2019Encyclopedia.com | All rights reserved. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. 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. In her film Everything Happens at Night (1939), Ray Milland and Robert Cummings star as rival reporters hot on the trail of Hugo Norden (Maurice Moscovich). She starred in a string of hits including She is said to be one of the best figure skaters in history. A bubbly, smiling figure in her performances, she was in fact a fierce competitor who wanted nothing to do with her rivals. Sonia Henie, as controversial as she was legendary. Sonja loved 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. . Her husband, Neils Onstad, a Norwegian shipowner, said she "just slept away" halfway through the two-hour flight. Not long after the center's lavish opening celebration, Henie was diagnosed with leukemia. Born April 8, 1912, Miss Henie began her world-famed skating career after she received a pair of ice skates for Christmas when she was eight years old. After her retirement in 1956, Henie and Onstad settled in Oslo and accumulated a large collection of modern art that formed the basis for the Henie Onstad Art Centre at Hvikodden in Brum near Oslo. Henie improved rapidly and by 1926 she was . Her mother was willing to travel all across Europe with her to find coaches and outdoor ice rinks. In addition to the income from the fur business, both of Henie's parents had inherited wealth. 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 1956- She also planned to become a Hollywood actress and to accomplish on screen for ice-skating what Fred Astaire had done for dancing. Norden, a Nobel Prize winner, was supposedly murdered by the Gestapo, but is rumoured to be in hiding and writing anonymous dispatches advocating world peace. Honorary Colonel and Godmother of the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, For a time, Sonja Henie's picture adorned the tail of a, This page was last edited on 23 April 2023, at 13:57. Unfortunately she had a serious drinking problem which eventually Her skating built on the innovative styles of Jackson Haines and Hilda Holowsky. In the mid-1970s, American figure skater Dorothy Hamill was the leader in her field, capping her success, Skating Biography. This was more than a day's pay for Steve Turocy, who at age eighty-two remembered having to settle for a $3.30 seat because the others were sold out. However, she made a triumphant return to Norway with the Holiday on Ice tour in 1953 and 1955. Wings On My Feet, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1940. During the years that Henie won her world championships, the five-member judging panel was dominated by three Norwegians. She said her greatest hope was to become a movie star, and she soon did. These shows, the "Hollywood Ice Revues," were major attractions at Madison Square Garden for many years, up to 1952. At the age of ten she [citation needed], After the war, Henie was mindful that many of her countrymen considered her to be a quisling. She had already delighted in dancing, and--with her brother Leif giving her her first lessons--enjoyed She was 57. Likewise, her films are still enjoyable, but their style and that of her skating is dated. Sonja's marriage to Winthrop ended in 1956. 27 Apr. Now I arrive at the Garden at 6:45 and I never stop until 11:10. It featured spectacular costumes and included waltz and hula dances. She was a three-time Olympic champion (1928, 1932, 1936) in women's singles, a ten-time World champion (19271936) and a six-time European champion (19311936). Her animated counterpart appeared in the Disney short, The Autograph Hound when Donald asked for her autograph. Henie was drinking heavily at that time and could no longer keep up with the demands of touring, and this marked her retirement from skating. Encyclopedia.com. Moreover, Hulten believed that Henie's father influenced competition organizers by playing poker for "appearance fees" and, in one case, the agreement to place Hulten third in the 1936 Olympics. Encyclopedia.com gives you the ability to cite reference entries and articles according to common styles from the Modern Language Association (MLA), The Chicago Manual of Style, and the American Psychological Association (APA). decided to become a US citizen and supported the USO in their efforts. The signature of her ice skate blades adorns the cement at Grauman's Chinese Theatre. 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. first pair of ice skates when she was six. [1], Henie began skating at the age of 5. "She went after me in every which way from that point on," said Hulten. 20th Century-Fox and debuted in, - IMDb Mini Biography By: Tony Fontana . After retiring She had high profile romances with Tyrone Power, boxer Joe back to Norway and opened a museum to showcase their art collection. A little "meowing" before Ms. Henie takes the ice. She was a three-time Olympic Champion (1928, 1932, 1936) in Ladies' Singles, a ten-time World Champion (1927-1936) and a six-time European Champion (1931-1936). 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. Could it be Ms. Hart seems a little "chilly!" Please pardon the periodic visual/audio glitches; the source. She was 57. 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. With Sonja Henie, Jack Oakie, Cesar Romero, Carole Landis. 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. Sonja Henie was born on April 8, 1912 in Oslo, Norway. was a frequent exclaimatory utterance by Tom and Ray Magliozzi on the National Public Radio show Car Talk. As a child, Henie enjoyed advantages that greatly contributed to her success as a skater. She became a millionaire by 1940, an accomplishment that outstrips even the male athletes of her generation. As a wealthy celebrity, she moved in the same social circles as royalty and heads of state and made Hitler's acquaintance as a matter of course. The year 1937 held some of Henie's greatest accomplishments and one of her greatest losses. Commenting on the difference between skating in her shows and in competition, Miss Henie once said: "When I was in championship competition I was on the ice for exactly four minutes. The pretty, blond skater stood out among the competitors in a white silk and ermine skating dress that had a short skirt. She was among 250 female stars who were nominated for "50 Greatest Screen Legend" status by the American Film Institute. same year she married shipping magnate Niels Onstad. Films in Review (July-August 1996): 60. A 2002 article in the (Cleveland) Plain Dealer reflected Henie's impact in these shows, an accomplishment undimmed by the passing of sixty-four years. Henie returned to the United States in 1932 for more exhibitions and for the third Winter Olympic Games at Lake Placid, New York. and easily eclipsed the earnings of any other star athlete, male or female. It was Selma Henie, he said, who ended her daughter's squabbles and made sure that things ran smoothly. (April 27, 2023). Her father was a wealthy fur salesman and a former amateur cycling champion who encouraged his children to compete. Following the success of Thin Ice, Henie showed her growing business savvy by getting Twentieth Century-Fox to renegotiate her contract. Her husband did not trust French doctors, so he flew her unconscious body to Dr Moe in Oslo. An obituary is in the New York Times (13 Oct. 1969). Of the films in general, he decided, "The best of them hold up as unmatched combinations of romantic comedy, catchy songs, and dazzling skating routines." I don't think she ever really learned to enjoy life. Frogner Stadium was the site of the 1927 Women's World Figure Skating Championship. They also made her wealthy. "To her, there were no other skaters," wrote Colledge. She was 57 years old. turn professional and tour with her own ice show. Henie was 5 years old, the story goes, when her older brother, Leif, got a pair of ice skates for his birthday. Zanuck took notice of the petite blonde and signed her to a contract. Since Wirtz controlled the best arenas and dates, Henie was left playing smaller venues and markets already saturated by other touring ice shows such as Ice Capades. Henie's autobiography, written with Janet Owen, is Wings on My Feet (1940). At 11 she won the national championshipand also entered her first Olympics, in which she placed last. 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. Her fur-trimmed costume Henie would make eleven films in Hollywood, with the first six being the most successful. Her mother accompanied her on all of her travels and her father would eventually leave his fur business responsibilities to his son in order to manage Henie's career. She died a year later at age fifty-seven. From the Archives: Don Ameche, Dapper Film Star, Dies at 85, From the Archives: Andy Warhol, Pioneer of 60s Pop Art, Dies, From the Archives: Jazz Great Thelonious Monk Dies, From the Archives: Armand Hammer Dies; Billionaire, Art Patron, From the Archives: Buster Crabbe, Athlete, Hero of Serials, Dies. After that Henie could be seen in other ice shows and on television specials. Henie was the world's first great figure skater. At the height of her fame, Henie brought as much as $2 million per year from her shows and touring activities. Dividing her remaining years between homes in Norway and the United States, Henie lived happily with her third husband, Niels Onstad. After the hotel opens, Nora's uncle faces financial ruin and her romance hits a snag in the form of . Already exposed to Norway's favorite sport, skiing, Henie preferred figure skating; she loved the "whirling" sensation of ice-skating and the resulting "sense of power" over distance and gravity. During the shooting of Second Fiddle (1939), she greeted the then Crown-Prince couple of Norway Olav and Mrtha during their US tour. Burial. In 1936, Sonja Henie of Norway won her third consecutive gold medal in women's figure skating without ever having rotated more than once in the air. Towards the end of her career, she began to be strongly challenged by younger skaters including Cecilia Colledge, Megan Taylor, and Hedy Stenuf. Miss Henie, ill for the past nine months, died aboard an ambulance plane from Paris to her native Oslo, only minutes before landing. Henie's popularity as a film actress attracted many new fans and instituted skating shows as a popular new entertainment. While Irina Slutskaya of Russia has held the record for most European titles among ladies' skaters since 2006, Henie still retains the record of most consecutive titles, sharing it with Katarina Witt of Eastern Germany/Germany (19831988). By today's standards, Henie's routines were almost ridiculously simple, her jumps far from spectacular. She was the first skater to incorporate the principles of ballet into her routines and the first woman to perform spins and jumps. Her illness had been a well-kept secret. She was educated by tutors, and her father hired the best experts in the world, including the famous Russian ballerina, Tamara Karsavina, to transform his daughter into a sporting celebrity. Sonja Henie (see photo above) had been the world's premiere figure skater in the 1920s and '30s. "Henie, Sonja The experience inspired her to introduce choreographic design in her free skating program, an innovation that helped her win an Olympic gold medal in 1928 at St. Moritz, Switzerland. In 1968, the Onstads donated 250 of their paintings, plus $3.5 million for a fan-shaped stone-and-glass museum near Oslo. Copy. It would later house all of Henie's skating memorabilia. To get the attention of film executives, Henie's father leased Hollywood's Polar Palace for two performances in May 1936. . Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Thematic Series: Sports Figures. Modern figure skating is deeply indebted to Sonja Henie (1912-1969), one of the greatest athletes of this century. Her talent was evident from a very early age. 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. There, Henie won her second gold medal in figure skating, with 2,302.5 points. She did try to make a film series at her own expense; a series that would serve as a travelogue to several cities. In 1927, she won her first world figure skating championship in Oslo, and retained the title for the next nine years. American figure skater When Geoffrey and Ken track Norden to a small village in the Swiss Alps, they soon find themselves competing over the affections of beautiful Louise (Henie), who has a deeper connection to the missing Nobel laureate than the reporters realize. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). The couple decided to build a museum for their collection, and in 1968 donated 250 works to the Sonja Henie-Niels Onstad Art Center outside of Oslo. Encyclopedia.com. She therefore made the best of it and won her third Olympic medal. "Sonja Henie, Skating Star, Dies." She was showcased in the Hollywood Ice Revue, which began in 1938 and continued for twelve years in cities across the United States. As Honorary Jumper", "Photo Norwegian Air Shuttle Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner EI-LNA", "Cheap flights to Oslo, Copenhagen, Stockholm Norwegian", "Sundance Film Review: 'Sonja: The White Swan', https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sonja_Henie&oldid=1151351901, Inducted into the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame (1982), In 1938, at age 25, she became the youngest person to be made a knight first class of. Her final two Hollywood films, released in 1945 by RKO and in 1948 by Universal, no longer enthralled postwar audiences, who preferred more sophisticated scripts. oec registry ct charts a course login, lil loaded funeral pictures,
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