All The Plastic Surgery Procedures Marilyn Monroe Reportedly Had Done

While plastic surgery and other cosmetic procedures have become increasingly common and normalized in modern times, they've been part of the Hollywood lifestyle for decades. And in the eyes of many, in terms of sheer recognition, it doesn't get much more "old Hollywood" than Marilyn Monroe. Indeed, Monroe underwent a stunning transformation over the course of her life and career, which was cut tragically short in August 1962, when she was just 36 years old. However, not everything about that transformation was entirely natural. For example, her iconic blonde hair was actually dyed that color, to say nothing of the fact that her birth name wasn't actually Marilyn Monroe — it was Norma Jeane Mortenson. But while it had long been rumored that Monroe had gone under the knife, as well, hard evidence didn't surface until decades after her passing. So, just what cosmetic procedures did she reportedly have done?

Plastic surgery expert Joan Kron authored a deep dive into Monroe's alleged history of cosmetic work for Allure in 2013, citing accounts from those who were supposedly there, as well as medical records and X-rays that were auctioned off that same year. According to legend, Monroe received a chin graft from John Pangman — a doctor working out of the office of fellow plastic surgeon Michael Gurdin — around 1950, after someone insulted her flat chin at a party. Monroe's medical records suggest that she returned to Gurdin's office in 1958, at which point he informed her that the original implant had seemingly dissolved. Gurdin's associate Norman Leaf, who became the keeper of Monroe's records after Gurdin's death, also maintained that Gurdin and Pangman had given Monroe a minor nose job. However, Gurdin's nurse claimed she didn't remember a nose job taking place. 

The circumstances surrounding Marilyn Monroe's seem to have a certain cloak-and-dagger quality about them — and that was no accident. If Allure's 2013 feature is to be taken as fact, the "Some Like It Hot" star went to great lengths to keep the whole thing on the down-low at the time. According to Monroe's medical records, when she returned to Michael Gurdin's office in 1958, nearly a decade after her alleged chin graft, she used then-husband Arthur Miller's surname to cover her tracks. When she paid one last visit to the office for a consolation after falling and injuring her nose in 1962, shortly before her death, she used the alias "Joan Newman." This was apparently one of several pre-made false identities Gurdin's office had on standby for celebrity clients.

As for why there was so much secrecy involved, prior to the 1950s, plastic surgery was primarily used to reconstruct the faces of those injured during wartime. And though the business of selling such services to those who wanted to undergo them voluntarily slowly but surely gained legitimacy over time, "slowly" is the operative word there. Still, in Monroe's day, these surgeries became a valuable tool in the ever-competitive, looks-focused world of Hollywoodland — albeit, a tool whose users made sure to keep it close to the vest. It wasn't until the '70s and '80s, or so, that things started to open up, as that's when everyday people started engaging in what was previously only available to celebrities (though, of course, celebrities still love it, too).