Stars were having nips, tucks and predominantly nose-jobs from as early as the 1930s. It’s not well-documented as the stars who had succesful surgery rarely owned up to it, and those who had less successful surgery (like Mary Pickford who was rumoured to have damaged facial muscles after an early facelift) just faded from public view. Here are 7 stars who went under the knife (or needle) – can you think of any more?

Marilyn Monroe

Did you realise that even Marilyn Monroe had help from the plastic surgeons. As well as her platinum blonde hair, which was naturally mousey brown, she had jaw and nose reshaping operations early in her career to counteract a slightly ‘witchy’ profile and create the perfection demanded by the studios at the time.

Below: Marilyn Monroe before plastic surgery and (above) after her Hollywood transformation.

Ann Margret

Sixties sex-bomb Ann Margret had plastic surgery for rather different reasons. Following a terrible trapeze accident (where she pretty much landed on her face from a great height) she broke her cheekbone and jawbone and had to have a lot of her face reconstructed. Astonishingly she looked just as good afterwards as she did before!

Dean Martin

Crooner and member of the legendary Rat Pack, Dean Martin had a nose reduction early in his career on the advice of his agent.

Rita Hayworth

When latin beauty Rita Cansino first signed to a Hollywood studio she was transformed from a dark haired girl with a low hairline to a flame-haired temptress with the ‘perfect’ hairline nearly an inch higher and a completely different shape due to extensive electrolysis.

Below: Hayworth before and after her eletrolysis and studio makeover:

Rudolph Valentino

Apparently when silent movie superstar Rudolph Valentino first arrived in Hollywood he had ears which ‘stuck out like a mad elephants‘. He subsequently had his ears pinned back and took the world by storm (until he died at a tragically young age that is).

Bebe Daniels and Gloria Swanson

Both Daniels and Swanson started off on the stage, but when they moved into HOllywood movies they both had nose jobs as the camera was a little harsher on their features than the stage audiences had been.

Below: Bebe Daniels and (bottom) Gloria Swanson:

Did I miss any out?

Image source and copyright: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,7 and copyright: This media file is in the public domain in the United States. 8, 9, This work is in the public domain in that it was published in the United States between 1923 and 1977 and without a copyright notice.