10 Famous Actors Who Were Totally Discovered By Chance

10. Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe wasn't always the blonde bombshell we know today. In fact, she wasn't even Marilyn Monroe. The 16-year-old Norma Jean Mortenson escaped her young life of orphanages, sexual abuse and poverty by marrying aircraft plant worker Jim Dougherty in 1942. While he served in the Merchant Marine, she sprayed plane parts and inspected parachutes in the Radioplane Munitions Factory. As it turned out, that factory was owned by English movie star Reginald Denney. His friend (and future US President) Capt. Ronald Reagan, assigned a photographer to take some shots at Radioplane for a morale-boosting spread in "Yank, The Army Weekly" magazine; showing ladies contributing to the war effort. None of the snaps of Norma Jean appears in Yank, but David Conover (who snapped the early photo above) persuaded her to sign to a modelling agency. They were looking for models with lighter hair, so Norma Jean went golden blonde - the famous curls we know today. After modelling bathing suits, 20th Century Fox signed her to a contract and changed her name. Marilyn Monroe was born.