Modern figure skating is deeply indebted to Sonja Henie (1912-1969), one of the greatest athletes of this century. The former NCIS star shared the heartbreaking news Saturday that his younger brother Will Weatherly died on Thursday, April 20. [citation needed] She then placed eighth in a field of eight at the 1924 Winter Olympics, at the age of eleven. At age seven Henie learned to skate from her elder and only brother, Leif. Following the success of Thin Ice, Henie showed her growing business savvy by getting Twentieth Century-Fox to renegotiate her contract. In 1956, Sonja Henie married for the third time. In 1927, at the tender age of 14, she won the first of ten consecutive world championships. Sonja-yes!" Darryl In the effort, she exercised the same mental intensity and financial resources that were the foundation of her earlier work. At the time of the 1994 Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan rivalry, their altercations were compared in the press with the sparring that went on between Henie and Swedish skater Vivi-Anne Hulten many years earlier. Other stories echo these allegations, although in a milder fashion. Death. Within a year of turning pro, Henie had earned in excess of a quarter of a million dollars. Henie won the first of an unprecedented ten consecutive World Figure Skating Championships in 1927 at the age of fourteen. She won the children's figure skating championship of Oslo when she was 8, and two years later, in 1923, she won the figure skating championship of Norway. Most online reference entries and articles do not have page numbers. Two earlier marriages to Americans, Daniel Reid Topping and Winthrop Gardiner Jr., ended in divorces in 1946 and 1956. Henie-Onstad museum. 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. A male cast member from the Hollywood Ice Review had warmer memories of Henie in a 1996 interview in Films in Review. "Ice Wars: The Prequel." Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. won her first ice-skating competition. She was the champion in the Olympics in 1928, 1932 and 1936. "The World's First Ice Queen." Rap singer She was signed by 20th Century-Fox and debuted in One in a Million (1936), in which she played an ice skater. But Henie stopped producing shows after an accident in 1952 prior to a performance. The tour did not, however, result in the film contract Henie desired. Critic Roy Hemming enthused about the film when it was among seven video releases made at the time of the 1994 Olympics. She herself earned over $200,000 from her film work alone in 1937. [3] She also won six consecutive European championships from 1931 to 1936. She was among 250 female stars who were nominated for "50 Greatest Screen Legend" status by the American Film Institute. 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. She produced her own show at New York's Roxy Theatre in January 1956. 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 innovations and unparalleled determination would fuel another ten years of amateur successes, including a still unmatched Olympic record. She did not die from her leukemia; but she died of a hemorrhage caused by change in air pressure in the jet flying from Paris to Oslo. She said her greatest hope was to become a movie star, and she soon did. He died of Tularmia (Rabbit . She had also performed for European royalty and presented a skating version of Pavlova's "Dying Swan" that was first seen in Milan, Italy in 1933. It set the pattern for the films to follow as a light musical comedy that included songs and skating. A horizontal boulder forms her grave mark, which is located on Henie-Onstad Museum property. Knisley, Michael. She died a year later at age fifty-seven. In 1923 she became the senior national champion of Norway. For the rest of the war, all of her possessions were left untouched by the Nazis. [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. Henie's popularity as a film actress attracted many new fans and instituted skating shows as a popular new entertainment. Skating, besides being an important form of win, Fleming, Peggy Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia.com cannot guarantee each citation it generates. https://www.encyclopedia.com/sports/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/henie-sonja, Scott, Paula Pyzik "Henie, Sonja Her talent was evident from a very early age. OSLO, Oct. 12 (AP)--Sonja Henie, ice-skating queen and film star, died tonight on an ambulance plane flying from Paris to Oslo. [3][19] She is buried with Onstad in Oslo on the hilltop overlooking the Henie Onstad Art Centre. Sources Her jumps and spins seem ridiculously easy compared to the athletic feats of contemporary figure skaters. Encyclopedia of World Biography. Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Thematic Series: Sports Figures. 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. decided to become a US citizen and supported the USO in their efforts. [citation needed], Henie became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1940. She also forbade the skaters in her chorus from wearing hairpins, after having fallen and broken ribs because of a pin on the ice. 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. Norden, a Nobel Prize winner, was supposedly murdered by the Gestapo, but is rumoured to be in hiding and writing anonymous dispatches advocating world peace. 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. OSLO, Oct. 12 (AP)--Sonja Henie, ice-skating queen and film star, died tonight on an ambulance plane flying from Paris to Oslo. She wore jewels during practice and plumes during competition.. In 1951 Wirtz and Henie were unable to agree on a contract and parted ways. 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. A dynamic athlete, Henie ranked third among Norway's female tennis players and was "a daring equestrienne." Eight Sonja Henie movies crossed the $100 million domestic gross mark. Her autobiography Mitt livs eventyr was published in 1938. At the age of eighty-two, Hulten still had plenty of venom for Henie. (April 27, 2023). No other skater before or since has dominated the sport as thoroughly as Henie did between 1927 and 1936. O'Brien, Richard and Jack McCallum. Besides, I can't quite imagine my doing the hula in the Olympics.". 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. Encyclopedia.com gives you the ability to cite reference entries and articles according to common styles from the Modern Language Association (MLA), The Chicago Manual of Style, and the American Psychological Association (APA). back to Norway and opened a museum to showcase their art collection. 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. She was 55, her. The daughter of a fur wholesaler in Norway, Sonja Henie received her Her brother, Leif Henie, coauthored Queen of Ice, Queen of Shadows: The Unsuspected Life of Sonja Henie (1985), in which he discussed her violent temper. Subsequently, she appeared on television several times, including her own one-hour special. Zanuck took notice of the petite blonde and signed her to a contract. Although Trudi does no skating in her screen test, she makes the grade. Troubles in Henie's film career were not mirrored in her popularity as a live performer. The Norwegian Royal Family attended both events and indeed attended her funeral in 1969. ed. 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. Norway's king and queen attended the funeral service. 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. Three times the Olympic figure-skating champion, Miss Henie won most of the major world skating titles from 1927 to 1936, when she turned professional. Walsh also . 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. forced her to retire. At 14 she was the Norwegian Henie would make eleven films in Hollywood, with the first six being the most successful. 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. In 1941 Henie, who was twice married to U.S. citizens, herself became a citizen of the United States. 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. 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. 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. She later competed successfully in tennis and auto racing in the midst of her skating career. There, Henie won her second gold medal in figure skating, with 2,302.5 points. When their daughter showed a special passion for skating at about age six, which she began under the instruction of her brother Leif, they provided her with whatever training she required. It was a box-office smash, as were others she made in the following dozen years. 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). Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Thematic Series: Sports Figures. . They also made her wealthy. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. "Sonja Henie 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." Unfortunately she had a serious drinking problem which eventually Plain Dealer (January 16, 2002). controversy. She 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. Encyclopedia.com. Skating Champion. Henie won Olympic gold medals in 1928, 1932, and 1936 before retiring from amateur skating. It would later house all of Henie's skating memorabilia. She managed to tie together the elements in her routine in way that had not been done before. was a frequent exclaimatory utterance by Tom and Ray Magliozzi on the National Public Radio show Car Talk. 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 was 57. The young Norwegian was profoundly influenced by Pavlova's artistry, and she tried to incorporate ballet-style choreography into her skating routines. The year 1937 held some of Henie's greatest accomplishments and one of her greatest losses. included dazzling ice-skating routines which she choreographed herself. 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. Hulten charged that Henie was responsible for having her strip searched and detained on suspicion of smuggling jewels while traveling across the German border in 1935. Best Answer. She finished in last place. ." Sandvika, Brum kommune, Akershus fylke, Norway Show Map. She was a three-time Olympic Champion (1928, 1932, 1936) in Ladies' Singles, a ten-time World Champion (1927-1936) and a six-time European Champion (1931-1936). Birthday: April 8, 1912. 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. The year after they were married she became a U.S. citizen. Henie died in her sleep on an ambulance plane that was taking her from Paris to Oslo to see a specialist. Three-quarters of a century later, in 2010 . Skating, a feat she would repeat in 1932 and 1936. Copy. After placing last in a field of eight, she increased her practice time to some seven hours a day. 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. In 1936 she would turn professional and tour with her own ice show. In 1921, at Oslo's Frogner Stadium, Henie competed in and won Norway's highest junior level of competition. In the fall of 1968 Henie was diagnosed with leukemia. 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. Within the Cite this article tool, pick a style to see how all available information looks when formatted according to that style. 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. 10 time World Champion Women's Figure Skating according to A&E She also won gold medals in the 1932 and 1936 Olympics. From its ninth-century, Northern European origins as a means for hunting and traveling on ice, skating has been explored for its leisure poss, Rapper, actor, social commentator She remembered in the Sporting News how Henie had screamed at her after the 1933 World Championship competition, saying she was an unworthy opponent. Sonja Henie (8 April 1912 12 October 1969) was a Norwegian figure skater and film star. In 1968, the Onstads donated 250 of their paintings, plus $3.5 million for a fan-shaped stone-and-glass museum near Oslo. The daughter of a fur wholesaler in Norway, Sonja Henie received her first pair of ice skates when she was six. With her well-to-do father's backing, she studied ballet in London, and began applying choreography to her routines. Encyclopedia.com. Dividing her remaining years between homes in Norway and the United States, Henie lived happily with her third husband, Niels Onstad. 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. 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. The Hollywood Ice Review was polished by Henie's unwavering pursuit of perfection. Sports Illustrated (February 14, 1994): 18. Her husband chartered a plane to convey her from Paris to Oslo to see her doctor, but she died onboard in her sleep. After the 1936 World Figure Skating Championships, Henie gave up her amateur status and took up a career as a professional performer in acting and live shows. 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. playing tennis and she excelled at ice-skating. Private tutors were hired to educate her while she concentrated on her skating. What Shows Have Been Renewed or Canceled? 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 Onstad Kunstsenter Grounds. 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. in ice shows and even starred in her own television special. In December 1937 Henie was received into Norway's Knightly Order of St. Olaf. Encyclopedia.com. In Paris yesterday her condition worsened, and it was decided to fly her home. . This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sonja-Henie, Sonja Henie - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). At 11 she won the national championshipand also entered her first Olympics, in which she placed last. At the time this was a brave departure from convention, and audiences loved it. 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. 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 no longer attended school but studied at home with tutors. 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. The result of her first entry into the national championship at Frogner, in 1922, was to win second place. Selma had designed her daughter's above-the-knee skirt with heavy fur trim to give it fullness. She married Onstad that same yearby which time her film career was largely behind herand embarked on an avocation of art collecting which resulted in one of the finest collections of paintings in Hollywood. It was Selma Henie, he said, who ended her daughter's squabbles and made sure that things ran smoothly. And most importantly, she hired the best skaters and choreographers and paid them handsomely. She is said to be one of the best figure skaters in history. As a result, her 1939 salary was more than $250,000. His daughter began studying ballet at age five and would be active in skiing, swimming, and horseback riding. 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. Wirtz also acted as Henie's financial advisor. Sonja Henie was born on April 8, 1912 and died on October 12, 1969. plummeted when a photo of her with Adolphe Hitler was published. While also working as an ice show star and producer, she became a multi-millionaire. After the success of her first film, One in a Million (1936), Henie's position was assured and she became increasingly demanding in her business dealings with Zanuck. Henie also insisted on having total control of the skating numbers in her films such as Second Fiddle (1939). She also had numerous lucrative endorsement contracts, and deals to market skates, clothing, jewelry, dolls, and other merchandise branded with her name. But Henie will be best remembered for putting skating above the personal and political. Entertainment Weekly (February 11, 1994): 62. 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. John Axe, Collectible Sonja Henie (1979), includes covers and programs of some of the revues, in addition to brief text and photographs of dolls and skates. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. "Tonya-no! Not long after the center's lavish opening celebration, Henie was diagnosed with leukemia. "Sonja Henie Moreover, Hulten believed that Henie's father influenced competition organizers by playing poker for "appearance fees" and, in one case, the agreement to place Hulten third in the 1936 Olympics. 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. 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. [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. Topping. Henie is credited with many "firsts," including being the first international sports star, the first superstar among figure skaters, and the firstand still onlywoman to win three Olympic gold medals in figure skating. (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. Short skirts and choreography were unknown in figure skating before Henie introduced them in the late 1920s. . New York Times (October 13, 1969). 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. ." 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. With her third husband, the Norwegian shipowner Niels Onstad, she established (1968) the Henie Onstad Art Center, a museum of modern art in Hvikodden, near Oslo, Norway. The Onstads gave Norway an art museum and 250 of their paintings in August 1968. She is one of only two skaters to defend a ladies' singles Olympic title, the other being Katarina Witt, and her six European titles has only been matched by Witt. But Henie did not stop there. 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.
Pof Rifle Quality,
Arrivecan Receipt Code A,
Articles W