Married Woman
Norma Jean married James Dougherty, a factory worker, only a few weeks following her 16th birthday. Following this, the child dropped out of high school to become a full-time housewife. Though she liked James, she found them to be a bad pair and described living with him as "dying of boredom". When he became a Merchant Marine, he and Norma moved to Santa Catalina Island where he was stationed.
Modeling Work
In the spring of 1944, Norma's husband shipped out to the Pacific where he would serve for the next two years. In the meantime, Norma moved in with her parents-in-law and took on her first job working in a factory for the Radioplane Company. That same year she met David Conover, a photographer who worked for the Army Air Forces' First Motion Picture Unit.