Sonja Henie, (born April 8, 1912, Kristiania , Norwaydied October 12, 1969, in an airplane en route to Oslo), Norwegian-born American world champion figure skater and Olympic gold medalist who went on to achieve success as a professional ice-skater and as a motion-picture actress. To get the attention of film executives, Henie's father leased Hollywood's Polar Palace for two performances in May 1936. ." It is her effect on the sport of figure skating that is unrivaled. Notable Sports Figures. She became a household name for her excellence in figure skating, winning ten world championships, six European. Her animated counterpart appeared in the Disney short, The Autograph Hound when Donald asked for her autograph. Indeed, after the school figures section at the 1936 Olympic competition, Colledge and Henie were virtually neck and neck with Colledge trailing by just a few points. At the time of her death, Henie was planning a comeback for a television special that would have aired in January 1970. Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Thematic Series: Sports Figures, Hamill, Dorothy During the twentieth century no competitor was able to match Henie's three consecutive Olympic gold medals in women's figure skating. She is one of only two skaters to defend a ladies' singles Olympic title, the other being Katarina Witt, and her six European titles has only been matched by Witt. Her medal record consisted of Norwegian national championships from 1922 to 1934, 6 European titles (19311936), 10 world titles (192736), and 3 gold medals in the Winter Olympic Games of 1928, 1932, and 1936. 27 Apr. Name variations: Sonia Henje. When she became a professional skater in 1936, she set her sights on movie stardom and quickly turned herself into a top box office draw. Once Henie began serious training as a figure skater, her formal schooling ended. Omissions? Henie initially showed talent at skiing, then followed her older brother, Leif, to take up figure skating. Sonja Henie, blonde Norwegian figure skater who dominated the rink for a decade and then skated her way to a second fabulous career in films, died Sunday of leukemia. Plain Dealer (January 16, 2002). Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. Memorial ID. afforded her greater ease of movement, and she performed some moves that were downright shocking for the time, including a jump into a sit spin. At 14 she was the Norwegian Skating Champion. He hopped on a train, reached Chicago the next day, rushed to her hotel, and sharpened the skates with a hand stone--a few minutes work. She grew up in a Henie was 5 years old, the story goes, when her older brother, Leif, got a pair of ice skates for his birthday. Knisley, Michael. "Even on the podium after the Olympics, there were no kisses, no handshakes, not even a word." She made one film each with RKO and Universal in the following years, and in 1958 appeared in Hello London, which was only released in England. Released on 22 December 1939, it was banned in Nazi Germany. skating even more. She married Onstad that same yearby which time her film career was largely behind herand embarked on an avocation of art collecting which resulted in one of the finest collections of paintings in Hollywood. She recalled the champion's marvelous clothes and icy disdain. It was an open secret that, in spite of the strict amateurism requirements of the time, Wilhelm Henie demanded "expense money" for his daughter's skating appearances. Bill Griffin described Henie as a perfectionist with a short fuse. first pair of ice skates when she was six. Henie secured the subsequent nine consecutive world titles, fostering suspicion among the Austrians, who complained that three of the five judges had been Norwegians; soon each country would be allowed only one judge per event. 10 time World Champion Women's Figure Skating according to A&E She defended her Olympic titles in 1932 and in 1936, and her world titles annually until 1936. with her constantly, as she did throughout Miss Henie's career. Henie wed American business executive Winthrop Gardiner Jr. in 1949; he divorced her in 1956 for "desertion and mental cruelty." She continued to perform Birthday: April 8, 1912. 20th Century-Fox and debuted in, - IMDb Mini Biography By: Tony Fontana . ." OSLO, Oct. 12 (AP)--Sonja Henie, ice-skating queen and film star, died tonight on an ambulance plane flying from Paris to Oslo. [citation needed] She then placed eighth in a field of eight at the 1924 Winter Olympics, at the age of eleven. Within the Cite this article tool, pick a style to see how all available information looks when formatted according to that style. As a result, none of Henie's properties in Norway were confiscated or damaged by the Germans. included dazzling ice-skating routines which she choreographed herself. It made the most of Henie's smiling, energetic persona and her dimpled beauty in a story about an Olympic hopeful. The Hollywood Ice Review was polished by Henie's unwavering pursuit of perfection. Mitt livs eventyr, Oslo, Norway: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, 1938. 1956- https://www.encyclopedia.com/sports/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/henie-sonja, Scott, Paula Pyzik "Henie, Sonja Henie's brother speaks of her extremely violent temper in Raymond Strait and Leif Henie, Queen of Ice, Queen of Shadows: The Unsuspected Life of Sonja Henie (1985). Henie went on to win first of her three Olympic gold medals the following year, becoming one of the youngest figure skating Olympic champions. When Henie began her program, her ballet training was evident in the flourishes she made with her head and legs. Four thoughts about Sonja Henie " I skated with Sonja, and wrote the first biography after her death. Henie tried to break the musical comedy mould with the anti-Nazi film Everything Happens at Night (1939) and It's a Pleasure (1945), a skating variation of the often-told A Star Is Born tale about alcoholic-star-in-decline-helps-newcomer-up. But the fourteen-year-old Henie was too small to wear such heavy garb; it tended to act like a sail and tangle in her legs. It was also noted in Queen of Ice, Queen of Shadows that before the war started the Henies had visited with Adolf Hitler and that during a 1936 show in Berlin she had given him the Nazi salute and said "Heil, Hitler.". After Henie won the world championship one last time in 1936, she prepared to retire from amateur sports and enter professional skating. She won the first of 10 consecutive world skating titles at Oslo in 1927, captivating the crowd with her ballet style, a white silk and ermine costume and short skirt and a dimpled smile. Her wide, dimpled smile, pixie eyes and blonde Nordic good looks made her a great favorite of audiences during the years of World War II. Sonja Henie: Sonja Henie was born on April 8, 1912 in Oslo, Norway. Moreover, her skating numbers were fantastic. And most importantly, she hired the best skaters and choreographers and paid them handsomely. Sun Valley Serenade (1941), in which Henie appeared with John Payne and Glenn Miller and His Orchestra, is memorable for its Academy Award nominations for best cinematography, best music, and best song. After placing last in a field of eight, she increased her practice time to some seven hours a day. Practicing as much as seven hours a day, she studied with teachers in Germany, England, Switzerland and Austria. O'Brien, Richard and Jack McCallum. At 15 she would win the Olympic gold medal in In - IMDb Mini Biography By: Elizabeth Ann Family (1) Spouse Niels Onstad ( 6 June 1956 - 12 October 1969) (her death) Winthrop Gardner ( 15 September 1949 - 14 May 1956) (divorced) Wirtz also acted as Henie's financial advisor. to be attended by top motion-picture stars and executives, including Twentieth CenturyFox's Darryl F. Zanuck, who signed Henie up for a first-time appearance on the American screen as a leading star. Her name and likeness were mentioned and portrayed by an ice skating Donald Duck in Walt Disney's 1939 The Hockey Champ. She did not die from her leukemia; but she died of a hemorrhage caused by change in air pressure in the jet flying from Paris to Oslo. In 1936 Henie won her third and final gold medal at the fourth Winter Olympic Games at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, by earning 2,971.4 points. Thin Ice, My Lucky Star, and and Sun Valley Serenade. A bubbly, smiling figure in her performances, she was in fact a fierce competitor who wanted nothing to do with her rivals. Sonja Henie's Night, an exhibition that played before and during the intermission of ice hockey games at Madison Square Garden during March 1936, was a success. decided to become a US citizen and supported the USO in their efforts. When their daughter showed a special passion for skating at about age six, which she began under the instruction of her brother Leif, they provided her with whatever training she required. Henie returned to the United States in 1932 for more exhibitions and for the third Winter Olympic Games at Lake Placid, New York. During the latter part of her competitive career she was coached primarily by the American Howard Nicholson in London. She earned at least $25 million from her lucrative motion-picture career. Henie became so popular with the public that police had to be called out for crowd control on her appearances in various disparate cities such as Prague and New York City. Other stories echo these allegations, although in a milder fashion. She is mentioned by Ty Webb, Chevy Chases character in Caddyshack, as a possible but unavailable substitute for Rodney Dangerfields character (Al Czervik) in the final golf wager round before Michael OKeefes Danny Noonan is chosen. In 1936, Miss Henie decided to turn professional, stating simply, I want to go into pictures, and I want to skate in them. With her sunny personality and obvious love of skating, Henie popularized the sport and served as a role model for American skating hopefuls of both sexes, including Dick Button, Tenley Albright (the first American woman to win an Olympic gold medal), and Carol Heiss. She nevertheless had negotiated an impressive contract and was an immediate hit with audiences. (June 6, 1956 - October 12, 1969) (her death), (September 15, 1949 - May 14, 1956) (divorced), (July 4, 1940 - February 13, 1946) (divorced), View agent, publicist, legal and company contact details on IMDbPro. Sources Her first American film, One in a Million (1936) , starring Don Ameche and Adolphe Menjou, opened in New York in 1936 and quickly grossed $2 million. In an era before television, these films were an introduction to skating for millions of American viewers. Both of Henie's parents had given up their own pursuits in Norwayleaving Leif to run the fur businessin order to accompany Sonja on her travels and act as her managers. Theatergoers of the era certainly were thrilled with Henie and their introduction to figure skating. "Sonja Henie Encyclopedia.com. . Until shortly before her death, Miss Henie had remained socially active and continued to direct the activities of the $3.5 million art museum she and her husband had presented to Norway. Her mother traveled From its ninth-century, Northern European origins as a means for hunting and traveling on ice, skating has been explored for its leisure poss, Rapper, actor, social commentator [3] Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). (April 27, 2023). In 1951 Wirtz and Henie were unable to agree on a contract and parted ways. Frogner Stadium was the site of the 1927 Women's World Figure Skating Championship. Henie, already a precocious skier and swimmer, cried until her parents bought her a . same year she married shipping magnate Niels Onstad. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. Adolf Hitler greeting Sonja Henie at a rink in Munich six weeks after the 1936 Winter Olympics, where she won a third straight women's singles title. Her brother, Leif Henie, coauthored Queen of Ice, Queen of Shadows: The Unsuspected Life of Sonja Henie (1985), in which he discussed her violent temper. Hans was himself very athletic; among his diverse pursuits, he was a former world champion in bicycling. These activities made her one of the wealthiest self-made women in the world in her time. She became a United States citizen in 1941. 2023 . Refer to each styles convention regarding the best way to format page numbers and retrieval dates. plummeted when a photo of her with Adolphe Hitler was published. According to a quote in the New York Times, Henie felt that she was working harder than ever: "When I was in championship competition I was on the ice for exactly four minutes. How did Sonja Henie the ice Star die? Touched by Roger's mash notes, which are really written by Jimmy, Trudi moons over him all during production of Girl of the North. She was to have danced to "Lara's Theme" from Doctor Zhivago. "The World's First Ice Queen." With her third husband, the Norwegian shipowner Niels Onstad, she established (1968) the Henie Onstad Art Center, a museum of modern art in Hvikodden, near Oslo, Norway. The intensity of Henie's commitment to skating was further intensified after competing in the first winter Olympics, in Chamonix, France, in 1924. In recognition of her skating and other athletic accomplishments, she became the first woman to receive a medal from the Norwegian government for versatility and achievement in sports. She was the champion in the Olympics in 1928, 1932 and 1936. After that Henie could be seen in other ice shows and on television specials. . She died a year later at age fifty-seven. Henie would make eleven films in Hollywood, with the first six being the most successful. Henie was the world's first great figure skater. I don't think she ever really learned to enjoy life. She also planned to become a Hollywood actress and to accomplish on screen for ice-skating what Fred Astaire had done for dancing. While her ice show numbers were still worth watching, the film received few distributors and poor reviews, ending her film career. [29], Not to be confused with American basketball player, After the war, Henie was mindful that many of her countrymen considered her to be a, 1936 European Figure Skating Championships, "Cecilia Colledge: Champion figure skater", "AFI's 100 Years 100 Stars America's Greatest Legends", "Nektet pne festspill hvis Flagstad skulle synge", "International Women's Sports Hall of Fame", "Sonja Henie Joins 508th Regt.

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