what did sonja henie die from

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. (April 27, 2023). Entertainment Weekly (February 11, 1994): 62. Sporting News (February 14, 1994): S21. Sonja-yes!" Henie married Daniel Reid Topping, an American sports investor from Greenwich, Connecticut, on 4 July 1940; they divorced in 1946. 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 is said to be one of the best figure skaters in history. 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. At 14 she was the Norwegian 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). Dressed in a white velvet, bell-skirted dress designed by her mother, Henie won over Austria's Herma Planck-Szabo. The early start was seen as a disadvantage, with the audience not yet whipped into a clapping frenzy and the judges known to become freer with their higher marks as the event proceeded. "Nobody hit me in the leg or tried to shoot me, but there were some likenesses to what's happening now." 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. Henie's unprecedented three Olympic gold medals have not been matched by any ladies' single skater since, nor have her achievements as ten-time consecutive World champion. On 15 September 1949 she married Winthrop Gardiner, Jr., a business executive; he divorced her on 14 May 1956 for "desertion and mental cruelty." first pair of ice skates when she was six. She had to concentrate on her profession, and fulfill contracts, really from the age of nine on," he explained. 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. It recounted that her appearance had been a front-page story in which Roelif Loveland had written "there is no simile to express adequately the grace and loveliness of this glamorous young woman." 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. New York Times (October 13, 1969). At the age of eighty-two, Hulten still had plenty of venom for Henie. (Getty Images) I saw a tweet this week from Kiira Korpi, the Finnish figure skater who won medals three times at the European Championships . 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. Encyclopedia of World Biography. 2009-05-21 23:06:30. 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. She was the champion in the Olympics in 1928, 1932 and 1936. 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). Another accusation that hurt Henie's image was the perception that she was a Nazi sympathizer. In 1927, she won her first world figure skating championship in Oslo, and retained the title for the next nine years. included dazzling ice-skating routines which she choreographed herself. She was the first woman figure skater to wear short skirts above the knee. She was 57. All of her films She incorporated 19 different spins into her programs, and she could spin nearly 80 revolutions. 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. . Notable Sports Figures. (April 27, 2023). The 1936 European Figure Skating Championships also took place in Berlin and neither Henie, Colledge, nor Megan Taylor paid obeisance to Hitler. Her mother traveled But Henie stopped producing shows after an accident in 1952 prior to a performance. During her competitive career, Henie traveled widely and worked with a variety of foreign coaches. After her marriage to Mr. Onstad, a childhood sweetheart, in 1956, she became interested in modern art. During the 1940s, Henie's popularity with movie audiences began to falter and her contract with Twentieth Century-Fox was not renewed. From the Archives: Don Ameche, Dapper Film Star, Dies at 85, From the Archives: Andy Warhol, Pioneer of 60s Pop Art, Dies, From the Archives: Jazz Great Thelonious Monk Dies, From the Archives: Armand Hammer Dies; Billionaire, Art Patron, From the Archives: Buster Crabbe, Athlete, Hero of Serials, Dies. At 14 she was the Norwegian Skating Champion. 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. I don't think she ever really learned to enjoy life. 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. 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. Scott, Paula Pyzik "Henie, Sonja Now I arrive at the Garden at 6:45 and I never stop until 11:10. Henie was the greatest of all women figure skaters from the 1920s to the 1940s, and perhaps of the entire twentieth century. 1968 Sonja was diagnosed with leukemia. Skating, a feat she would repeat in 1932 and 1936. 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. Sonia Henie, as controversial as she was legendary. She grew up in a She finished last, but she didn't give up. Henie was also successful in Hollywood. [citation needed] She then placed eighth in a field of eight at the 1924 Winter Olympics, at the age of eleven. In 1927, at the tender age of 14, she won the first of ten consecutive world championships. [13] Henie incorporated dance elements into her figure skating, through the placement of spins, jumps, and choreography to reflect the mood of the music she used. 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. [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". Jimmy Sutton (Tyrone Power), the press agent sent to Bergen to fetch her, at first treats her merely as Entry No. plummeted when a photo of her with Adolphe Hitler was published. The skater turned professional later that same year, after having won her tenth world championship. When Henie began her program, her ballet training was evident in the flourishes she made with her head and legs. These honors were the result of talent, intensive training, and an interest in doing something different from other skaters. Her passion for performing turned her into a huge financial and popular success among athletes. skating even more. [citation needed]. Retrieved April 27, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/henie-sonja. 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). 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. Dolgan, Bob. In 1940 Sonja married businessman Daniel She organized her own ice shows, which became immensely popular throughout the world. [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). These shows, the "Hollywood Ice Revues," were major attractions at Madison Square Garden for many years, up to 1952. There, Henie won her second gold medal in figure skating, with 2,302.5 points. Hans Henie died that year, at a time when his daughter's career had reached amazing heights. 27 Apr. Colledge, Cecilia. While also working as an ice show star and producer, she became a multi-millionaire. "When Cleveland fell under Sonja's spell 64 years ago, Henie's visit enchanted the city." 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. Her fur-trimmed costume Sonja 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]. Her third and final marriage was to fellow Norwegian Niels Onstad, a shipping magnate, on 9 June 1956. 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. Theatergoers of the era certainly were thrilled with Henie and their introduction to figure skating. When the Nazis arrived to take over the house, they saw the picture and left quickly. The result of her first entry into the national championship at Frogner, in 1922, was to win second place. After taking informal lessons at a local skating club, Henie won her first figure skating competition at age nine. From 1937 to 1945 she was one of the leading box-office attractions in the film industry. 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 no longer attended school but studied at home with tutors. Wiki User. 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. At 15 she would win the Olympic gold medal in Skating, a feat she would repeat in 1932 and 1936. She divorced Daniel and married Winthrop Gardner, a wealthy aviator, in 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 Therefore, be sure to refer to those guidelines when editing your bibliography or works cited list. Her father was a wealthy fur salesman and a former amateur cycling champion who encouraged his children to compete. Later programs included her famous hula sketch. Updates? "Ice Wars: The Prequel." In an era before television, these films were an introduction to skating for millions of American viewers. 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). 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. 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. 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. And most importantly, she hired the best skaters and choreographers and paid them handsomely. On a hilltop overlooking the Henie-Onstad Museum. appeared on the cover of Time magazine and her skates were immortalized The year after they were married she became a U.S. citizen. At 15 she would win the Olympic gold medal in An English translation, Wings on My Feet, was released in 1940 and republished in a revised edition in 1954. Although critics complained about her acting skills and thick During the shooting of Second Fiddle (1939), she greeted the then Crown-Prince couple of Norway Olav and Mrtha during their US tour. 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 became the ice-skating world playing tennis and she excelled at ice-skating. A male cast member from the Hollywood Ice Review had warmer memories of Henie in a 1996 interview in Films in Review. "Henie, Sonja "Remembering Sonja Henie." Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Bill Griffin described Henie as a perfectionist with a short fuse. 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. 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. . After a twirl on the ice with her pupils, Trudi consents. 1928, '32, '36 Games: Sonja Henie, 3-Time Gold Medalist ullstein bild via Getty Images <em>Eleven-year-old Sonja Henie competes at the 1924 Winter Olympics.</em> Henie, the Norwegian. Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Thematic Series: Sports Figures. 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. Won 3 olympic gold medals between 1928 and 1936. 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). Sonja was 57 years old at the time of death. Skating Champion. American figure skater 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). [1], Henie began skating at the age of 5. 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). 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. Besides, I can't quite imagine my doing the hula in the Olympics." [3][19] She is buried with Onstad in Oslo on the hilltop overlooking the Henie Onstad Art Centre. In 1936, Miss Henie decided to turn professional, stating simply, I want to go into pictures, and I want to skate in them. 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. 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". . Towards the end of her career, she began to be strongly challenged by younger skaters including Cecilia Colledge, Megan Taylor, and Hedy Stenuf. 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. [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. She produced her own show at New York's Roxy Theatre in January 1956. "You could laugh with Sonja, but she had other things on her mind. With Sonja Henie, Jack Oakie, Cesar Romero, Carole Landis. Her jumps and spins seem ridiculously easy compared to the athletic feats of contemporary figure skaters. She did try to make a film series at her own expense; a series that would serve as a travelogue to several cities. The year 1937 held some of Henie's greatest accomplishments and one of her greatest losses. She later competed successfully in tennis and auto racing in the midst of her skating career. 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. The best paired her with some of the biggest male stars of the time, including Tyrone Power in Thin Ice and Second Fiddle (1939), Don Ameche (for the second time) and Cesar Romero in Happy Landing (1938), and Ray Milland and Robert Cummings in Everything Happens at Night (1939). Frogner Stadium was the site of the 1927 Women's World Figure Skating Championship. She was 55, her. Corrections? 27 Apr. Sonja is buried on a hilltop overlooking the Henie-Onstad museum. [citation needed], Henie became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1940. 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. Henie retired from skating in 1956, the same year that she married her third husband, following two earlier marriages that ended in divorce. very wealthy family and was encouraged to play sports. Four thoughts about Sonja Henie " I skated with Sonja, and wrote the first biography after her death. The tour did not, however, result in the film contract Henie desired. Because Norway did not yet have indoor ice rinks, she traveled around Europe to train throughout the year and benefit from the best instructors. Her innovations and unparalleled determination would fuel another ten years of amateur successes, including a still unmatched Olympic record. 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. In her later years she was noted as a collector and patron of modern art. Henie's popularity as a film actress attracted many new fans and instituted skating shows as a popular new entertainment. [7] She did not make the final list however. The highly-publicized shows were well attended by film stars and filmmakers, including Darryl F. Zanuck of Twentieth Century-Fox. After the Japanese attack, she invited the boys from Little Norway to her ice shows, and gave the mechanics a plane as well a substantial sum of money for their educational fund; but her initial reluctance before the US entered the war was never to be forgotten. [6] Happy Landing (1938) was her biggest box office hit. 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. Henie also insisted on having total control of the skating numbers in her films such as Second Fiddle (1939). 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, (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. ." In 1951 Wirtz and Henie were unable to agree on a contract and parted ways. (April 27, 2023). She nevertheless had negotiated an impressive contract and was an immediate hit with audiences. 10 time World Champion Women's Figure Skating according to A&E Encyclopedia.com. Most online reference entries and articles do not have page numbers. 12 Oct 1969 (aged 57) Oslo, Oslo kommune, Oslo fylke, Norway. They also made her wealthy. No other skater before or since has dominated the sport as thoroughly as Henie did between 1927 and 1936. During the years that Henie won her world championships, the five-member judging panel was dominated by three Norwegians. 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. Sonja Henie was born on April 8, 1912 in Oslo, Norway. [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. She starred in a string of hits including Henie began skating when she was six years old. Topping. We had been flying for only an hour and she just slipped away.. Sonja Henie (8 April 1912 - 12 October 1969) was a Norwegian figure skater and film star. 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. 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. 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. She was signed by 20th Century-Fox and debuted in One in a Million (1936), in which she played an ice skater. At age 10 she won the Norwegian national figure-skating championship, and in 1924 she competed in the Winter Olympic Games in Chamonix, France. Her program also included double axels, spins, twirls, and jumps. Her first film, One In A Million with Adolphe Menjou, was a huge Moreover, her skating numbers were fantastic. She managed to tie together the elements in her routine in way that had not been done before. 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. Miss Henie had been suffering from. Her father, Hans Wilhelm Henie, was a successful fur trader and amateur athlete, and her mother, Selma Lochman Nielsen, inherited her family's wealth. In 1956, Sonja Henie married for the third time. She became a millionaire by 1940, an accomplishment that outstrips even the male athletes of her generation. 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). 436. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Henie won more Olympic and World titles than any other . A horizontal boulder forms her grave mark, which is located on Henie-Onstad Museum property. [13], Her innovative skating techniques and glamorous demeanor transformed the sport permanently and confirmed its acceptance as a legitimate sport in the Winter Olympics. Birthday: April 8, 1912. 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. ." Henie was the world's first great figure skater. Henie's autobiography, written with Janet Owen, is Wings on My Feet (1940). She was 57 years old. 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. 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. Her talent was evident from a very early age. [18] She died of the disease at age 57 in 1969 in an ambulance plane flight from Paris to Oslo. She had become an American citizen in 1941. Troubles in Henie's film career were not mirrored in her popularity as a live performer. Skating, besides being an important form of win, Fleming, Peggy 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. During the twentieth century no competitor was able to match Henie's three consecutive Olympic gold medals in women's figure skating. "I want to do with skates (in the movies) what Fred Astaire is doing with dancing," she said. Memorial ID. It would later house all of Henie's skating memorabilia. The family also fully appreciated Henie's interest in sports. Encyclopedia.com. When live television began to cut into the film industry, Henie stopped making movies and returned to traveling ice shows. Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. After retiring In 1921, at Oslo's Frogner Stadium, Henie competed in and won Norway's highest junior level of competition. Sonja Henie (see photo above) had been the world's premiere figure skater in the 1920s and '30s. [13] When white boots quickly became standard for female skaters, Henie began wearing beige boots because she wanted to remain unique. She had often performed in Germany and her popularity She finished in last place. 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. A stand of bleacher seats collapsed at a Baltimore armory, injuring more than 250 people. 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). Two earlier marriages to Americans, Daniel Reid Topping and Winthrop Gardiner Jr., ended in divorces in 1946 and 1956. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Her union with American sports investor (and later owner of the New York Yankees) Daniel Reid Topping lasted from 1940 to 1946, likely a victim to her grueling film production and touring schedules. At the time this was a brave departure from convention, and audiences loved it. Later in 1927 Henie saw the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova dance in London. Henie was not judged to be responsible for the incident, but she decided not to hold any more arena-style shows. Sandvika, Brum kommune, Akershus fylke, Norway Show Map. 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. Miss Henie, ill for the past nine months, died aboard an ambulance plane from Paris to her native Oslo, only minutes before landing. decided to become a US citizen and supported the USO in their efforts. As a result, her 1939 salary was more than $250,000. in ice shows and even starred in her own television special. Retrieved April 27, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/sports/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/henie-sonja. Henie won more Olympic and World titles than any other ladies' figure skater.

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