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Sonja Henie
built 228 days ago
If Sonja Henie had been “just a figure skater†she would have been impressive enough to warrant consideration as a Steamroller. And she started rolling young: Henie took to the ice at age six, and was the Norwegian national champion by the age of ten. She made her first Olympic appearance at the tender age of 11 in the 1924 Games. She skated to the side of the rink to ask for instructions from her coach several times during her performance in 1924, and she finished eighth in a field of eight. By 1928, at the age of 15, any confusion on her part had long since disappeared, and she would never again finish at the back of the pack. She won the gold that year, and then again in 1932 and 1936. Additionally, she won an astounding ten consecutive world championships beginning in 1927, a year before her first Olympic gold.
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Sonja Henie was a sensation. Nobody in Hollywood had seen ice-skating. All the big stars were present, only one important person did not come, Darryl F. Zanuck of 20th Century Fox. He came the second evening and a few days later he invited Sonja and her father to his office to have her sign a contract. The first meeting led to nothing. Sonja knew exactly what he wanted and Zanuck did not agree.
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The daughter of a fur wholesaler, Sonja Henie received her first pair of ice skates when she was six. Eight years later, she was the Norwegian Skating Champion. At 15, she would win the gold medal in Skating at the 1928 Olympics... becoming the youngest Olympic skating champion -- a record that stood for 70 years. She repeated as champion in 1932 and 1936. A ten-time World Champion Women's Figure Skater, she was the first skater to parlay athletic success into a lucrative career. In 1936 she turned professional and began touring with her own ice show, and soon after caught the attention of Hollywood.
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Long, long, after her days of filmic glory in the 1930s and 1940s, skating star Sonja Henie made her last movie appearance in the British Hello, London. Henie plays herself, a rich-as-Croesus ice-show celebrity making a tour of Europe. Michael Wilding and Eunice Gayson contrive to keep Sonja in London long enough so that she'll feel obliged to perform at a charity function. Also appearing under their own names are such British showbiz luminaries as Ronnie Graham, Stanley Holloway and Dennis Price; in addition, Oliver Reed shows up in a surly bit part. In the spirit of Auld Lang Syne, Hello London was released in the US by Ms. Henie's longtime home studio, 20th Century-Fox. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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Sonja Henie was born to wealth. Her father had inherited a string of factories from his mother and a successful fur business from his father. Her mother inherited a fleet of lumber schooners that transported Norwegian lumber to foreign ports. The Henies owned an automobile, a 1905 Horch (predecessor of an Audi) when most residents of Oslo were still driving horses. They gave elaborate parties, which often included many crowned heads of Europe, who enjoyed wearing the Henie furs. The family consisted of the father, Wilhelm, Mother, Selma, and their two children, Lief and Sonja.
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Sonja Henie was born in Oslo on April 8, 1912. She was the only daughter of Wilhelm Henie and his wife Selma. He had inherited a very profitable fur business, and in 1894 he won the world bicycle championship. He knew by experience what it would take to reach the top, and he more than anyone else guided his daughter in her career. Her mother was ... a tremendous support for her daughter throughout her life. She also designed all of her beautiful skating outfits (costumes) during her amateur time.
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Sonja Henie