She skated into the rink at full speed, did her sharp little skid stop in front of the Fhrer, raised her arm and declared, Heil Hitler. The crowd went mad. Sonja had observed that there were no skaters in Hollywood, which meant there was a vacuum to be filled. She recently paid $2.036 million for a ranch-style house in the city named for the silent film era of the 1920s. Former Los Angeles Times reporter Neal J. Leitereg covered celebrity real estate for the Business section. Sonja Henie Arrives. While improving her skating, in the next few years, she also studied ballet with a former teacher of Anna Pavlova, and eventually she combined the two forms on ice. For this, she was condemned by many Norwegians and Norwegian-Americans. This home is located in the Beverly Crest neighborhood of Los Angeles. I told her at the time it was an extraordinarily bad business decision, says Tom King, who was then the publicity director for all Wirtz concerns, and who later married Barbara Ann Scott, the Olympic gold medalist in 1948. Towards the end of her career, she began to be strongly challenged by younger skaters including Cecilia Colledge, Megan Taylor, and Hedy Stenuf. The fact is, Sonja could be extremely generous and often was, though quietly. Sonjas memory is that her parents gave her the clamp-ons at age six, that Leif taught her how to fall on the ice (the way a length of rope drops), and that she learned figures from a local skater, who then asked Wilhelm to enter her, aged seven, in that first competition. Lastly, read some other articles like this one on our frontpage. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. Henie won more Olympic and World titles than any other ladies figure skater. Sonja Henie (8. aprill 1912 Oslo - 12. oktoober 1969) oli Norra iluuisutaja ja filminitleja.. Sonja Henie tuli kolmekordseks olmpiavitjaks: 1928., 1932. ja 1936. aasta taliolmpiamngudel.. Sonja Henie tuli 10 korda maailmameistriks ja 5 korda Euroopa meistriks aastatel 1927-1936.Ta esines ka jrevdes.Aastal 1936 siirdus ta USA-sse ja hakkas filminitlejaks. She'd parlayed 10 world championships and three Olympic gold medals into an enormously. Henie won the first of an unprecedented ten consecutive World Figure Skating Championships in 1927 at the age of fourteen. - 1969. oktber 12.) And Sonja still loved speed. Furthermore, Beverly Crest is located on the west side of Los Angeles. The audience was shocked . A formal living room features a rounded brick fireplace; the kitchen has an island/breakfast bar; and a master suite has a custom walk-in closet. Henie passed away at the age of 57 from chronic lymphocytic leukemia. This home is located in the Beverly Crest neighborhood of Los Angeles. For the rest of the war, all . She was happy performing. The second child of Wilhelm and Selma Henie was born in a snowstorm. [25]. The Norwegian Royal Family attended both events and indeed attended her funeral in 1969. Going into the final skate, Henie was just three points ahead of Cecilia Colledge, a 15-year-old skater from London. Bird Box also got immense fame, and [], Who is Tracy McGrady? The studios had their little niches, Epstein explains. Sonja Henie She was the youngest athlete in the first Winter Olympics, the first woman to win three Olympic gold medals, and one of Hollywood's top-grossing stars. About Sonja Henie From Wikipedia: Sonja Henie (8 April 1912 - 12 October 1969) was a Norwegian figure skater and film star. Additionally, he is considered among the greatest scorer [], Who was Muhammad Ali? At her gorgeous Holmby Hills house, at 243 Delfern Drive, and elsewhere around the city, she became famous for throwing the most extravagant parties in Hollywood, entering one of them on the back of a small elephant. 2022 UrbanSplatter.com, All Rights Reserved. The huge motorcourt leads to the four-car garage. She then placed eighth in a field of eight at the 1924 Winter Olympics, at the age of eleven. Leif wrote that Sonja snitched a pair of his old clamp-on blades at age five and within months surprised everyone by winning a childrens skating competition. Check out the Sonja Henie house below. While her ice show numbers were still worth watching, the film received few distributors and poor reviews, ending her film career. At the height of her fame, Henie had her dream home designed by Paul Williams and built in 1937. For the 195152 season, Sonja had to build a whole new show from scratchthe Sonja Henie Ice Revue. She was a three-time Olympic champion ( 1928, 1932, 1936) in women's singles, a ten-time World champion (1927-1936) and a six-time European champion (1931-1936). But her initial reluctance before the US entered the war was never to be forgotten. She was a three-time Olympic Champion (1928, 1932, 1936) in Ladies' Singles, a ten-time World Champion (1927-1936) and a six-time European Champion (1931-1936). . Hun vandt ogs ti verdensmesterskaber og . When the Henies werent moving Sonjas training from one winter wonderland to another, she was skating exhibitions in the great cities of the globe. She was a three-time Olympic Champion (1928, 1932, 1936) in Ladies Singles, a ten-time World Champion (1927-1936) and a six-time European Champion (1931-1936). If she had leukemia, she knew it.) Except for big dips in energy, followed by transfusions, life went on as usual. In the . 01 ! Furthermore, the home features five fireplaces with a total of 13 rooms. A huge star in the 1930s and '40s, she was also divisive and controversial. She also shared her fathers no-nonsense approach to getting what you want in life fast. The audiences didnt understand ice shows or skating or Sonja. It's a post-apocalyptic horror suspense film. The book is richly detailed, brimming with background information, and loaded with fascinating insights from Sonja's colleagues and friends. Henie was portrayed in the 2018 Anne Sewitsky film Sonja The White Swan, shown at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.[22][23][24]. For Sonja, the year 1936 was like winning the lottery. Photo: Carlos Marques, Marcott Studios. The chorus, we were just the peasants. Outside, the exterior is clad in hand-honed granite with custom gutters and bronze windows trimmed in limestone. Some of the Norwegians had to come back twice. Her innovative skating techniques and glamorous demeanor transformed the sport permanently and confirmed its acceptance as a legitimate sport in the Winter Olympics.[5]. . The Stevens' family often hears loud footsteps and music coming from this area, as well as Windows being slammed shut. Now 43, she was deeply unhappy with her diminishing skill. Neither man worked, both took advantage of Sonjas generosity, according to her brother, and both marriages failed. Through the years, her shows and later art exhibitions drew the attention of such people as Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon and Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden and she met with them. Like what you're reading? He asked her to put together her dream show to launch the following year. . The majority of the pieces integrated throughout the rooms from the Henie era include lamps, tables, and Asian-influenced artifacts. I dont think Sonja Henie was a political person in any way, shape, or form, says Dick Button, the winner of two Olympic gold medals in a row, 1948 and 1952. Windows have a UV treatment to help protect important artworks from the sun. The home, called Topping Hill, has six bedrooms, nine bathrooms and what seems like an endless array of entertainment and family rooms. He offered supporting-role status, and Sonja insisted she would accept nothing less than title roles. first pair of ice skates when she was six. She was strongly denounced in the Norwegian press for this. And over money, she ungratefully broke with Wirtz. Born 8 Apr 1912 in Kristiania, Oslo, Norge. The results of 1927 World Championships, where Henie won in 32 decision (or 7 vs. 8 ordinal points) over the defending Olympic and World Champion Herma Szabo of Austria, was controversial, as three of the five judges that gave Henie first-place ordinals were Norwegian (1 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 2 = 7 points) while Szabo received first-place ordinals from an Austrian and a German Judge (1 + 1 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 8 points). After the war, Henie was mindful that many of her countrymen considered her to be a quisling. Another popular room is adorned in light pastel colors and boasts knights chairs that at one time were used by the English palace. Includes access to the digital magazine. Henie was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia in the mid-1960s. However, she held off these competitors and went on to win her third Olympic title at the 1936 Winter Olympics, albeit in very controversial circumstances with Cecilia Colledge finishing a very close second. A detached casita and a freestanding glass-walled studio complement the main house for a total of five bedrooms and five bathrooms. During the 1930s, she was one of the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood. Sidney Smith, who directed Sonjas live television specials in the 1950s and also her last movie, the documentary Hello, London, remembers something the Czech cinematographer Otto Heller had observed: He said, Dont you see? The 1936 European Figure Skating Championships also took place in Berlin and neither Henie, Colledge, nor Megan Taylor paid obeisance to Hitler.[10]. Having announced her retirement from competition, she received calls from producers and film studios. And yet, the death of Wilhelm worked a change in Sonja. Items on a dressing table, in one bedroom in the home, were found missing or moved. Three times the Olympic figure-skating champion, Miss Henie won most of the major world skating titles from 1927 to 1936, when she turned professional. I never dreamed Id end my career with her., Into the first flush of her celluloid-and-ice-show stardom came the greatest loss of Sonjas life, the death of her father in May 1937. Stone floors and oak cabinets anchor the space. Sonja Henie, the dimple-faced Norwegian skating sensation of the 1930s, . A month later, Sonja got a cold she couldnt shake. Obviously the sibling of a superstar is going to have grievances, but Sonjas peers in the skating world, all that Vanity Fair spoke to, found the book unfair., Dick Button: Siblings fall out. It didnt matter. Sonja Henie was a figure skater. See more ideas about hollywood, golden age of hollywood, movie stars. Controversy appeared first when Henie greeted Hitler with a Nazi salute at the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and after the Games she accepted an invitation to lunch with Hitler at his resort home in nearby Berchtesgaden, where Hitler presented Henie with an autographed photo with a lengthy inscription. At the height of her fame, Henie brought as much as $2 million per year from her shows and touring activities. A Sonja Henie party was still a big dealsparkling with stars like Joan Crawford, Cyd Charisse, Cesar Romero, Cary Grant, Liberace. It was an ill-advised decision to set herself up in competition with Wirtz, whose shows now featured the new Olympic champion Barbara Ann Scott. The history of Henie Hills dates back to 1939, when Olympic skating medalist and movie star Sonja Henie and her brother, Leif, bought some 1,600 acres of untouched, coastal property. At the time, figure skating and ice shows were not yet an established form of entertainment in the United States. Sonja spent her earliest years begging, yearning, for skates. The true story of Sonja Henie, one of the world's greatest athletes and the inventor of modern figure skating, who decides to go to Hollywood in 1936 to become a movie star. Furthermore, Beverly Crest is located on the west side of Los Angeles. Her sold-out ice shows worked as advertising for her movies. Its a terrible thing. It meant that Sonjas new show had to go into second-rate spaces, with long jumps from stop to stop. Others point out that it was the presence of Stevens daughters that kept her in the house. She bought the house from Sonja Henie's estate. And they loved her for it., It was a well-oiled enterprise Sonja had going, and she couldnt have asked for a better business partner than Arthur Wirtz. Ingrid Sacerio and Gail Steinberg of Dilbeck Real Estate repped Stevens in the sale. Ice skating was always top priority, and when Sonja was nine, her parents took her out of school so she could devote all her time to training. Commenting on the difference between skating in her shows and in competition, Miss Henie once said: "When I was in championship competition I was on the ice for exactly four minutes. Eiskunstluferin Schauspielerin NorwegenPortrait- undatierte Aufnahme Finally, I hope you enjoyed reading about, 's home. Subscribe now and get up to 61% off the cover price. Sonja fit into Fox. Plus, get the exclusive Robb Report tote bag FREE. [on studio publicity promoting what was an imaginary romance with Tyrone Power] We had to consult the gossip columns every day to see if we were still in love or not. She is most remembered for Olympic Champion (1928, 1932, 1936) in Ladies' Singles, a ten-time World Champion (1927-1936) and a six-time European Champion (1931-1936). Photo: Carlos Marques, Marcott Studios, The cozy family room He was also a world-class athlete whod been a competitive speed skater, and won the track cycling world championship in 1894. Kostenlos fr kommerzielle Nutzung, keine Namensnennung erforderlich. And both were happy to build home life around their tiny star, who remembers being on skis by age four, impressing everyone with her coordination and grace. 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