Happy Birthday Marilyn Monroe!

Marilyn Monroe, who infamously sang "Happy birthday, Mr. President" at the age of 35, would be celebrating her 83rd birthday today. In honor of her birthday, LIFE.com released 15 never-before-published photos of Marilyn when she was only 24 years old and far from famous. Her star quality shined through at a young age, but when the photographer sent the photos to LIFE in 1950, the magazine wired back: "Who the hell is Marilyn Monroe?" Now the magazine is sharing the pictures — almost 60 years later!

Happy birthday, Marilyn.