TV Guide: Online Video Guide Sonja Henie

Sonja Henie: QUEEN OF THE ICE

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 06:11:14 -0500

Narrated by Cliff Robertson 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, thus 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. She signed with 20th Century Fox and played an ice skater in One in a Million (1936). The film was a great success, and Sonja was now a movie star. Sonja's popularity suffered briefly when a photograph was published showing her shaking hands with Adolf Hitler at the 1936 Olympic Winter Games in Berlin. She continued to make a series of light romantic comedies

Sonja Henie: QUEEN OF THE ICE

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 23:34:39 -0500