Sonja Henie turned Olympic figure skating into a Hollywood fortune and the touring ice show
At her first Olympics, aged eleven, Sonja Henie finished eighth out of eight. Three years later she began a run of ten straight world titles, then won three Olympic golds, a feat no women's singles skater has matched. After that she went to Hollywood and helped make ice shows a popular American entertainment.
Henie was born in Kristiania, now Oslo, in 1912, the only daughter of a wealthy furrier who had once been a world cycling champion. She tried skiing first, then followed her brother onto the ice at five, while also ranking nationally at tennis. Once serious training began, school gave way to private tutors. She loved ballet and admired Anna Pavlova, and that sense of dance shaped her skating.
Her first world title in 1927, at fourteen, was disputed: three of the five judges who placed her first were Norwegian. The 1936 Olympics caused more grumbling. After the compulsory figures she led Britain's Cecilia Colledge by only a few points, and then drew the coveted final slot for free skating while Colledge had to go second of 26. Critics said the draw favoured her, and a fairer staggered system was later brought in. Amateur rules were strict, yet her father openly asked for expense money for her exhibitions, and crowds were so large that police managed them in Prague and New York.
Having decided as a girl that she wanted to be a film star in California, she turned professional in 1936. Darryl Zanuck signed her to Twentieth Century Fox, and musicals such as Sun Valley Serenade, with Glenn Miller's band, became big hits; Happy Landing was her largest. With the producer Arthur Wirtz she staged lavish ice revues at Rockefeller Center that drew millions and opened paid work to many other skaters.
Later ventures went less well. Breaking with Wirtz in 1950 left her playing smaller arenas, and a 1956 South American tour, amid heavy drinking, ended her performing days. When she died in 1969, aged 57, she was planning a television comeback.
Source: Sonja Henie
