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). Encyclopedia.com. Rap singer Miss Henie was an exacting star. Olympic ice queen Sonja Henie became a Hollywood star and Hitler Throughout the 1940s, Henie and Wirtz produced lavish musical ice skating extravaganzas at Rockefeller Center's Center Theatre attracting millions of ticket buyers. She married Niels Onstad, a Norwegian shipping magnate. Skating as a Sport During sixteen years of touring she earned something in the range of $10 million and her movies probably netted her more than $25 million. won her first ice-skating competition. Time (July 17, 1939): 51-54. ." "Sonja Henie, Skating Star, Dies." Subsequently, she appeared on television several times, including her own one-hour special. Soon after winning her first world championship, Henie saw a ballet performance by Russian great Anna Pavlova. The Onstads gave Norway an art museum and 250 of their paintings in August 1968. Henie did not appear in these shows, but rather was an advisor and financial partner. Norway's king and queen attended the funeral service. Won 3 olympic gold medals between 1928 and 1936. (April 27, 2023). [13] Kestnbaum argues that Henie influenced female skaters' costumes that emphasized their wealth, especially her fur-trimmed outfits, which were emulated at the 1930 World Championships, held for the first time in North America, in New York City. Miss Henie, ill for the past nine months, died aboard an ambulance plane from Paris to her native Oslo, only minutes before landing. Less than a month later, she was married to a childhood friend, Niels Onstad, who had become a shipping magnate and art collector. Thin Ice, My Lucky Star, and and Sun Valley Serenade. In 1968, the Onstads donated 250 of their paintings, plus $3.5 million for a fan-shaped stone-and-glass museum near Oslo. During her competitive career, Henie traveled widely and worked with a variety of foreign coaches. Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Thematic Series: Sports Figures. As the first and only ice-skating film star, Henie is a show business phenomenon comparable only to the swimmer Esther Williams , who appeared in romantic comedies in the late 1940s. She did try to make a film series at her own expense; a series that would serve as a travelogue to several cities. Another measure of her worth is that in 1940 her legs were insured by Lloyds of London for $5,000 per week. 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. 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. "The World's First Ice Queen." On 15 September 1949 she married Winthrop Gardiner, Jr., a business executive; he divorced her on 14 May 1956 for "desertion and mental cruelty." 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. "Henie, Sonja Her father, Hans Wilhelm Henie, was a successful fur trader and amateur athlete, and her mother, Selma Lochman Nielsen, inherited her family's wealth. Sonja Henie died from leukemia in 1969, at the age of 57. At the time this was a brave departure from convention, and audiences loved it. During a week in Cleveland, she would skate for more than 62,000 fans. It would later house all of Henie's skating memorabilia. Other stories echo these allegations, although in a milder fashion. in ice shows and even starred in her own television special. She was signed by Henie would make eleven films in Hollywood, with the first six being the most successful. 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. The Norwegian Royal Family attended both events and indeed attended her funeral in 1969. She died on October 12, 1969 at at Graumann's Chinese Theatre. Plot. American figure skater The hallmarks of Henie's future successes were in place. "Even on the podium after the Olympics, there were no kisses, no handshakes, not even a word." [1], Henie began skating at the age of 5. (Read Scott Hamiltons Britannica entry on figure skating.). 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. The 1936 European Figure Skating Championships also took place in Berlin and neither Henie, Colledge, nor Megan Taylor paid obeisance to Hitler. She was 57. He named Henie as the instigator. Name variations: Sonia Henje. [18] She died of the disease at age 57 in 1969 in an ambulance plane flight from Paris to Oslo. included dazzling ice-skating routines which she choreographed herself. 436. Her passion for performing turned her into a huge financial and popular success among athletes. [citation needed] The Royal Family were very mindful of whom they supported after the war[11] and Norwegians looked to them as role models in that respect. During her amateur skating career, she performed often in Germany and was a favorite of German audiences and of Hitler personally. 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. She had already delighted in dancing, and--with her brother Leif giving her her first lessons--enjoyed She recalled the champion's marvelous clothes and icy disdain. forced her to retire. However, the date of retrieval is often important. 20th Century-Fox and debuted in, - IMDb Mini Biography By: Tony Fontana . This adaptation formed the basis for Henie's free-skating program at the 1928 Olympics at St. Moritz, where the blonde-haired, five-foot, two-inch Henie, at 104 pounds, presented flawless figures and a free-skating program that included a combination of double "Axel Paulsens" (as the double axel was then called) and nineteen spins, twirls, and jumps. As a result, none of Henie's properties in Norway were confiscated or damaged by the Germans. Actress: Sun Valley Serenade. Henie, already a precocious skier and swimmer, cried until her parents bought her a . 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. Henie had turned down contract offers following the 1932 Olympics, but now set about in earnest to make a career as an exhibition skater and film star. Henie won the first of an unprecedented ten consecutive World Figure Skating Championships in 1927 at the age of fourteen. Two earlier marriages to Americans, Daniel Reid Topping and Winthrop Gardiner Jr., ended in divorces in 1946 and 1956. According to various polls, by the end of 1937 Henie ranked among the top ten Hollywood earners; by 1938 she was among Twentieth CenturyFox's top female stars, which included Shirley Temple, Alice Faye, and Loretta Young; and by 1939 she ranked as the third most popular screen actor after Shirley Temple and Clark Gable. success. 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). It set the pattern for the films to follow as a light musical comedy that included songs and skating. Encyclopedia.com. Sonja Henie (8 April 1912 - 12 October 1969) was a Norwegian figure skater and film star. Encyclopedia.com. The family also fully appreciated Henie's interest in sports. Films in Review (July-August 1996): 60. 1968 Sonja was diagnosed with leukemia. 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. Henie also insisted on having total control of the skating numbers in her films such as Second Fiddle (1939). As a result, the image of the figure skater was linked to "the image of the glamorous movie star",[15] within the conventions of film and stage musicals of the 1930s. Henie did not have any children and became an active collector with her new husband. Henie won her first major figure skating competition, the senior Norwegian championships, at the age of 10. On a hilltop overlooking the Henie-Onstad Museum. The next year, she began training for the national championship of Norway. [8] However, a subsequent South American tour in 1956 was a disaster. These honors were the result of talent, intensive training, and an interest in doing something different from other skaters. But Henie will be best remembered for putting skating above the personal and political. Sonja is buried on a hilltop overlooking the 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. 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. Her fur-trimmed costume 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. She wore jewels during practice and plumes during competition.. [13], Her innovative skating techniques and glamorous demeanor transformed the sport permanently and confirmed its acceptance as a legitimate sport in the Winter Olympics. with her constantly, as she did throughout Miss Henie's career. Sources Private tutors were hired to educate her while she concentrated on her skating. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Within a year of turning pro, Henie had earned in excess of a quarter of a million dollars. Theatergoers of the era certainly were thrilled with Henie and their introduction to figure skating. After she complained to Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, the guard was summoned to apologize for the incident. But Henie stopped producing shows after an accident in 1952 prior to a performance. 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. One of the most influential female athletes of the past century, Peggy Fleming combined grace and power t, Vanilla Ice But the minute I skate in them I become a professional, so why shouldnt I go on tour?. Henie entered her first Olympic competition in 1924, when she was 11 years old. Age at Death: 57. [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). In 1951 Wirtz and Henie were unable to agree on a contract and parted ways. Miss Henie had been suffering from. Sonja Henie - IMDb At the time, figure skating and ice shows were not yet an established form of entertainment in the United States. from competitive skating Sonja wanted to pursue an acting career. 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. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Henie was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia in the mid-1960s. "To her, there were no other skaters," wrote Colledge. (b. In addition to appearing in Hollywood films, she toured North America with her own professional shows, thus amassing a great deal of personal wealth and by popularizing the ice show, opened up professional skating opportunities for other lesser-known figure skaters.[5]. https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/henie-sonja, "Henie, Sonja Although later cleared of any responsibility for the accident, she did not stage any more arena- type shows. "Henie skates with speed, grace, and eye-boggling abandon through four big numbers," he noted in Entertainment Weekly. 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. Henie broke off her arrangement with Wirtz in 1950 and for the next three seasons produced her own tours under the name "Sonja Henie Ice Revue". Her skating built on the innovative styles of Jackson Haines and Hilda Holowsky. Hans Henie died that year, at a time when his daughter's career had reached amazing heights. [3] While still a girl, Henie had decided that she wanted to move to California and become a movie star when her competitive days were over, without considering that her strong accent might hinder her acting ambitions. (Getty Images) I saw a tweet this week from Kiira Korpi, the Finnish figure skater who won medals three times at the European Championships . Because Norway did not yet have indoor ice rinks, she traveled around Europe to train throughout the year and benefit from the best instructors. During the 1940s, Henie's popularity with movie audiences began to falter and her contract with Twentieth Century-Fox was not renewed. She incorporated 19 different spins into her programs, and she could spin nearly 80 revolutions. When Geoffrey and Ken get so distracted by romance that they begin to neglect their assignments, it almost leads to disaster as the Gestapo sets out to silence Norden once and for all. "I want to do with skates (in the movies) what Fred Astaire is doing with dancing," she said. was a frequent exclaimatory utterance by Tom and Ray Magliozzi on the National Public Radio show Car Talk. Another accusation that hurt Henie's image was the perception that she was a Nazi sympathizer. I don't think she ever really learned to enjoy life. Her illness had been a well-kept secret. and easily eclipsed the earnings of any other star athlete, male or female. At 15 she would win the Olympic gold medal in Skating, a feat she would repeat in 1932 and 1936. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. 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. 2023 . 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. Onstad transformed her art collecting interest from traditional masters to contemporary works; they donated 250 paintings and millions of dollars to Norway and in 1968 completed the Henie-Onstad Museum near Oslo to house the collection and, after Henie's death, her career memorabilia. "Gee-Whizzer." Date of Death: October 12, 1969. Michael Weatherly is mourning the loss of his brother. 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. Short skirts and choreography were unknown in figure skating before Henie introduced them in the late 1920s. accent audiences loved her. In 1936, Miss Henie decided to turn professional, stating simply, I want to go into pictures, and I want to skate in them. In addition to the income from the fur business, both of Henie's parents had inherited wealth. skating even more. 1932 The daughter of a fur wholesaler in Norway, Sonja Henie received her first pair of ice skates when she was six. 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. Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Thematic Series: Sports Figures, Hamill, Dorothy With her was her third husband, Norwegian shipping magnate Niels Onstad. Henie initially showed talent at skiing, then followed her older brother, Leif, to take up figure skating. While we were in Paris she suddenly became much worse and she was examined by a doctor, he said. They also made her wealthy. [2], Kestnbaum argues that although Henie's skating was "athletic and powerful for her day",[2] she purposively added elements,such as using the toepicks of her skates to run or pose on the ice, in movements similar to the use of pointe technique in ballet, that undercut her power and athleticism. In 1953, Henie formed a new partnership with Morris Chalfen to appear in his European Holiday On Ice tour, which proved to be a great success. She later competed successfully in tennis and auto racing in the midst of her skating career. After Henie won the world championship one last time in 1936, she prepared to retire from amateur sports and enter professional skating. Her first film, One In A Million with Adolphe Menjou, was a huge Where did sonja henie live in the us? - Answers 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. An excellent video documentary directed and produced by Edvard Hambro is entitled Sonja Henie: Queen of the Ice (1993). At 14 she was the Norwegian Skating Champion. Her performance, skating "at home" in Norway's Frogner Stadium, earned her the first of ten consecutive world figure skating titles (and the distinction of being the youngest world champion until Tara Lipinski edged her out in 1997 by a margin of thirty-two days). She took a largely unnoticed, technically-oriented sport and turned it into a dynamic art form that, along with its star performers, is avidly followed by fans around the world. Touched by Roger's mash notes, which are really written by Jimmy, Trudi moons over him all during production of Girl of the North. 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. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. NEW HOPE, PA. John R. Walsh, who toured professionally as the figure-skating partner of Olympic champion Sonja Henie, died Thursday from complications following a stroke. She was signed by 20th Century-Fox and debuted in One in a Million (1936), in which she played an ice skater. 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. The daughter of a fur wholesaler in Norway, Sonja Henie received her [citation needed] She then placed eighth in a field of eight at the 1924 Winter Olympics, at the age of eleven. Henie improved rapidly and by 1926 she was . 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. At the height of her fame, Henie brought as much as $2 million per year from her shows and touring activities. She Sonja Henie (1912 - 1969) - Genealogy Loveland continued, "she seems to float, like something in gossamer wings, but anyone tempted to drift off into an ethereal realm is brought back by a pair of very shapely limbs, which move with the smoothness of running water and the strength of youth." Less than two weeks ago she attended a theater performance in Oslo with her husband. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Henie was the greatest of all women figure skaters from the 1920s to the 1940s, and perhaps of the entire twentieth century. She entered her first Olympic Winter Games the next year, primarily for experience, and took third place in the free skating competition. [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. 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. Within the Cite this article tool, pick a style to see how all available information looks when formatted according to that style. A huge star in the 1930s and '40s, she was also divisive and controversial. 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. appeared on the cover of Time magazine and her skates were immortalized 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. Henie is credited with transforming an originally demure, predictable activity by infusing it with her feminine charms and passion for the ballet. Besides, I can't quite imagine my doing the hula in the Olympics.". She also won gold medals in the 1932 and 1936 Olympics. A 1930 New York Times article dubbed Henie a "Pavlova on Ice" and stressed her athletic prowess. Not long after the center's lavish opening celebration, Henie was diagnosed with leukemia. Henie's first love was dancing, and she began to study ballet at age four; the ballet element in her later skating, both as champion amateur and professional, was always evident. The year 1937 held some of Henie's greatest accomplishments and one of her greatest losses. Best Answer. Sonja Henie, Skating Star, Dies - The New York Times Henie went on to win first of her three Olympic gold medals the following year, becoming one of the youngest figure skating Olympic champions. advertisement 10 time World Champion Women's Figure Skating according to A&E She was the champion in the Olympics in 1928, 1932 and 1936. She remembered in the Sporting News how Henie had screamed at her after the 1933 World Championship competition, saying she was an unworthy opponent. Skating, besides being an important form of win, Fleming, Peggy Her mother traveled Henie was also successful in Hollywood. She earned at least $25 million from her lucrative motion-picture career. Her free-skating program, with its musical medley of stage songs, received a standing ovation. 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. "Sonja Henie An obituary is in the New York Times (13 Oct. 1969). Notable Sports Figures. For the rest of the war, all of her possessions were left untouched by the Nazis. . Walsh also . The highly-publicized shows were well attended by film stars and filmmakers, including Darryl F. Zanuck of Twentieth Century-Fox. Burial. (Read Scott Hamiltons Britannica essay on "Training for Olympic Gold."). 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. 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.
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