Most people think of Marilyn Monroe in one of two ways: the sultry bombshell or the tragic figure whose life ended under mysterious circumstances in 1962. Both images are real, but neither one tells the whole story. There was another side to Monroe — one that was loose, goofy, and completely unguarded. These photos capture exactly that.
Photographer Sam Shaw, who spent years working closely with Monroe, described her in plain terms: “Everybody knows about her insecurities, but not everyone knows what fun she was, that she never complained about the ordinary things of life, that she never had a bad word to say about anyone, and that she had a wonderful, spontaneous sense of humor.” That spontaneity shows up constantly in candid shots like these.
Monroe spent much of her career playing “dumb blonde” roles in Hollywood comedies. Those roles were carefully written parts, but her performance in them was anything but accidental. Director Billy Wilder, who worked with some of the greatest actors of the 20th century, called her “an absolute genius” after directing her in both ‘The Seven Year Itch’ and ‘Some Like It Hot.’ Coming from Wilder, that was no small praise.
What made Monroe funny wasn’t just timing or delivery. It was a genuine playfulness that she carried off-screen as well. Being one of the most photographed women in the world came with a constant pressure to perform — to look a certain way, hold a certain pose, project a certain image. In moments like these, she clearly set all of that aside.
Fame depersonalizes people. When someone becomes an icon, they can quickly become more symbol than human. Monroe understood this better than almost anyone. Rather than fight it with bitterness, she often dealt with it through humor. She could laugh at the absurdity of her own fame, and she frequently did.
These aren’t the images that made her famous. There are no carefully lit studio portraits here, no signature poses. Instead, these photos show crossed eyes, exaggerated expressions, and the kind of faces people usually only make when they think no one is watching. Monroe made them anyway — and directly at the camera.
Her elegance was real, and it earned genuine respect from directors, co-stars, and photographers alike. But elegance and silliness were never mutually exclusive for Monroe. She moved between the two with ease, sometimes within the same afternoon on a film set.
Her career had real difficulties — difficult productions, public scrutiny, and personal struggles that were well documented. Through all of it, her humor held. She didn’t lose it when things got hard. That quality, more than any single film or photograph, says something essential about who Marilyn Monroe actually was as a person.
The world got used to seeing Monroe as a polished, untouchable image. Photos like these are a reminder that the woman behind the image was loose, funny, and very much alive in the moments between takes and flashbulbs.
