She was a bored stiff housewife named Norma Jeane Dougherty before she became an icon. Before Marilyn Monroe became the biggest and most popular bombshell sex icon and Hollywood superstar of the 50s, she was a bored stiff housewife named Norma Jeane Dougherty who quit her job at a Los Angeles defense plant to become a full-fledged model and an all-time favorite actress.