10 time World Champion Women's Figure Skating according to A&E Biography
Accomplished skier and tennis player
Accumulated a large collection of modern art together with her third husband that formed the basis for the Henie-Onstad Art Centre in the city of Tampere, about 200 km from Oslo. They are buried on the hilltop overlooking the museum.
After she turned pro, she staged a series of successful ice-skating shows with Arthur Wirtz.
Became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1941.
Daughter of Wilhelm Henie.
Henie won the first of an unprecedented ten consecutive World Figure Skating Championships in 1927 at the age of fourteen. Henie went on to win the first of her three Olympic gold medals the following year. She defended her Olympic titles in 1932 and in 1936, and her World titles annually until 1936. She also won six consecutive European championships from 1931 to 1936.
In 1940, when the Nazis invaded Norway, she was out of the country. She telegraphed her maid and told her to place a picture of her with Hitler, which he had autographed, in a prominent place in her house. When the Nazis arrived to take over the house, they saw the picture and left quickly. For the rest of the war, all of her possessions were left untouched by the Nazis.
Inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame (1976) and the International Women's Sport Hall of Fame (1982).
Lost popularity when a photograph was published showing her shaking hands with Adolf Hitler.
Robbed of jewels twice in six months in 1952
She was the youngest Olympic skating champion - 15 years and 10 months of age when she won the 1928 gold medal. This record was beaten only in 1998 by a two-month younger American 'Tara Lipinski'.
Sonja Henie had a variety of love interests, including her skating partners Jack Dunn and Stewart Reburn, celebrated boxing legend Joe Louis, a much-publicized affair with Tyrone Power, and a later romance with actor Van Johnson.
The photograph of her shaking hands with Adolf Hitler was taken at the 1936 Olympic Winter Games in Germany, and Hitler - being the host nations leader - naturally met several contestants. In that context many claim it's not fair to really judge any of the athletes who encountered Hitler at the games, while others claim Henie should have refused to shake his hand. It is of course easy to judge in retrospect, knowing what we know today of Hitler's later crimes against humanity.
The signature of her ice skate blades adorns the cement at Grauman's Chinese Theatre.
Won 3 olympic gold medals between 1928 and 1936. She was the first skater to parlay her athletic success into a lucrative career.