Henie, Sonja
Webpages concerning "Henie, Sonja"
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Wikipedia-Article "Sonja Henie"
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| Figure Skating | ||
| Gold | 1928 | Ladies Singles |
| Gold | 1932 | Ladies Singles |
| Gold | 1936 | Ladies Singles |
Sonja Henie (April 8, 1912-October 12, 1969) was a Norwegian figure skater and actress.
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Summary
Born in Oslo, Henie took the gold medal in the 1928, 1932 and 1936 Winter Olympics. She had earlier placed eighth in a field of eight at the 1924 Winter Olympics, at the age of eleven. During the 1924 program, she skated over to the side of the rink several times to ask her coach for directions.
By the next Olympiad, she needed no such assistance. She won her first of ten consecutive World Figure Skating Championships in 1927 at the age of fifteen, and her first Olympic gold medal the following year. She also won six consecutive European championships.
She is credited with being the first to adopt the short skirt costume in figure skating, and the first to make use of dance choreography. She was also an accomplished tennis player.
After the 1936 Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, she gave up her amateur status and took up a career as a professional performer in acting and live shows. She mostly performed in the United States, but had triumphant shows in Norway in 1953 and 1955. In 1938 she published her autobiography, which was republished in a revised edition in 1954. In 1941, she became a naturalized citizen of the United States. She retired from acting in 1958 with the film Hello, London. She became one of the wealthiest women in the world in her time.
Henie was married three times, with Dan Topping, Winthrop Gardner, and finally the shipowner Niels Onstad. Together, they accumulated a large collection of modern art that formed the basis for the Henie-Onstad Art Centre at Høvikodden, near Oslo.
She died in 1969 of leukemia, on a flight from Paris to Oslo. Considered by most as the greatest female figure skater in history, she and her husband are buried on the hilltop overlooking the Henie-Onstad Art Centre.
Records and Achievements
Amateur
- Three-time Olympic Champion (1928, 1932, 1936). Highest ever in Ladies Singles.
- Ten-time World Champion (1927-1936). Highest ever in Ladies Singles.
- Six-time European Champion (1931-1936).
Awards
- Inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame (1976).
- Inducted into the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame (1982).
Filmography
- Seven Days for Elizabeth (1927)
- Se Norge (1929) (documentary)
- One in a Million (1936 film) (1936)
- Thin Ice (1937 film) (1937)
- Ali Baba Goes to Town (1937) (Cameo)
- Happy Landing (1938)
- My Lucky Star (1938)
- Second Fiddle (1939)
- Everything Happens at Night (1939)
- Sun Valley Serenade (1941)
- Iceland (1942)
- Wintertime (1943)
- It's a Pleasure (1945)
- The Countess of Monte Cristo (1948)
- Hello London (1958)
Trivia
In 1938, at age 25, she became the youngest person made a knight first class of The Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav.
External links
- Biographies, film listings and magazine cover scans of Sonja Henie
- Sonja Henie at the Internet Movie Database
- CNNSI.com - 100 Greatest Female Athletes
- olympic.org Athlete Profile - Henie
Navigation
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Olympic Champions in Figure Skating – Ladies Single | |
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1908: Madge Syers-Cave | 1920: Magda Julin | 1924: Herma Planck-Szabo | 1928: Sonja Henie | 1932: Sonja Henie | 1936: Sonja Henie | 1948: Barbara Ann Scott | 1952: Jeannette Altwegg | 1956: Tenley Albright | 1960: Carol Heiss | 1964: Sjoukie Dijkstra | 1968: Peggy Fleming | 1972: Beatrix Schuba | 1976: Dorothy Hamill | 1980: Anett Pötzsch | 1984: Katarina Witt | 1988: Katarina Witt | 1992: Kristi Yamaguchi | 1994: Oksana Baiul | 1998: Tara Lipinski | 2002: Sarah Hughes |
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| European Champions in Figure Skating – Ladies Single | ||
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1930: Fritzi Burger | 1931-1936: Sonja Henie | 1937-1939: Cecilia Colledge | 1947-1948: Barbara Ann Scott | 1949: Eva Pawlik | 1950: Alena *Ája* Vrzáňová | 1951: Jeanette Altwegg | 1952: Jaqueline du Bief | 1953-1954: Gundi Busch | 1955: Hanna Eigel | 1956: Ingrid Wendl | 1957: Hanna Eigel | 1958: Ingrid Wendl | 1959: Hanna Walter | 1960-1964: Sjoukie Dijkstra | 1965-1966: Regine Heitzer | 1967: Gabriele Seyfert | 1968: Hana Maškova | 1969-1970: Gabriele Seyfert | 1971-1972: Beatrix Schuba | 1973-1975: Christine Errath | 1976: Dianne de Leeuw | 1977-1980: Anett Pötzsch | 1981: Denise Biellmann | 1982: Claudia Kristofics-Binder | 1983-1988: Katarina Witt | 1989: Claudia Leistner | 1990: Evelyn Großmann | 1991-1995: Surya Bonaly | 1996-1997: Irina Slutskaya | 1998-1999: Maria Butirskaya | 2000-2001: Irina Slutskaya | 2002: Maria Butirskaya | 2003: Irina Slutskaya | 2004: Julia Sebestyen | 2005: Irina Slutskaya |
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