These activities made her one of the wealthiest self-made women in the world in her time. She defended her Olympic titles in 1932 and in 1936, and her world titles annually until 1936. 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). 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. By 1939 she was one of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood. advertisement At the age of ten she Became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1941. Encyclopedia.com. Henie won her first major figure skating competition, the senior Norwegian championships, at the age of 10. 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. (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. A year later she won Oslos junior skating championship. He named Henie as the instigator. On 15 September 1949 she married Winthrop Gardiner, Jr., a business executive; he divorced her on 14 May 1956 for "desertion and mental cruelty." 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. With her was her third husband, Norwegian shipping magnate Niels Onstad. She was 57. Henie died in her sleep on an ambulance plane that was taking her from Paris to Oslo to see a specialist. . Henie returned to the United States in 1932 for more exhibitions and for the third Winter Olympic Games at Lake Placid, New York. "Remembering Sonja Henie." 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. Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. Miss Henie had been suffering from. (April 27, 2023). After taking informal lessons at a local skating club, Henie won her first figure skating competition at age nine. She enjoyed music and dance from an early age, studying ballet and after beginning her competitive skating career, admired the Russian ballet dancer Anna Pavlova after seeing her perform in London.[2]. Sonya Eddy, a veteran actress best known for her performance as nurse Epiphany Johnson on the soap opera "General Hospital," has died, the show announced in a tribute post. 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. But the minute I skate in them I become a professional, so why shouldnt I go on tour?. After a twirl on the ice with her pupils, Trudi consents. All of her films She grew up in a After that Henie could be seen in other ice shows and on television specials. Likewise, her films are still enjoyable, but their style and that of her skating is dated. She organized her own ice shows, which became immensely popular throughout the world. She earned at least $25 million from her lucrative motion-picture career. She was 57. The collapse of a section of bleachers during a show in Baltimore, Maryland in 1952 compounded the tour's legal and financial woes. Following the success of Thin Ice, Henie showed her growing business savvy by getting Twentieth Century-Fox to renegotiate her contract. 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. Birthday: April 8, 1912. Henie would make eleven films in Hollywood, with the first six being the most successful. She was made a Knight First Class of the Order of St. Olaf by King Haakon of Norway, becoming the youngest person to receive this honor. The Norwegian Royal Family attended both events and indeed attended her funeral in 1969. During the twentieth century no competitor was able to match Henie's three consecutive Olympic gold medals in women's figure skating. She had no children. While her ice show numbers were still worth watching, the film received few distributors and poor reviews, ending her film career. Date of Death: October 12, 1969. At the time this was a brave departure from convention, and audiences loved it. 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). (April 27, 2023). Scott, Paula Pyzik "Henie, Sonja Oscar Holte, the outstanding Norwegian skating coach, supervised much of her training in Oslo and at St. Moritz, Switzerland, as she prepared to enter the International Winter Sports Week at Chamonix, France; retroactively, this special "week" became an official part of the first Winter Olympics in 1924. Henie initially showed talent at skiing, then followed her older brother, Leif, to take up figure skating. Sonja Encyclopedia.com. 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]. Selma had designed her daughter's above-the-knee skirt with heavy fur trim to give it fullness. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Louis, and Van Johnson. 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 . Henie married Daniel Reid Topping, an American sports investor from Greenwich, Connecticut, on 4 July 1940; they divorced in 1946. Encyclopedia.com. Refer to each styles convention regarding the best way to format page numbers and retrieval dates. That During a week in Cleveland, she would skate for more than 62,000 fans. 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. Her new goal was the 1927 world figure skating championship. A male cast member from the Hollywood Ice Review had warmer memories of Henie in a 1996 interview in Films in Review. Sonja Henie (8 April 1912 - 12 October 1969) was a Norwegian figure skater and film star. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Her talent was evident from a very early age. From Wikipedia: Sonja Henie (8 April 1912 - 12 October 1969) was a Norwegian figure skater and film star. Within a month of her last amateur victory, Henie signed with promoter Arthur Wirtz to appear in a U.S. tour. 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. 12 Oct 1969 (aged 57) Oslo, Oslo kommune, Oslo fylke, Norway. Born in Oslo on April 8, 1912, Miss Henie received her first skates from her father, a Norwegian fur wholesaler, on the Christmas after her sixth birthday. Henie Onstad Kunstsenter Grounds. Henie has won more Olympic and World titles than any other ladies' figure skater. She entered her first Olympic Winter Games the next year, primarily for experience, and took third place in the free skating competition. In 1956, Sonja Henie married for the third time. A huge star in the 1930s and '40s, she was also divisive and controversial. deals. It was an open secret that, in spite of the strict amateurism requirements of the time, Wilhelm Henie demanded "expense money" for his daughter's skating appearances. She died on October 12, 1969 at the age of 57. During the latter part of her competitive career she was coached primarily by the American Howard Nicholson in London. 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. According to a quote in the New York Times, Henie felt that she was working harder than ever: "When I was in championship competition I was on the ice for exactly four minutes. Dolgan, Bob. However, being a naturalized citizen of the United States effectively put a stop to any propaganda on her behalf until Pearl Harbor. 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 remembered in the Sporting News how Henie had screamed at her after the 1933 World Championship competition, saying she was an unworthy opponent. She was a three-time Olympic champion ( 1928, 1932, 1936) in women's singles, a ten-time World champion (1927-1936) and a six-time European champion (1931-1936). For emphasis on Henie's film career, see entries in David Shipman, The Great Movie Stars: The Golden Years (1970; rev. Jewelry takes people's minds off your wrinkles. After placing last in a field of eight, she increased her practice time to some seven hours a day. She had become an American citizen in 1941. Sonja Henie died from leukemia on an ambulance plane flying from Paris to Oslo on October 13, 1969. "Sonja Henie's tutu!" "Tormented by a rival who was cold as ice." . Henie's popularity as a film actress attracted many new fans and instituted skating shows as a popular new entertainment. Hans Henie died that year, at a time when his daughter's career had reached amazing heights. When the Nazis arrived to take over the house, they saw the picture and left quickly. She died on October 12, 1969 at Her contribution to skating is secure, however, because she combined all of the elements so important to the sport today: high drama, athletic prowess, and star power. An excellent video documentary directed and produced by Edvard Hambro is entitled Sonja Henie: Queen of the Ice (1993). Sonja Henie made her Olympic debut at the first Olympic Winter Games in Chamonix in 1924. 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. (Read Scott Hamiltons Britannica essay on "Training for Olympic Gold."). Skating Champion. 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). Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Thematic Series: Sports Figures. Throughout the 1940s, Henie and Wirtz produced lavish musical ice skating extravaganzas at Rockefeller Center's Center Theatre attracting millions of ticket buyers. She was the first woman figure skater to wear short skirts above the knee. Sonja Henie was born on April 8, 1912 and died on October 12, 1969. Encyclopedia of World Biography. She won the first of 10 consecutive world skating titles at Oslo in 1927, captivating the crowd with her ballet style, a white silk and ermine costume and short skirt and a dimpled smile. Typically, Henie films were short on plot and long on her trademark While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. The signature of her ice skate blades adorns the cement at Grauman's Chinese Theatre. Zanuck first cast Henie in One in a Million (1936), which also starred Don Ameche, Adolphe Menjou, and the Ritz Brothers. Henie was married three times, to Dan Topping (19401946), Winthrop Gardiner Jr. (19491956),[16] and the Norwegian shipping magnate and art patron Niels Onstad (19561969). [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. . How did Sonja Henie the ice Star die? In her later years she was noted as a collector and patron of modern art. It was a box-office smash, as were others she made in the following dozen years. https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/sonja-henie, "Sonja Henie 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. 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. Public interest in Henie has fueled continued debate about her off-ice and off-screen behavior. Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. 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). 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. Did Sonja Henie marry? 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. 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. [citation needed], After the war, Henie was mindful that many of her countrymen considered her to be a quisling. The former NCIS star shared the heartbreaking news Saturday that his younger brother Will Weatherly died on Thursday, April 20. At the height of her fame, Henie brought as much as $2 million per year from her shows and touring activities. Actress: Sun Valley Serenade. In 1951 Wirtz and Henie were unable to agree on a contract and parted ways. She competed in the 1924 Winter [citation needed], Henie is credited with being the first figure skater to use dance choreography, to adopt the short skirt in figure skating, and to wear white boots,[12] which deemphasized the heaviness of skates and produced a lighter and longer appearance of the skater's legs that was "a focal point for judges' and spectators' gaze". Private tutors were hired to educate her while she concentrated on her skating. 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. She studied in Oslo together with Martin Stixrud and Erna Andersen who was her competitor and skate club member.[17]. 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). But the fourteen-year-old Henie was too small to wear such heavy garb; it tended to act like a sail and tangle in her legs. Not long after the center's lavish opening celebration, Henie was diagnosed with leukemia. Wintertime: Directed by John Brahm. Theatergoers of the era certainly were thrilled with Henie and their introduction to figure skating. She starred in a string of hits including 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. 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. Modern figure skating is deeply indebted to Sonja Henie (1912-1969), one of the greatest athletes of this century. April 08, 1912 Died October 12, 1969 Cause of Death Leukemia Biography Read More Winner of the Olympic Gold medal in figure skating an impressive three times in a row (1928, 1932, 1936), Henie came to Twentieth Century-Fox shortly after her last win and was built up as a popular star. 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. Said to have had a keen business sense, she early acquired the nickname Little Miss Moneybags for her habit of prudent investments. He died of Tularmia (Rabbit . 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". Her third and final marriage was to fellow Norwegian Niels Onstad, a shipping magnate, on 9 June 1956. 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. Another measure of her worth is that in 1940 her legs were insured by Lloyds of London for $5,000 per week. 1956- "I want to do with skates (in the movies) what Fred Astaire is doing with dancing," she said. However, these are not Henie's most enduring achievements. OSLO, Oct. 12 (AP)--Sonja Henie, ice-skating queen and film star, died tonight on an ambulance plane flying from Paris to Oslo. Wirtz also acted as Henie's financial advisor. 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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. 1974); James Robert Parish, The Fox Girls (1971); and James Vinson, ed., The International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, vol. She therefore made the best of it and won her third Olympic medal. Her husband chartered a plane to convey her from Paris to Oslo to see her doctor, but she died onboard in her sleep. He agrees that she has no chance for the part but talks her into flying to Hollywood for the trip, with her Aunt Phoebe (Edna May Oliver). Less than a month later, she was married to a childhood friend, Niels Onstad, who had become a shipping magnate and art collector. Within the Cite this article tool, pick a style to see how all available information looks when formatted according to that style. 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. "Sonja Henie, Skating Star, Dies." In 1936 she would turn professional and tour with her own ice show. She later competed successfully in tennis and auto racing in the midst of her skating career. Henie went on to win first of her three Olympic gold medals the following year, becoming one of the youngest figure skating Olympic champions. It was Selma Henie, he said, who ended her daughter's squabbles and made sure that things ran smoothly. 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. A little "meowing" before Ms. Henie takes the ice. 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. She also lit the entire performance with a dazzling, dimpled smile. 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). During the shooting of Second Fiddle (1939), she greeted the then Crown-Prince couple of Norway Olav and Mrtha during their US tour. 2023 . She was the first 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. [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. Walsh also . the world performing in ice shows and landed many lucrative endorsement 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. 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. 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). Biography. Gradually her appearances dwindled, and in 1956 she retired. . Her father, Hans Wilhelm Henie, was a successful fur trader and amateur athlete, and her mother, Selma Lochman Nielsen, inherited her family's wealth. [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. [13] When white boots quickly became standard for female skaters, Henie began wearing beige boots because she wanted to remain unique. Films in Review (July-August 1996): 60. 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. An English translation, Wings on My Feet, was released in 1940 and republished in a revised edition in 1954. Her fur-trimmed costume It was also noted in Queen of Ice, Queen of Shadows that before the war started the Henies had visited with Adolf Hitler and that during a 1936 show in Berlin she had given him the Nazi salute and said "Heil, Hitler.". Practicing as much as seven hours a day, she studied with teachers in Germany, England, Switzerland and Austria. 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." It is her effect on the sport of figure skating that is unrivaled. Sonja Henie was born on April 8, 1912 in Oslo, Norway. Later programs included her famous hula sketch. Therefore, its best to use Encyclopedia.com citations as a starting point before checking the style against your school or publications requirements and the most-recent information available at these sites: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html. Far from being discouraged, the youngster poured all her energies into skating. 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. Born on April 8, 1912 in Oslo, Norway, her father, Hans Wilhelm Henie, was a successful fur trader and her mother, Selma Lochman Nielsen, had a fortune of her own. Sonja is buried on a hilltop overlooking the Henie-Onstad museum. It set the pattern for the films to follow as a light musical comedy that included songs and skating. 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.
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