dress to visually lift her breasts. Monroe did not like bras, and her breasts in the tight-fitting outfits that she loved so much did not look very appetizing without a piquant wardrobe detail, so special pads were created for her that visually raised the bust. The “funeral” clerk subsequently sold Marilyn’s pillows for incredible money.

Marilyn Monroe: date of birth, figure parameters, plastic surgery

Diamond uncut

On June 1, 1926, a girl was born in Los Angeles, who was named Norma Jean Baker Mortenson. Little Norma had a difficult childhood: poverty, mother’s tantrums and, finally, orphanhood due to a parent’s mental disorder. As a child, she was called “mouse.” The quiet, stuttering, gray girl could not get another nickname. She would later say, “Nobody told me I was pretty when I was a little girl. All little girls need to be told every day that they are pretty, even if it’s not true!” The girl grew and became prettier, but this was not at all enough to become that legendary beauty. “When I first saw Marilyn, she had split ends, brown hair, a loose gait, and a giant pimple on her nose,” recalls Natasha Lytes, Monroe’s first acting teacher. “But it was impossible to take your eyes off her: she just radiated naivety. And touching attempts to hide poverty only added to her charm.” A shock of dark, naturally curly hair, an inexpressive chin (so short that it seemed to end on the girl’s lower lip), a wide, potato-shaped nose and parameters that are far from standard by modern standards (with a height of 162 cm, the volume of the hips and chest was 96 cm ) – this is what young Norma Jeane looked like. However, the girl’s charm was immeasurable, and her desire for self-improvement was limitless.

The quiet, stuttering, gray girl could not get another nickname. She would later say, “Nobody told me I was pretty.”

Personal life and career

At the age of 16, Norma, in order to avoid ending up in an orphanage again, marries Jim Dougherty, 8 years older than her, and gets a job at an aircraft factory. At work, photographer David Conover notices her and invites her to audition. The first photo shoot radically changes a girl’s life. She leaves the factory and begins working as a model at the Blue Book agency. Her managers considered her the most hardworking and unambitious model.

During an audition at the 20th Century Fox film studio, Norma meets Ben Lyon. After this meeting, Norma begins acting in films. Her name was not sonorous enough for a stellar career, so the girl took the pseudonym Marilyn and the surname of her grandmother Monroe. She changes her image and becomes a sex symbol of the era.

In March 1948, under the patronage of her lover Joseph M. Schenk, the actress signed a contract with the Columbia Pictures film studio. But after it ended six months later, her contract was not renewed. In December 1950, 20 Century Fox signed a seven-year contract with her. During that period, she starred in her best films, which brought her worldwide popularity.

It was the contract that became the reason that one of the most sought-after actresses of that time was one of the low-paid stars.

Her film debut took place as a telephone operator in the film “The Horrible Miss Pilgrim.” This was followed by an erotic photo shoot. In 1951 she entered the University of California, later leading the Oscars. For many years, the woman tried to get rid of the image of the stupid blonde that viewers saw her on the screen. But she was never able to become a serious actress. She was addicted to barbiturates.

Jim did not share his wife's success and could not come to terms with her popularity. The couple separates. Many years later, in an interview, the celebrity admits that this marriage was unsuccessful and she and her husband practically did not speak. Then she was married twice more, but did not give birth to children in either marriage. She is credited with pregnancies from numerous lovers and abortions.

Merlin's second husband was baseball player Joe DiMaggio in 1954. But this marriage did not last long. The actress left him after 9 months for playwright Arthur Miller. They lived together for four years. But her most famous lover was US President John Kennedy.

Plastic surgery

The success of actresses largely depends on external data. Women are willing to go to great lengths to build a brilliant career. Merlin was no exception. Her desire for perfection required a lot of work on herself.

Many fans believe that the woman from Monroe before plastic surgery became the dream of millions after she dyed her hair platinum blonde. But that's not true. Because changing hair color without plastic surgery is not enough for a dark-blond girl to turn into a dazzling beauty.

Singing teacher Fred Karger, with whom the actress began an affair during rehearsals for her role in the film Ladies of the Chorus, helped her develop her career. He taught her good manners, to improve her voice, and also helped her fix her protruding front teeth.

Soon after breaking up with her first husband, millionaire Johnny Hyde appears in Marilyn's life. The woman's charm makes an impression on the man, and he loses his head over her. From the moment of their meeting, Norma Jeane's transformation into the world legend Marilyn Monroe begins. At the insistence of the man, the woman underwent plastic surgery, which turned her into a sexy beauty.

She became a pioneer among celebrities who resorted to plastic surgery for career success. At that time, operations were performed only to change congenital defects such as cleft lip and cleft palate. Marilyn Monroe was the first person to undergo plastic surgery to improve her appearance. She first underwent surgery before her film debut.

The actress never talked about using the services of a plastic surgeon. But the secret of her gorgeous appearance was revealed by surgeon Norman Leaf, who described celebrity plastic surgery in his book. The doctor himself did not operate on the woman, but saw the notes of her doctor, Michael Gurdin. The first entry, made on July 14, 1958, describes an operation to install a chin implant. But these were not the only surgical interventions performed on the actress. No one has seen any earlier records of Merlin's other plastic surgeries. What is known is that Dr. Gurdin told Norman that he performed rhinoplasty on her.

Where it all started

In 1948, Norma Jean Baker was lucky: she signed a contract with the Columbia Pictures film studio. To increase her popularity, the young actress was asked to change her name and correct her appearance. We know what pseudonym Norma took. But she began her external transformation by lightening her hair. We can say that to a large extent it was this step that made her the iconic Marilyn.

After that it came to changing the hairline. Monroe did this in order to correct the oval of his face. However, her main plastic surgery was rhinoplasty: the actress was one of the first stars who decided to do this. At that time, rhinoplasty techniques were not as high-tech as they are today, so their hesitancy is understandable. The fact that rhinoplasty was nevertheless performed by Morneau is indicated not only by the before and after photos, but also by “x-rays of the actress’s skull, which fell into the hands of FBI agents after her death.”

In 1950, Marilyn underwent mentoplasty. Today it is performed using silicone chin implants, but at that time there were no such implants, and therefore the star had a “sea sponge” inserted into her lower jaw, which tends to dissolve over time. And so it happened: a few years later, Monroe began to complain of “deformation of her chin.” Whether her implant was removed or not is unknown. By the way, Marilyn underwent this operation before filming the films Some Like It Hot and The Seven Year Itch.