HENIE, SONJA

born April 8, 1912, Kristiania, Nor. died Oct. 12, 1969, in an airplane en route to Oslo Olympic figure skater Sonja Henie, c. 1928. Norwegian-born American world champion figure skater and Olympic gold medalist who went on to achieve financial success as a professional ice skater and as a motion-picture actress. Henie began skating when she was six years old. At age 10 she won the Norwegian national figure-skating championship, and at 11, in 1924, she competed in the Winter Olympic Games in Chamonix, France. Trained in ballet, Henie incorporated some of its maneuvers into figure skating. Coached by Swedish Olympic great Gillis Grafstrm, she transformed a predictable series of colourless exercises into a spectacular and popular exhibition. In 1927 she won the world amateur championship for women, holding that title for 10 consecutive years. She won three gold medals in the Winter Olympic Games of 1928, 1932, and 1936. Having turned professional after her Olympic triumph in 1936, she toured Europe and the Americas as the star of the Hollywood Ice Revue, and for a time (1951-52) she acted as producer of her ice shows. In 1936 she signed with 20th Century-Fox and starred in 10 popular films, beginning with One in a Million (1936-37) and Thin Ice (1937). From 1937 to 1945 she was one of the leading box-office attractions in the film industry. Sonja Henie performing in her Hollywood Ice Revue of 1950. In 1941 Henie, who was twice married to U.S. citizens, herself became a citizen of the United States. In her later years she was noted as a collector and patron of modern art. With her third husband, the Norwegian shipowner Niels Onstad, she established (1968) the Henie Onstad Art Center, a museum of modern art, at Hvikodden, near Oslo, Norway.