Sonja Henie was born on April 8, 1912 and died on October 12, 1969. Henie's sense of drama, athletic perfection, and graceful, balletic performances wrought a permanent change in figure skating and paved the way for today's skating superstars. This was particularly true in Norway after World War II, where her status as one of the most admired Norwegians of all time was threatened by criticisms that she had not contributed to war relief efforts. Jewelry takes people's minds off your wrinkles. Sonja Henie Birthday and Date of Death. 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. Her husband, Neils Onstad, a Norwegian shipowner, said she "just slept away" halfway through the two-hour flight. Refer to each styles convention regarding the best way to format page numbers and retrieval dates. Henie's connections with Adolf Hitler and other high-ranking Nazi officials made her the subject of controversy before, during, and after World War II. Best Answer. [14] Figure skating writer and historian Ellyn Kestnbaum credits Henie with transforming figure skating into what she calls "a spectacle of the skater's body" and for "shifting [the sport's] meanings firmly in the direction of femininity". At 14 she was the Norwegian at Graumann's Chinese Theatre. In cooperation with promoter Wirtz, Henie honed her skills as a producer of ice shows as well as maintained her prowess as a skater. She died on October 12, 1969 at He was 85. The intensity of Henie's commitment to skating was further intensified after competing in the first winter Olympics, in Chamonix, France, in 1924. As a result, her 1939 salary was more than $250,000. Figure skating, Sochi Olympics: The evolution of the jump in women's Her new goal was the 1927 world figure skating championship. Henie improved rapidly and by 1926 she was . Henie also insisted on having total control of the skating numbers in her films such as Second Fiddle (1939). A horizontal boulder forms her grave mark, which is located on Henie-Onstad Museum property. There, Henie won her second gold medal in figure skating, with 2,302.5 points. 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). Her union with American sports investor (and later owner of the New York Yankees) Daniel Reid Topping lasted from 1940 to 1946, likely a victim to her grueling film production and touring schedules. . Sonja Henie was born on April 8, 1912 and died on October 12, 1969. She announced then that she was turning professional, and toured the United States in an ice show. 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. Her wealth allowed her to maintain a home in Hollywood, a villa in Norway, and an apartment in Lausanne, Switzerland, and to invest in impressionist and expressionist paintings. In her revised 1954 biography,[9] she states that no Norwegian judge was in the panel for the 1936 Olympicsas she was entitled to as a Norwegian. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. However, the date of retrieval is often important. And most importantly, she hired the best skaters and choreographers and paid them handsomely. . 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 once called Eddie Pec, the only person she permitted to sharpen her skates, in New York, to ask him to come to Chicago, where her show was to open. Newsweek (October 25, 1999): 53. 1. Films in Review (July-August 1996): 60. In 1951 Wirtz and Henie were unable to agree on a contract and parted ways. At the time of her death, Henie was planning a comeback for a television special that would have aired in January 1970. But Henie stopped producing shows after an accident in 1952 prior to a performance. Dressed in a white velvet, bell-skirted dress designed by her mother, Henie won over Austria's Herma Planck-Szabo. OSLO, Oct. 12 (AP)--Sonja Henie, ice-skating queen and film star, died tonight on an ambulance plane flying from Paris to Oslo. [1], Henie was born in 1912 in Kristiania (now Oslo) Norway; she was the only daughter of Wilhelm Henie (18721937), a prosperous Norwegian furrier, and his wife, Selma Lochmann-Nielsen (18881961). You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. Encyclopedia.com. A huge star in the 1930s and '40s, she was also divisive and controversial. After she complained to Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, the guard was summoned to apologize for the incident. Henie Onstad Kunstsenter Grounds. A champion in her own day, she has become a legend in ours. 3, Actors and Actresses (1986). But the minute I skate in them I become a professional, so why shouldnt I go on tour?. A male cast member from the Hollywood Ice Review had warmer memories of Henie in a 1996 interview in Films in Review. [15], Also according to Kestnbaum, "Henie's largest contribution to public images of skating"[15] was in her professional ice shows and in her Hollywood films, which were often the first time audiences were exposed to figure skating through the mass media. Sonja's marriage to Winthrop ended in 1956. She had no children. Became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1941. Encyclopedia.com. 2009-05-21 23:06:30. Henie famously asserted that she wanted to do for skating what Fred Astaire had done for dancing on film. Henie went on to win a total of three Olympic figure skating championships: she also won gold medals at Lake Placid, New York in 1932 and at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria in 1936. After the Japanese attack, she invited the boys from Little Norway to her ice shows, and gave the mechanics a plane as well a substantial sum of money for their educational fund; but her initial reluctance before the US entered the war was never to be forgotten. She remembered in the Sporting News how Henie had screamed at her after the 1933 World Championship competition, saying she was an unworthy opponent. 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. But Henie did not stop there. "She went after me in every which way from that point on," said Hulten. Henie has won more Olympic and World titles than any other ladies' figure skater. Encyclopedia.com. Paris and London were mentioned, but only Hello London (1958) was made with her own backing, co-starring Michael Wilding and special guest star Stanley Holloway. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. Long, black skirts were the norm, being both modest and warm. A surprised panel of judges awarded her third place in the free style portion of the competition, but her poor showing on the compulsory figures lowered her score dramatically. To allow for a rigorous training schedule, Henie's parents took her out of school, hired a private tutor, and gave her ballet lessons in London during the summer. After Henie won the world championship one last time in 1936, she prepared to retire from amateur sports and enter professional skating. Her death in Los Angeles, California on October 12, 1969, robbed the skating world of one of its brightest stars. [1], Henie began skating at the age of 5. Sonja Henie - Hollywood Star Walk - Los Angeles Times Death. Theatergoers of the era certainly were thrilled with Henie and their introduction to figure skating. Her passion for performing turned her into a huge financial and popular success among athletes. Among her many victories as a competitive skater, she also won ten consecutive world championships. playing tennis and she excelled at ice-skating. She no longer attended school but studied at home with tutors. Notable Sports Figures. The Norwegian Royal Family attended both events and indeed attended her funeral in 1969. She nevertheless had negotiated an impressive contract and was an immediate hit with audiences. Weatherly did not disclose his brother's cause of death as he paid emotional tribute alongside a throwback photo of himself and Will playing on the beach as children. All of her films (April 27, 2023). Sonja is buried on a hilltop overlooking the During the 1940s, Henie's popularity with movie audiences began to falter and her contract with Twentieth Century-Fox was not renewed. The draw for the free skating [then] came under suspicion after Henie landed the plum position of skating last, while Colledge had to perform second of the 26 competitors. In addition to her film career at Fox from 1936 to 1943, Henie formed a business arrangement with Arthur Wirtz, who produced her touring ice shows under the name of "Hollywood Ice Revue". From Wikipedia: Sonja Henie (8 April 1912 - 12 October 1969) was a Norwegian figure skater and film star. At the height of her acting career, she was one of the highest-paid stars in Hollywood and starred in a series of box-office hits, including Thin Ice (1937), Happy Landing, My Lucky Star (1938), Second Fiddle (1939) and Sun Valley Serenade (1941). She married Niels Onstad, a Norwegian shipping magnate. At the height of the Great Depression she had become an international star with enough clout that she could announce that she planned to be in motion pictures. 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. Because she was still a child, she competed in a knee-length skirt, rather than the calf-length outfits the older women wore. Miss Henie had a home in the Holmby Hills section of Los Angeles, an apartment in Lausanne, Switzerland, and an estate overlooking the Oslo fjord. deals. She was among 250 female stars who were nominated for "50 Greatest Screen Legend" status by the American Film Institute. Three-quarters of a century later, in 2010 . Sun Valley Serenade (1941), with John Payne and Glenn Miller and His Orchestra, received three Academy Award nominations for best cinematography, best music, and best song ("Chattanooga Choo Choo"), but her two releases in 1942 and 1943 marked the end of her contract with Twentieth CenturyFox. The signature of her ice skate blades adorns the cement at Grauman's Chinese Theatre. In the mid-1970s, American figure skater Dorothy Hamill was the leader in her field, capping her success, Skating She appeared in the film Thin Ice and was rated in a Motion Picture Herald poll as the eighth most popular film star of the year. Henie characterized her skating as very dangerous, but others said that because she almost never fell she did not know how to do it without hurting herself. Plain Dealer (January 16, 2002). She was to have danced to "Lara's Theme" from Doctor Zhivago. 8 Remarkable Female Figure Skaters at Winter Olympics - History Her free-skating program, with its musical medley of stage songs, received a standing ovation. Five thousand potential ticket-buyers had to be turned away when she returned to Madison Square Garden in 1937 with the start of her Hollywood Ice Revue. She was the first woman figure skater to wear short skirts above the knee. Where did sonja henie live in the us? - Answers 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. In the summer of 1927 Henie had the thrill of seeing her idol, Russian dancer Anna Pavlova, on stage in London, which inspired her to adapt Pavlova's Dying Swan to figure skating. By today's standards, Henie's routines were almost ridiculously simple, her jumps far from spectacular. Through the years, her shows and later art exhibitions drew the attention of such people as Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon and Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden and she met with them. Could it be Ms. Hart seems a little "chilly!" Please pardon the periodic visual/audio glitches; the source. Beyond the garment's visual impact, it gave her the freedom to do jumps and other movements that had only been done by men. Far from being discouraged, the youngster poured all her energies into skating. After a twirl on the ice with her pupils, Trudi consents. Both Hans and Selma became deeply involved in Sonja's skating career. turn professional and tour with her own ice show. At 14 she was the Norwegian Skating Champion. In Paris yesterday her condition worsened, and it was decided to fly her home. controversy. As a result, none of Henie's properties in Norway were confiscated or damaged by the Germans. [on studio publicity promoting what was an imaginary romance with Tyrone Power] We had to consult the gossip columns every day to see if we were still in love or not. An obituary is in the New York Times (13 Oct. 1969). 1949. On a hilltop overlooking the Henie-Onstad Museum. Ted Scott ( John Payne) is a band pianist whose publicity manager decides that, for good press, the band should adopt a foreign refugee. At the age of ten she "Sonja Henie It recounted that her appearance had been a front-page story in which Roelif Loveland had written "there is no simile to express adequately the grace and loveliness of this glamorous young woman." Her name and appearance was shown in episode 285 of MASH 4077. In 1940, when the Nazis invaded Norway, she was out of the country. She already had considerable experience as an exhibition skater, having been a soloist for the New York Skating Club's production Land of the Midnight Sun at Madison Square Garden in 1930. Public interest in Henie has fueled continued debate about her off-ice and off-screen behavior. 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. We had been flying for only an hour and she just slipped away.. In an era before television, these films were an introduction to skating for millions of American viewers. In the effort, she exercised the same mental intensity and financial resources that were the foundation of her earlier work. When Henie began her program, her ballet training was evident in the flourishes she made with her head and legs. Sonja Henie: Sonja Henie was born on April 8, 1912 in Oslo, Norway. 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. Kestnbaum argues that the costumes Henie wore in her shows and films, which were short, revealing, full of sequins and feathers, and more reminiscent of the costumes of female entertainers than of the clothes worn in the more conservative world of competitive figure skating of the time, most likely contributed to the "showiness" that influenced the costume choices of later generations of female competitive figure skaters.[15]. [13] When white boots quickly became standard for female skaters, Henie began wearing beige boots because she wanted to remain unique. Henie was the world's first great figure skater. New York Times (October 13, 1969). From 1937 to 1945 she was one of the leading box-office attractions in the film industry. Sonja Henie (1912 - 1969) - Genealogy Notable Sports Figures. 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. won her first ice-skating competition. Controversy appeared first when Henie greeted Hitler with a Nazi salute at the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and after the Games she accepted an invitation to lunch with Hitler at his resort home in nearby Berchtesgaden, where Hitler presented Henie with an autographed photo with a lengthy inscription. [citation needed] She then placed eighth in a field of eight at the 1924 Winter Olympics, at the age of eleven. Henie's autobiography, written with Janet Owen, is Wings on My Feet (1940). 8 April 1912 in Oslo, Norway; d. 12 October 1969 on a Paris-to-Oslo plane flight), champion figure skater who won three consecutive Olympic gold medals and most Norwegian, European, and world figure skating championships. For emphasis on Henie's film career, see entries in David Shipman, The Great Movie Stars: The Golden Years (1970; rev. At home in Oslo, she trained at Frogner Stadium, where her coaches included Hjrdis Olsen and Oscar Holte. was a frequent exclaimatory utterance by Tom and Ray Magliozzi on the National Public Radio show Car Talk. The 1936 European Figure Skating Championships also took place in Berlin and neither Henie, Colledge, nor Megan Taylor paid obeisance to Hitler. During a week in Cleveland, she would skate for more than 62,000 fans. Barbara Ann Scott, who became a Canadian heroine at 19 when she won figure skating gold at the 1948 Winter Olympics, succeeding Norway's Sonja Henie as the premier women's skater in a sport . 1968 Sonja was diagnosed with leukemia. Sonja is buried on a hilltop overlooking the Henie-Onstad museum. The early start was seen as a disadvantage, with the audience not yet whipped into a clapping frenzy and the judges known to become freer with their higher marks as the event proceeded. Henie died in her sleep on an ambulance plane that was taking her from Paris to Oslo to see a specialist. It was Selma Henie, he said, who ended her daughter's squabbles and made sure that things ran smoothly. Her mother traveled Members of the audience paid up to $4.40 for the chance to see Henie. She grew up in a Sonja Henie | Encyclopedia.com same year she married shipping magnate Niels Onstad. These activities made her one of the wealthiest self-made women in the world in her time. During the shooting of Second Fiddle (1939), she greeted the then Crown-Prince couple of Norway Olav and Mrtha during their US tour. Henie was also successful in Hollywood. In August 1931 her Chrysler roadster came in second in an amateur automobile race in Stockholm, and she became runner-up in the Norwegian national tennis tournament in 1932. She defended her Olympic titles in 1932 and in 1936, and her world titles annually until 1936. 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. In January 1930, after additional success in winning Norway's skating doubles championship three times, she impressed her first New York City audience of 15,000 at the amateur Ice Carnival exhibition at Madison Square Garden. ed. https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/sonja-henie, "Sonja Henie On his advice, I arranged an ambulance plane to take her home to Oslo. with her constantly, as she did throughout Miss Henie's career. Henie won the first of an unprecedented ten consecutive World Figure Skating Championships in 1927 at the age of fourteen. forced her to retire. Henie died in her sleep on an ambulance plane that was taking her from Paris to Oslo to see a specialist. She also won gold medals in the 1932 and 1936 Olympics. ." It would later house all of Henie's skating memorabilia. She grew up in Norway and was a dominant presence on the ice for . She had high profile romances with Tyrone Power, boxer Joe Practicing as much as seven hours a day, she studied with teachers in Germany, England, Switzerland and Austria. She did try to make a film series at her own expense; a series that would serve as a travelogue to several cities. The skater turned professional later that same year, after having won her tenth world championship. His daughter began studying ballet at age five and would be active in skiing, swimming, and horseback riding. Henie was 5 years old, the story goes, when her older brother, Leif, got a pair of ice skates for his birthday. In the fall of 1968 Henie was diagnosed with leukemia. Sonja Henie | American athlete | Britannica "You could laugh with Sonja, but she had other things on her mind. 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. In 1968 Sonja was diagnosed with leukemia. Louis, and Van Johnson. The results of 1927 World Championships, where Henie won in 32 decision (or 7 vs. 8 ordinal points) over the defending Olympic and World Champion Herma Szabo of Austria, was controversial, as three of the five judges that gave Henie first-place ordinals were Norwegian (1 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 2 = 7 points) while Szabo received first-place ordinals from an Austrian and a German Judge (1 + 1 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 8 points). The pretty, blond skater stood out among the competitors in a white silk and ermine skating dress that had a short skirt. She managed to tie together the elements in her routine in way that had not been done before. Henie won her first major figure skating competition, the senior Norwegian championships, at the age of 10. Time (July 17, 1939): 51-54. For a time she had her own company, Sonja Henie's Hollywood Ice Revue, but an unfortunate bleacher collapse at one of her shows caused the venture to fold. Plot. Encyclopedia of World Biography. She incorporated 19 different spins into her programs, and she could spin nearly 80 revolutions. 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. 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. Nora and her uncle get railroaded into spending the night at a broken-down hotel in Canada. Henie, Sonja (1912-1969) Norwegian figure skater who won three consecutive gold medals and became a movie box-office attraction surpassed in her day only by Shirley Temple and Clark Gable. Hemming, Roy. the age of 57. It was not just the sheer quantity of her titles and awards or profits from skating in revues and from motion pictures that distinguished her, but rather the unique quality of her skating, her innovative influence on the development of women's competitive skating, and her overall creative artistry and ingenuity, for which she has secured a unique niche in the history of figure skating. In 1923 she became the senior national champion of Norway. Later in 1927 Henie saw the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova dance in London. I want to do with skates what Fred Astaire is doing with dancing. Reviewers marveled that Henie was still in top form. As a girl Henie also was a nationally ranked tennis player, and a skilled swimmer and equestrienne. Besides, I can't quite imagine my doing the hula in the Olympics." 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. Her illness had been a well-kept secret. The Onstads gave Norway an art museum and 250 of their paintings in August 1968. He died of Tularmia (Rabbit . 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. Her mother was willing to travel all across Europe with her to find coaches and outdoor ice rinks. When live television began to cut into the film industry, Henie stopped making movies and returned to traveling ice shows. Henie did not appear in these shows, but rather was an advisor and financial partner. Coached by Swedish Olympic medalist Gillis Grafstrm, she transformed a predictable series of colourless exercises into a spectacular and popular exhibition. Surely she exceeded nearly everyone's expectations when she was rated as the third most popular film star of 1938, surpassed by only Shirley Temple and Clark Gable. Name variations: Sonia Henje. She was 57 years old. [citation needed], After the war, Henie was mindful that many of her countrymen considered her to be a quisling. Her skating built on the innovative styles of Jackson Haines and Hilda Holowsky. [13], Her innovative skating techniques and glamorous demeanor transformed the sport permanently and confirmed its acceptance as a legitimate sport in the Winter Olympics. Sonja Henie, Michael Kirby - Die Fledermaus! - YouTube "Henie, Sonja Miss Henie, ill for the past nine months, died aboard an ambulance plane from Paris to her native Oslo, only minutes before landing. In her later years she was noted as a collector and patron of modern art. 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). The pictures were reported to have grossed $25-million. Henie did not have any children and became an active collector with her new husband. 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. . An excellent video documentary directed and produced by Edvard Hambro is entitled Sonja Henie: Queen of the Ice (1993). 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. On 15 September 1949 she married Winthrop Gardiner, Jr., a business executive; he divorced her on 14 May 1956 for "desertion and mental cruelty." 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. What Shows Have Been Renewed or Canceled? Another measure of her worth is that in 1940 her legs were insured by Lloyds of London for $5,000 per week. In When she returned the following year, she secured the women's national championship title and, as part of her record-making legacy, would come back the subsequent six years to retain that title. Jimmy believes that, as the new star, she can be used to bolster the publicity value of Roger Maxwell (Rudy Vallee), a crooner on the studio pay roll whose self-esteem is more impressive than his newsworthiness. Darryl Sonja Henie - Facts, Bio, Favorites, Info, Family | Sticky Facts Four thoughts about Sonja Henie " I skated with Sonja, and wrote the first biography after her death. Her father was a wealthy fur salesman and a former amateur cycling champion who encouraged his children to compete. Over the next decade Miss Henie won Olympic titles at St. Moritz, Switzerland (1928), at Lake Placid (1932), and at Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria (1936). 1974); James Robert Parish, The Fox Girls (1971); and James Vinson, ed., The International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, vol. At 11 she won the national championshipand also entered her first Olympics, in which she placed last. How did Sonja Henie the ice Star die? - Answers Scott, Paula Pyzik "Henie, Sonja OSLO, Oct. 12 (AP)--Sonja Henie, ice-skating queen and film star, died tonight on an ambulance plane flying from Paris to Oslo. It made the most of Henie's smiling, energetic persona and her dimpled beauty in a story about an Olympic hopeful. These honors were the result of talent, intensive training, and an interest in doing something different from other skaters. In addition to her acting Sonja toured The Three Faces of Sonja Henie: Competitor, Performer, Movie Star Therefore, be sure to refer to those guidelines when editing your bibliography or works cited list. Sonja Henie. Scott Thorson: How Liberace Protected His 'Big Secret' in the
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