Trivia of Sonja Henie

 Trivia of Sonja Henie (8 April 1912 - 12 October 1969)

*Her father was a World Cycling Champion.No wonder, since kid Henie very interested to sports.She also was a nationally ranked tennis player, and a skilled swimmer and equestrienne. Once Henie began serious training as a figure skater, her formal schooling ended. She was educated by tutors, and her father hired the best experts in the world, including the famous Russian ballerina, Tamara Karsavina, to transform his daughter into a sporting celebrity.

*In Norway, she was the first teen phenom of modern times—that in 1928, months before Shirley Temple was even born, Sonja Henie was already a child star on the world’s stage. She was called “the Nasturtium of the North,” “the Ice Queen of Norway,” “the White Swan,” and, less flatteringly, “Little Miss Moneybags.”

*Won 3 olympic gold medals between 1928 and 1936, where Adolf H*tler as the host nations leader. She was the first skater to parlay her athletic success into a lucrative career.

*Henie and family arrived in Hollywood after giving seventeen appearances in nine cities of America between March 24 and April 15 of 1936. When the Henies learned that the city had an ice rink—"The Polar Ice Palace" , her father arranged to rent it for several days and planned two exhibitions.In the audience was Darryl F. Zanuck, one of famous Hollywood producer. The Henies had heard of his reputation for welcoming new ideas and possessing the persistence to realize them. But Zanuck was hesitant when he asked her what she wanted in a film and Henie replied, "the title role." She was not interested in a supporting part that would sell a movie on her reputation. After lengthy negotiations, she was offered the lead in One in a Million. Till the rest her movie career, Henie always got leading role.

*When Henie made her first Hollywood film 'One on a Million (1936)', she barely spoke English and had to be taught her dialogue phonetically. When the film proved to be an enormous box office hit, Henie presumed her lack of language skills was an important element of her appeal to movie-goers and refused 20th Century-Fox's offer to hire her a coach to teach her proper English. Her heavy Norwegian accent remained throughout her film career.

*All of her films included dazzling ice-skating routines which she choreographed herself. such : Thin Ice (1937) opposite Tyrone Power, My Lucky Star (1938) opposite Richard Greene, Sun Valley Serenade (1941) opposite John Payne, and Wintertime (1943) opposite Cesar Romero.

*Her movie career wound down during the mid-'40s, but she continued skating until she retired in 1956 and married with a rich Norwegian Shipowner.