A New York Times obituary noted that she once summoned Eddie Pec, who was said to be the only person she trusted to sharpen her skates, from New York to Chicago by train to do a job that took only a few minutes. She was to have danced to "Lara's Theme" from Doctor Zhivago. She died on October 12, 1969 at 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. It was an ill-advised decision to set herself up in competition with Wirtz, whose shows now featured the new Olympic champion Barbara Ann Scott. Her husband, Neils Onstad, a Norwegian shipowner, said she "just slept away" halfway through the two-hour flight. Sonja loved In addition to the income from the fur business, both of Henie's parents had inherited wealth. Death. During sixteen years of touring she earned something in the range of $10 million and her movies probably netted her more than $25 million. Zanuck took notice of the petite blonde and signed her to a contract. 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. "Tormented by a rival who was cold as ice." 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. Best Answer. After a twirl on the ice with her pupils, Trudi consents. In 1936, following a successful ice show in Los Angeles orchestrated by her father to launch her film career, Hollywood studio chief Darryl Zanuck signed her to a long-term contract at Twentieth Century Fox, which made her one of the highest-paid actresses of the time. Encyclopedia of World Biography. At 11 she won the national championshipand also entered her first Olympics, in which she placed last. She had no children. When Zanuck realized this, he cast her in more musical comedies; Sun Valley Serenade (1941) with Glenn Miller, John Payne, The Nicholas Brothers, and hit songs such as "In the Mood", "Chattanooga Choo Choo", "It Happened in Sun Valley", and "I Know Why (And So Do You)"; followed by Iceland (1942) with Jack Oakie, Payne, and the hit song "There Will Never Be Another You"; and finally Wintertime (1943) with Cesar Romero, Carole Landis, Cornel Wilde, and Oakie. That Sonja Henie (8 April 1912 - 12 October 1969) was a Norwegian figure skater and film star. When live television began to cut into the film industry, Henie stopped making movies and returned to traveling ice shows. Said to have had a keen business sense, she early acquired the nickname Little Miss Moneybags for her habit of prudent investments. (Read Scott Hamiltons Britannica essay on "Training for Olympic Gold."). All of her films Name variations: Sonia Henje. Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Thematic Series: Sports Figures. Henie's autobiography, written with Janet Owen, is Wings on My Feet (1940). In 1927, she won her first world figure skating championship in Oslo, and retained the title for the next nine years. Private tutors were hired to educate her while she concentrated on her skating. She was the champion in the Olympics in 1928, 1932 and 1936. Wikipedia gives the hard facts in these few words: "Sonja Henie (April 8, 1912 - October 12, 1969) was a Norwegian figure skater and film star. skater to parlay her athletic success into a lucrative career. A bubbly, smiling figure in her performances, she was in fact a fierce competitor who wanted nothing to do with her rivals. Three-quarters of a century later, in 2010 . Sonja Henie in The Countess of Monte Cristo., Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Gordon Lightfoot, mournful Canadian singer-songwriter, dies at 84, Tim Bachman, founding guitarist of Bachman-Turner Overdrive, dies at 71, Jerry Springer, syndicated talk-show host and politician, dies at 79, Ginnie Newhart, Bob Newharts wife of 60 years, dies at 82, Search Obituaries & Guest Books on Legacy.com, Honor a loved one, place an obituary notice, Harry Belafonte, singer, actor and civil rights activist, dies at 96, Len Goodman, long-serving judge on Dancing With the Stars, dies at 78, Dame Edna creator Barry Humphries dies in Sydney at 89, Craig Breedlove, former land-speed record holder, dies at 86, Todd Haimes dies; took off-off-Broadway company to Tony Award glory, Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan dies at 92. Scott, Paula Pyzik "Henie, Sonja In the mid-1960s she developed leukemia and spent the rest of her life fighting the disease. 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. 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). Jewelry takes people's minds off your wrinkles. Therefore, be sure to refer to those guidelines when editing your bibliography or works cited list. 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. During her competitive career, Henie traveled widely and worked with a variety of foreign coaches. "Gee-Whizzer." She therefore made the best of it and won her third Olympic medal. Sonja Henie, (born April 8, 1912, Kristiania [now Oslo], 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. A little "meowing" before Ms. Henie takes the ice. Thin Ice, My Lucky Star, and and Sun Valley Serenade. Plot. first pair of ice skates when she was six. Within a month of her last amateur victory, Henie signed with promoter Arthur Wirtz to appear in a U.S. tour. During the twentieth century no competitor was able to match Henie's three consecutive Olympic gold medals in women's figure skating. American figure skater Towards the end of her career, she began to be strongly challenged by younger skaters including Cecilia Colledge, Megan Taylor, and Hedy Stenuf. At age seven Henie learned to skate from her elder and only brother, Leif. An excellent book that devotes much attention to Henie in the context of the development of skating is Nigel Brown, Ice-Skating: A History (1959). 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." They also made her wealthy. Entertainment Weekly (February 11, 1994): 62. Dividing her remaining years between homes in Norway and the United States, Henie lived happily with her third husband, Niels Onstad. No other skater before or since has dominated the sport as thoroughly as Henie did between 1927 and 1936. ." A petite, glamorous woman with a taste for luxury and a shrewd business sense, she was immensely successful next with a series of her own ice revues, and prospered as a motion picture star. 2019Encyclopedia.com | All rights reserved. She studied in Oslo together with Martin Stixrud and Erna Andersen who was her competitor and skate club member.[17]. Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. In 1923 she became the senior national champion of Norway. Her animated counterpart appeared in the Disney short, The Autograph Hound when Donald asked for her autograph. The international star had managed to keep her illness a secret and was seen with her husband at an Oslo theater less than two weeks before her death. She entered her first Olympic Winter Games the next year, primarily for experience, and took third place in the free skating competition. Sonja Henie died from leukemia in 1969, at the age of 57. 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. She signed with Darrly F. Zanuck and 20th Century-Fox, and her first skating film, "One in a Million," was released at the end of 1936. 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. In The year 1937 held some of Henie's greatest accomplishments and one of her greatest losses. Sonja Henie, (born April 8, 1912, Kristiania [now Oslo], 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. Miss Henie had been suffering from. Griffin saw Henie as person intent on reaching her professional goals and little else. After placing last in a field of eight, she increased her practice time to some seven hours a day. same year she married shipping magnate Niels Onstad. 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. skating even more. Beyond the garment's visual impact, it gave her the freedom to do jumps and other movements that had only been done by men. During a career that spanned the 1920s, '30s, '40s, and '50s, the Norwegian skater made major contributions to women's figure skating, which would help propel the sport into the prominence it now enjoys as a dazzling, physically-challenging, personality-filled field. Henie won more Olympic and World titles than any other . 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). At 14 she was the Norwegian Skating Champion. 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. Her innovations and unparalleled determination would fuel another ten years of amateur successes, including a still unmatched Olympic record. The band goes to Ellis Island to meet the girl and soon discovers that the refugee isn't a 10-year-old child, but a young woman, Karen Benson ( Sonja Henie ). Burial. At 14 she was the Norwegian [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. Sandvika, Brum kommune, Akershus fylke, Norway Show Map. 3, Actors and Actresses (1986). Her name and likeness were mentioned and portrayed by an ice skating Donald Duck in Walt Disney's 1939 The Hockey Champ. After Henie won the world championship one last time in 1936, she prepared to retire from amateur sports and enter professional skating. . Dressed in a white velvet, bell-skirted dress designed by her mother, Henie won over Austria's Herma Planck-Szabo. During her lifetime Sonja Henie reigned as the "queen of ice," and today she remains the most influential individual to have been part of figure skating. 12 Oct 1969 (aged 57) Oslo, Oslo kommune, Oslo fylke, Norway. In 1940, when the Nazis invaded Norway, she was out of the country. Henie also had great spinning ability. 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. 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. Another accusation that hurt Henie's image was the perception that she was a Nazi sympathizer. Far from being discouraged, the youngster poured all her energies into skating. "Tonya-no! Encyclopedia.com. 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]. Three years later she married socialite Winthrop Gardner Jr., who divorced her in 1956. Selma had designed her daughter's above-the-knee skirt with heavy fur trim to give it fullness. There, Henie won her second gold medal in figure skating, with 2,302.5 points. Louis, and Van Johnson. Henie was 5 years old, the story goes, when her older brother, Leif, got a pair of ice skates for his birthday. He soon signed Henie to a five-year contract. (April 27, 2023). Henie won Olympic gold medals in 1928, 1932, and 1936 before retiring from amateur skating. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Second Fiddle displays Sonja [Henie] as Trudi Hovland, a schoolmarm of Bergen, Minn. who is called to Hollywood because her local swain has sent her photograph to Consolidated Pictures Corp., which has been looking high & low for just such a heroine. Sonia Henie, as controversial as she was legendary. Now I arrive at the Garden at 6:45 and I never stop until 11:10. 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. During the shooting of Second Fiddle (1939), she greeted the then Crown-Prince couple of Norway Olav and Mrtha during their US tour.
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