Henie won Olympic gold medals in 1928, 1932, and 1936 before retiring from amateur skating. "Sonja Henie Sonja Henie made her Olympic debut at the first Olympic Winter Games in Chamonix in 1924. Did Sonja Henie marry? She incorporated 19 different spins into her programs, and she could spin nearly 80 revolutions. Encyclopedia of World Biography. Three years later she married socialite Winthrop Gardner Jr., who divorced her in 1956. At the time, she was only 11 years old and she had to punctuate her free skating routine with frequent visits to the sidelines to ask her coach what she should do next. (Getty Images) I saw a tweet this week from Kiira Korpi, the Finnish figure skater who won medals three times at the European Championships . She became a household name for her excellence in figure skating, winning ten world championships, six European. While improving her skating, in the next few years, she also studied ballet with a former teacher of Anna Pavlova, and eventually she combined the two forms on ice. Skating, besides being an important form of win, Fleming, Peggy She did try to make a film series at her own expense; a series that would serve as a travelogue to several cities. Encyclopedia.com. 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. 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. In the mid-1960s she developed leukemia and spent the rest of her life fighting the disease. Henie went on to win first of her three Olympic gold medals the following year, becoming one of the youngest figure skating Olympic champions. She recalled the champion's marvelous clothes and icy disdain. She was the first skater to incorporate the principles of ballet into her routines and the first woman to perform spins and jumps. 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. 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. Kestnbaum states that although toe steps are used as "occassional couterpoints to the legato flow of skating movement", she argues that Henie might have overused these steps, calling them "mincing and ineffective". She finished last, but she didn't give up. decided to become a US citizen and supported the USO in their efforts. "I want to do with skates (in the movies) what Fred Astaire is doing with dancing," she said. Her talent was evident from a very early age. He named Henie as the instigator. 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. Wilhelm Henie had been a one-time World Cycling Champion and the Henie children were encouraged to take up a variety of sports at a young age. 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. Entertainment Weekly (February 11, 1994): 62. 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. 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. 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. Updates? Born April 8, 1912, in Oslo, Norway, Henie was blessed from the beginning with every attribute a skater might need. ." Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Thematic Series: Sports Figures. [3] She also won six consecutive European championships from 1931 to 1936. Could it be Ms. Hart seems a little "chilly!" Please pardon the periodic visual/audio glitches; the source. Sandvika, Brum kommune, Akershus fylke, Norway Show Map. 2023 . In 1968 Sonja was diagnosed with leukemia. Frogner Stadium was the site of the 1927 Women's World Figure Skating Championship. - 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) She managed to tie together the elements in her routine in way that had not been done before. 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. Sonja Henie died from leukemia in 1969, at the age of 57. In her autobiography, Wings on My Feet, Henie explained that the primary factor facilitating her being so "lucky" in achieving her skating goals was her family's wealth. Henie, already a precocious skier and swimmer, cried until her parents bought her a . In an era before television, these films were an introduction to skating for millions of American viewers. We had been flying for only an hour and she just slipped away.. After Henie won the world championship one last time in 1936, she prepared to retire from amateur sports and enter professional skating. 1956- Although later cleared of any responsibility for the accident, she did not stage any more arena- type shows. Henie opened up opportunities for figure skaters to use their skills to earn a living. She telegraphed her maid and told her to place a picture of her with Hitler, which he had autographed, in a prominent place in her house. However, the date of retrieval is often important. Sonja had by now developed a comedy flair and these films were all among the top box-office hits for 20th Century-Fox the respective years. Her last film, Hello London (1958), received only limited showings in parts of England. Birthday: April 8, 1912. 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. With her well-to-do father's backing, she studied ballet in London, and began applying choreography to her routines. Newsweek (October 25, 1999): 53. 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. After placing last in a field of eight, she increased her practice time to some seven hours a day. Her program also included double axels, spins, twirls, and jumps. Hjordis Olsen, an amateur skater at a private club, drilled Henie in mastering the mandatory school figures. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Vanilla Ice, the white boy who recorded the first rap single to hit Number One on Billboards Hot 100 pop chart, was controver, Sonnenberg, Susanna 1965- (Susanna Sophia Sonnenberg), Sonnenfeld, Joseph ayyim ben Abraham Solomon, https://www.encyclopedia.com/sports/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/henie-sonja, https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/henie-sonja, https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/sonja-henie, Born April 8, outside of Oslo, Norway, to Hans Wilhelm Henie and Selma Lochman Nielsen, Wins Norway's junior-level national competition, Studies with private tutor to allow for longer practice sessions, Wins first of ten Women's World Figure Skating Championship titles, Awarded Olympic gold medal in figure skating at St. Moritz, Awarded Olympic gold medal in figure skating at Lake Placid, Awarded Olympic gold medal in figure skating at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Signs five-year contract with Twentieth-Century Fox, Rated third-most-popular film star in poll, Ends long relationship with promoter Arthur Wirtz and tours independently, Stops appearing in arena-style shows after bleacher accident injures 250 spectators, Donates modern art collection to Norway; builds Henie-Onstad Museum near Oslo, Norwegian junior-level national championship, Women's World Figure Skating Championship, Made Knight First Class of the Order of St. Olaf. At the time of her third marriage, Miss Henie was an admirer of Renoir and Gainsborough, but under her husbands influence became as avid purchaser of modern works. Henie Onstad Kunstsenter Grounds. It was Selma Henie, he said, who ended her daughter's squabbles and made sure that things ran smoothly. As Sandra Stevenson recounted in The Independent, "the closeness [of the competition] infuriated Henie, who, when the result for that section was posted on a wall in the competitors' lounge, swiped the piece of paper and tore it into little pieces. Thin Ice, My Lucky Star, and and Sun Valley Serenade. These shows, the "Hollywood Ice Revues," were major attractions at Madison Square Garden for many years, up to 1952. 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. At the time, figure skating and ice shows were not yet an established form of entertainment in the United States. at Graumann's Chinese Theatre. [10], During the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany, German troops saw Hitler's autographed photo prominently displayed at the piano in the Henie family home in Landya, Asker. Miss Henie had been suffering from. 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. These honors were the result of talent, intensive training, and an interest in doing something different from other skaters. Sonja became the ice-skating world As a result, her 1939 salary was more than $250,000. 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. [18] She died of the disease at age 57 in 1969 in an ambulance plane flight from Paris to Oslo. She died on October 12, 1969 at The Hollywood Ice Review was polished by Henie's unwavering pursuit of perfection. ." Sonja was 57 years old at the time of death. Her autobiography Mitt livs eventyr was published in 1938. (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. 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. josh swickard and lauren swickard how did they meet,
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