Sonja Henie

2.1. Childhood and Education

Sonja Henie was born on April 8, 1912, in Kristiania, which is now known as Oslo, Norway. She was the only daughter of Wilhelm Henie and Selma Lochmann-Nielsen. Her father, Wilhelm, was a prosperous furrier and a former World Cycling Champion from 1894, while both of her parents possessed inherited wealth. This affluent background allowed for her early engagement in sports. Henie began skating at the tender age of five, demonstrating remarkable talent by winning her first competition in the sport during her childhood. Her formal schooling ceased at age 11 to allow her to focus entirely on her burgeoning skating career. She was educated by private tutors, and her father invested heavily in her training, employing top international experts, including the celebrated Russian ballerina Tamara Karsavina, to cultivate her into a sports celebrity. Henie developed an early appreciation for music and dance, studying ballet and later expressing admiration for the Russian ballet dancer Anna Pavlova after observing her perform in London.

2.2. Family and Early Sports Activities

The Henie family strongly encouraged their children to participate in various sports. Sonja initially displayed talent in skiing and then followed her older brother, Leif, into figure skating. Beyond figure skating, Henie was also an accomplished athlete in other disciplines; she was a nationally ranked tennis player, a skilled swimmer, and proficient in equestrianism. Her parents, particularly her father Wilhelm, dedicated themselves to managing her career, even putting aside their own pursuits in Norway to accompany her on her travels for training and competitions, with her brother Leif taking over the family fur business. This family dedication played a crucial role in shaping her early athletic development and setting the stage for her future professional endeavors.

3.1. Early Competitions and Success

Henie first competed at the 1924 Winter Olympics in Chamonix, France, at the age of eleven, placing eighth out of eight competitors. Her breakthrough came at the 1927 World Figure Skating Championships in Oslo, where, at just fourteen years old, she won the first of her unprecedented ten consecutive World titles. This victory was considered controversial as she won by a 3-2 decision (or 7 vs. 8 ordinal points) against the reigning Olympic and World Champion Herma Szabo of Austria, with three of the five judges who awarded Henie first place being Norwegian. The following year, in 1928, Henie secured the first of her three Olympic gold medals at the St. Moritz Olympics, making her one of the youngest figure skating Olympic champions. Her record as the youngest winner in Winter Olympic figure skating stood until 1998 when it was surpassed by Tara Lipinski of the United States.

3.2. Dominance in Olympic and World Competitions

Henie's amateur career was marked by an era of dominance. She successfully defended her Olympic titles in 1932 and 1936, becoming one of only two ladies' singles skaters to achieve three consecutive Olympic gold medals, a feat unmatched since. She also defended her World titles annually, securing ten consecutive World Championships from 1927 to 1936. Additionally, she won six consecutive European Figure Skating Championships from 1931 to 1936. Her three Olympic gold medals and ten consecutive World titles remain records for a ladies' single skater. While Irina Slutskaya holds the record for the most European titles among ladies' skaters, Henie shares the record for most consecutive titles with Katarina Witt. Henie is one of only seven athletes to win three consecutive gold medals in the Winter Olympics across all sports. She is also credited as the first female skater to successfully perform the Axel jump in competition. During her competitive years, Henie traveled extensively and trained with various international coaches. In Oslo, she honed her skills at Frogner Stadium, under coaches like Hjørdis Olsen and Oscar Holte. Later in her career, she was primarily coached by American Howard Nicholson in London. Her widespread popularity often required police presence for crowd control at her appearances in cities like Prague and New York City.

3.3. Controversies and Challenges During Amateur Career

Despite her immense success, Henie's amateur career was not without its challenges and controversies. The judging at the 1927 World Championships, where she narrowly defeated Herma Szabo with a panel heavily weighted by Norwegian judges, drew criticism. Towards the end of her amateur career, she faced stiff competition from younger skaters such as Cecilia Colledge, Megan Taylor, and Hedy Stenuf. At the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Henie's victory was highly controversial, particularly due to the exceptionally close competition with Cecilia Colledge. After the school figures segment, Colledge was only a few points behind Henie, a proximity that reportedly infuriated Henie, who tore the posted results into pieces. Further suspicion arose regarding the draw for the free skating segment, where Henie was assigned the advantageous last-to-skate position, while Colledge performed second out of 26 competitors. Performing early was seen as a disadvantage, as audiences were not yet fully engaged, and judges tended to award higher marks as the event progressed. This situation later prompted the adoption of a fairer, staggered draw system. It was also an open secret that her father, Wilhelm Henie, demanded "expense money" for her skating appearances, despite the strict amateurism rules of the time.

4.1. Transition to Professionalism

After the 1936 World Figure Skating Championships, Sonja Henie officially relinquished her amateur status to embark on a professional career in both acting and live ice shows. Since her childhood, Henie had harbored aspirations of moving to California and becoming a movie star once her competitive days concluded, despite her strong Norwegian accent which could have posed a barrier to her acting ambitions. This transition marked a pivotal moment for figure skaters, as Henie effectively pioneered a path for athletes to earn a living from their skills. By touring North America with her own professional ice shows, she not only amassed significant personal wealth but also played a crucial role in popularizing the ice show format, thereby creating professional opportunities for many other less-known figure skaters.

4.2. Hollywood Acting Career

Henie's foray into Hollywood began in 1936, following a highly successful ice show in Los Angeles specifically orchestrated by her father to launch her film career. This led to her signing a long-term contract with Twentieth Century Fox, making her one of the highest-paid actresses of that era. Her position was solidified after the success of her debut film, One in a Million (1936). As her star rose, Henie became increasingly assertive in her business negotiations with studio chief Darryl Zanuck, even insisting on having complete creative control over the skating sequences in her films, such as Second Fiddle (1939).

While primarily known for musical comedies, Henie attempted to venture into more dramatic roles. She starred in the anti-Nazi film Everything Happens at Night (1939) and It's a Pleasure (1945), a skating-themed adaptation of the classic "alcoholic star helps newcomer rise" narrative often seen in films like A Star Is Born. It's a Pleasure was her only film shot in Technicolor, but it did not achieve the same box office success as her other works and highlighted her limitations as a dramatic actress. Recognizing this, Zanuck steered her back towards musical comedies. This resulted in several highly successful films, including Sun Valley Serenade (1941) featuring Glenn Miller, John Payne, and The Nicholas Brothers, which included popular songs like "In the Mood" and "Chattanooga Choo Choo". Other hits followed, such as Iceland (1942) with Jack Oakie and Payne, and Wintertime (1943) alongside Cesar Romero, Carole Landis, and Cornel Wilde. Henie developed a notable comedic flair, and these films consistently ranked among 20th Century-Fox's top box-office performers in their respective years. Adjusted for 2017 inflation, eight of Henie's films generated over 100.00 M USD in domestic gross, with Happy Landing (1938) being her biggest box office success. Her film Everything Happens at Night (1939), which featured Ray Milland and Robert Cummings as reporters tracking a Nobel Prize winner pursued by the Gestapo, was banned in Nazi Germany upon its release in December 1939.

4.3. Ice Show Production and Management

In addition to her thriving film career at Fox, Sonja Henie established a significant business partnership with Arthur Wirtz, who produced her touring ice shows under the brand "Hollywood Ice Revue." Wirtz also served as her financial advisor. At that time, figure skating and ice shows were not yet widely recognized forms of entertainment in the United States. Henie's immense popularity as a film actress attracted a massive new audience, thereby establishing ice shows as a prominent and popular form of entertainment. Throughout the 1940s, Henie and Wirtz collaborated on extravagant musical ice skating productions at Rockefeller Center's Center Theatre in New York City, drawing millions of ticket buyers.

However, in 1950, Henie ended her arrangement with Wirtz, deciding to produce her own tours for the next three seasons under the name "Sonja Henie Ice Revue." This proved to be an ill-advised decision, as she found herself directly competing with Wirtz, whose shows now featured the newly crowned Olympic champion Barbara Ann Scott. Wirtz maintained control over the best arenas and performance dates, forcing Henie to play in smaller venues and markets already saturated by other touring ice shows, such as the Ice Capades. Compounding her legal and financial woes, a section of bleachers collapsed during one of her shows in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1952.

4.4. Later Career and Retirement

In 1953, Henie formed a new, more successful partnership with Morris Chalfen to appear in his European Holiday On Ice tour. She also produced her own show at New York's Roxy Theatre in January 1956. However, a subsequent South American tour in 1956 proved disastrous. At this point, Henie was struggling with heavy drinking and could no longer meet the demanding requirements of extensive touring, leading to her retirement from professional skating. She later attempted to produce a self-funded film series intended as a travelogue featuring various cities, with Paris and London mentioned. Only Hello London (1958) was ultimately made with her own backing, co-starring Michael Wilding and Stanley Holloway. While her ice show numbers in the film were still commendable, the movie garnered poor reviews and found few distributors, effectively ending her film career. Her autobiography, Mitt livs eventyr (My Life's Adventure), was first published in 1938. An English translation, Wings on My Feet, was released in 1940 and reissued in a revised edition in 1954. At the time of her death at age 57, Henie was reportedly planning a comeback for a television special scheduled to air in January 1970, where she intended to skate to "Lara's Theme" from the film Doctor Zhivago.

5.1. Public Figure and Political Connections

As a wealthy and globally recognized celebrity, Sonja Henie frequently moved in the highest social circles, interacting with royalty and heads of state from various countries. She often performed in Germany during her amateur skating career, where she became a favorite of German audiences and was personally admired by Adolf Hitler. Her social standing naturally led to her acquaintance with Hitler. Throughout her life, her professional ice shows and later, her art exhibitions, attracted the attention of prominent figures such as Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon and Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden, with whom she met. During the filming of Second Fiddle in 1939, she also met with the then Crown-Prince couple of Norway, Olav and Märtha, during their visit to the United States.

5.2. Nazi Controversy and Criticism

Henie's connections with Adolf Hitler and other high-ranking Nazi officials ignited significant controversy before, during, and after World War II. At the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, she controversially greeted Hitler with a Nazi salute. After the Games, she accepted an invitation to lunch with Hitler at his resort home in Berchtesgaden, where he presented her with an autographed photo bearing a lengthy inscription. This incident drew strong denunciation in the Norwegian press. In her revised 1954 biography, Henie stated that no Norwegian judge was on the panel for the 1936 Olympics, despite her entitlement as a Norwegian competitor, suggesting she won her third Olympic medal under difficult circumstances. She also claimed that when she, along with silver medalist Cecilia Colledge and bronze medalist Vivi-Anne Hultén, passed Hitler's tribune as gold medalists, neither she nor the others honored Hitler with the Nazi salute. Similarly, at the 1936 European Figure Skating Championships in Berlin, neither Henie, Colledge, nor Megan Taylor performed the Nazi salute.

Despite these later explanations, her perceived neutrality and relations with Nazi officials continued to be a source of criticism. It was noted that she invited Nazi officials, including Joseph Goebbels, to the German premiere of her first film, One in a Million (1936), and maintained these connections even after the German occupation of Norway. This enabled her family's extensive property in Norway to avoid confiscation by the German army, a fate many other wealthy Norwegians faced. Furthermore, she was criticized for not providing any assistance to her occupied homeland and for refusing requests for aid from Norwegian exiles in North America. Consequently, many Norwegians regarded her as a "traitor" and an associate of Vidkun Quisling, the leader of the Norwegian collaborationist government. Henie defended herself by stating that she was unaware of the nature of the Nazis, believed the salute was merely a German courtesy, and perceived Nazi officials as "wonderful family people," while fearing "Bolsheviks." As a result of these controversies, she was not invited to the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo.

However, public sentiment in Norway began to soften in the post-war years. In August 1953, Henie returned to Oslo for an ice show, and despite her initial apprehension, she was warmly received by the audience. During this visit, she was awarded the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav, First Class, an honor decided in 1937 but only formally presented then. Later, in 1968, she invited King Olav V to the opening of the Henie Onstad Art Centre, marking a significant step in her reconciliation with her home country. Nevertheless, she declined to attend the wedding of Crown Prince Harald (now King Harald V) and Sonja Haraldsen shortly thereafter, which many speculated was due to the lingering perception of her wartime conduct.

6.1. Marriages and Family

Sonja Henie was married three times during her lifetime. Her first marriage was to Dan Topping, a wealthy American businessman and sports executive who owned the Brooklyn Dodgers of the NFL and later became an owner of the New York Yankees. They were married in 1940 and divorced in 1946. Her second marriage was to Winthrop Gardiner Jr. in 1949. Gardiner was a descendant of the first English settlers on Long Island and an owner of Gardiner's Island; he also served as Henie's business partner. This marriage lasted until their divorce in 1956. Later in 1956, she married Niels Onstad, a Norwegian shipping magnate and prominent art patron. This marriage lasted until her death in 1969. While training in Oslo, Henie studied alongside Martin Stixrud and Erna Andersen, who was both a competitor and a member of her skate club.

6.2. Art Collection and Philanthropy

After her retirement from professional skating in 1956, Sonja Henie and her third husband, Niels Onstad, settled in Oslo, Norway. Together, they amassed a substantial collection of modern art. This impressive collection eventually formed the core of the Henie Onstad Art Centre, a renowned museum and archive located at Høvikodden in Bærum, near Oslo. The couple not only donated their art collection to the state but also contributed 50.00 M NOK towards the center's establishment. The Henie Onstad Art Centre officially opened on August 23, 1968, with King Olav V of Norway attending the ceremony. This initiative underscored Henie's significant contribution to the arts and her reconciliation with her home country, despite earlier controversies.

8.1. Impact on Figure Skating

Henie is widely credited with several innovations that revolutionized figure skating. She was among the first figure skaters to incorporate dance choreography more extensively into her routines, enhancing the artistic presentation of the sport. She also famously adopted the short skirt for figure skating costumes, which was a departure from previous, more conservative attire. Furthermore, she was a pioneer in wearing white skating boots, which visually deemphasized the heaviness of the skates and created a more ethereal, elongated appearance of the skater's legs, drawing greater attention from both judges and spectators. When white boots subsequently became standard for female skaters, Henie distinguished herself by switching to beige boots to maintain her unique style.

Her innovative techniques and glamorous demeanor transformed figure skating into a more visually compelling and accepted legitimate sport within the Winter Olympics. Figure skating historian Ellyn Kestnbaum highlights Henie's role in shifting the sport's meaning firmly towards "femininity" and transforming it into "a spectacle of the skater's body." Henie's influence also extended to costume design; her fur-trimmed outfits, which emphasized wealth and glamour, were widely emulated by competitors at the 1930 World Figure Skating Championships in New York City. She meticulously integrated dance elements, including the placement of spins, jumps, and overall choreography, to reflect the mood and rhythm of the music she used. While her skating was considered "athletic and powerful for her day," Kestnbaum notes that Henie also incorporated elements like using the toe picks of her skates to run or pose on the ice, similar to ballet's pointe technique. While toe steps are generally used as occasional counterpoints in the flow of skating, Kestnbaum suggests Henie might have overused them, describing them as "mincing and ineffective" at times. She is also credited as the first female skater to successfully perform an Axel jump in competition.

8.2. Impact on Popular Culture

Sonja Henie's greatest contribution to the public image of skating, according to Ellyn Kestnbaum, came through her professional ice shows and her Hollywood films. For many audiences, these mass media exposures were their first introduction to figure skating. As a result, the image of the figure skater became inextricably linked with the "glamorous movie star" within the conventions of 1930s film and stage musicals. The costumes Henie wore in her shows and films-short, revealing, and adorned with sequins and feathers-were far more reminiscent of female entertainers than the traditional attire of competitive figure skating at the time. These "showy" costumes most likely influenced the fashion choices of later generations of female competitive figure skaters, cementing her legacy as a popular culture icon who brought the sport to a global audience.

9.1. Competitive Records

Henie's competitive career was marked by unprecedented dominance in ladies' singles figure skating.

In Pairs skating, with Arne Lie, she achieved:

9.2. Awards and Honors

Sonja Henie received numerous awards and honors recognizing her legendary status in both sports and entertainment:

• She was inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1976.
• In 1982, she was inducted into the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame.
• Henie has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
• In 1938, at the age of 25, she became the youngest person at that time to be made a knight first class of The Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav. This honor was formally bestowed upon her in 1953 in Oslo.
• She was designated as an Honorary Colonel and Godmother of the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.