Marilyn Monroe By Earl Moran
In 1946, Moran moved to Hollywood though he had already painted many movie stars including Betty Grable, for publicity posters. Soon after his arrival, he interviewed a young starlet named Norma Jean Dougherty (Marilyn Monroe) who wanted to model for him. For the next four years, Marilyn Monroe posed for Moran and the two became friends. Marilyn posed a lot for him at the beginning of her modelling career. She needed money and he was one the biggest lovely girls draftsman in the USA. Between 1946 and 1949, he paid her 10$ an hour to take pictures of her, often not much dressed. He used those snapshots to make charcoal and chalk drawings, which some of them were used, among others, for the famous Brown and Bigelow calendar.
She always credited him with making her legs look better than they were as she felt they were too thin. Moran's work during this time period is now his most valuable.