Marriage and early modeling jobs
In 1942 Norma’s foster family was transferred for employment reasons. California law prevented Norma, still a minor and a ward of the state, from accompanying them. Faced with a return to an orphanage, Norma opted for marriage to free herself from state control. On June 19, 1942, the then 16 year-old married James Dougherty, then employed in defense work in Los Angeles. Norma quit high school (she had attended Van Nuys High but was an indifferent student) and lived with her new husband. Dougherty enlisted in the United States Merchant Marine in 1943, and the couple moved to a home in Catalina. The following year he went to sea, and Norma entered a defense factory, one of the thousand of American housewives who became “Rosie the Riveter” during the war years.
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It was while working for the Radioplane Company that Norma began her modelling career. She quit her defense job in January 1945, posing instead for morale boosting photographs of life on the home front. In August, with the war coming to an end, Norma signed with an agency to work full-time as a model and sometime actress. She was soon in demand as a model for pin-ups, post cards, and advertising. In 1946 Norma dyed her reddish-brown hair, becoming a blonde, and had its natural curls straightened. That same year she drew the attention of Hollywood producer Daryl F. Zanuck. With a six-month acting contract in hand, Norma adopted the stage name Marilyn Monroe, divorced her sailor husband, and embarked on her new career. By then she had appeared on the cover of nearly three dozen magazines.