Sonja Henie: Queen of the Ice

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 throughout the late 30s and early 40s. More a testament to her skating skills and physical attributes, the films were profitable and her popularity soared. Films like One in a Million, Thin Ice, and Wintertime helped bring financial success for the Hollywood Ice Revues that she produced and starred in every year and which drew huge crowds across the United States. Sonja became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1941. In the mid-40s her movie career tapered off, but she continued skating until her retirement in 1960. An astute businesswoman, Sonja was one of the ten wealthiest women in the world when she died of leukemia in 1969. Sonja was inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1976 and the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame in 1982. Narrated by Cliff Robertson.