Often cited as being the most beautiful woman in the world, Norma Jeane Mortenson was a lot of things before she was Marilyn Monroe. Surviving a tough childhood and several abusive relationships, along with battling depression and severe stress, Marilyn Monroe still remains one of the most controversial and fascinating women that Hollywood ever saw. She was one of the most enigmatic figures in the film industry, and a mystery in life, as well as in death. These facts about Marilyn Monroe might help us understand the person she really was, however vague that image might be.

1 Before entering the industry, Marilyn Monroe worked in an airline plant which was part of the World War II factory effort, working first as a parachute inspector, then a paint sprayer.

2 She was discovered in 1945 while she was working in a factory that produced military drones.

On June 26, 1945, Army photographer David Conover visited the factory and saw a young woman assembler who he thought had great potential as a model. She was photographed, and referred by him, which led to a screen test for Norma Jeane Mortenson, who later changed her name to Marilyn Monroe. (source)

3 Marilyn Monroe was Playboy's first cover girl, being the very first Sweetheart – and later, Playmate – of the Month. She had been paid $50 for the pictures in 1949, which Hugh Hefner bought for $500, launching his now famous empire.

4 She wasn’t very good at learning lines; in her film “Some Like It Hot”, it took her 60 takes to deliver the line – ‘It’s me, Sugar.’

5 When it came to personal hygiene, she was fairly filthy.

Sources claim that she rarely bathed, and ate a lot in bed, shoving whatever was left under the sheets before she went to bed, and suffered from irritable bowel syndrome and flatulence.(source)

6 The Advertising Association of the West named her “The Most Advertised Girl in the World” in 1953.

She advertised for brands like American Airlines, Kyron Way Diet Pills, Pabst Beer, Tan-Tan Suntan Lotion and Royal Triton Oil.(source)