Vintage Beach Photos of Hollywood’s Golden Icons

Before the world knew her as Marilyn Monroe, she was just Norma Jeane Mortenson—a bright, charismatic young woman growing up in Los Angeles. Even then, those around her could sense she was destined for something extraordinary.

She would become one of Hollywood’s most beloved and complex icons, a symbol of beauty and tragedy. But before the fame, the glamour, and the heartbreak, she was simply a girl on a California beach in 1946, holding a pinwheel and dreaming of a future that would one day make her a legend.