Tyrone Power and Sonja Henie starred in two films together, the 1937 Thin Ice and the 1939 Second Fiddle. Here they are in the WB 1941 cartoon "Hollywood Steps Out"
Donald Duck imitates Sonja Henie in the 1939 short THE HOCKEY CHAMP
SONJA HENIE and DONALD DUCK in the 1939 short THE AUTOGRAPH HOUNDWe Scandinavian`s are a strange tribe.......... Artists like Edvard Grieg, Ingrid Bergman, Sonja Henie, Kirsten Flagstad and Zarah Leander, to name but a few, all suffered from bad reputation because they sought international careers and were not afraid to expose their ambitions....
This made them "foreigners" to us normal men and women. It caused envy and jeoulesy when the artists mentioned above - and their like - changed and developed their lives that represented landmark career choices, glamour and sophistication not found here in Scandinavia.
Expressions like "a normal Norwegian girl", "a nice young Norwegian girl", "no diva wims at all" are not of yesterday but continues to this day. Boxer Ole Klemetsen and his late father were also ambitious and they suffered from bad press because of it....
Why I single out Sonja Henie is because she still today is labeled a greedy woman and a nazi. All she did was shake hands with Hitler at the 1936 Olympics in Germany, order her maid to put a picture of Der Fuhrer and herself at the piano of her Norwegian manshion and thus saved it from being robbed during the 5 year-occupation..... She also declined helping the Norwegian cause until her new-adopted country was attacked at the Pearl Harbour.
This made them "foreigners" to us normal men and women. It caused envy and jeoulesy when the artists mentioned above - and their like - changed and developed their lives that represented landmark career choices, glamour and sophistication not found here in Scandinavia.
Expressions like "a normal Norwegian girl", "a nice young Norwegian girl", "no diva wims at all" are not of yesterday but continues to this day. Boxer Ole Klemetsen and his late father were also ambitious and they suffered from bad press because of it....
Why I single out Sonja Henie is because she still today is labeled a greedy woman and a nazi. All she did was shake hands with Hitler at the 1936 Olympics in Germany, order her maid to put a picture of Der Fuhrer and herself at the piano of her Norwegian manshion and thus saved it from being robbed during the 5 year-occupation..... She also declined helping the Norwegian cause until her new-adopted country was attacked at the Pearl Harbour.
Tap-dance Ann Miller once quipped; "When you meet someone like - Hitler - what can you do? You just say hello.... It doesn`t make you sympethise with their political ideology"
The eccentric superstar was indeed a gentle woman in her efforts towards her native country and gave her commune a senter for senior citizens and a museum for modern arts worth billions by todays worth....
Grieg was critized because he wanted to be treated as a professional...... Flagstad because she moved back to nazi-occupied-Norway to be with her husband in 1942; Zarah Leander because she made UFA films up until 1943. Ingrid Bergman because she left her good-woman image, her husband and a young daughter and became pregnant with Italian director Roberto Rossellini. That she had a legendary successful career that included more classics than any other star of her era didn`t help either...
Today they are "forgiven" and held in great respect. Not Sonja however.... It is time we realise that she was a woman you might label a political idiot(Leander suggested herself as such...)....
The eccentric superstar was indeed a gentle woman in her efforts towards her native country and gave her commune a senter for senior citizens and a museum for modern arts worth billions by todays worth....
Grieg was critized because he wanted to be treated as a professional...... Flagstad because she moved back to nazi-occupied-Norway to be with her husband in 1942; Zarah Leander because she made UFA films up until 1943. Ingrid Bergman because she left her good-woman image, her husband and a young daughter and became pregnant with Italian director Roberto Rossellini. That she had a legendary successful career that included more classics than any other star of her era didn`t help either...
Today they are "forgiven" and held in great respect. Not Sonja however.... It is time we realise that she was a woman you might label a political idiot(Leander suggested herself as such...)....
But Sonja`s legacy as a sportswoman - 3 Olympic Gold Medals for Women`s Figure Skating - an ice-skating entertainer for 20 years, one the the 5 richest women in the world - a box-office hit in 9 films for 20th Century-Fox and a patron of the arts.......
Her efforts have never been equaled and Walt Disney made a tribute to her in two 1939 Donald Duck short-subjects and WB in the classic short Hollywood Steps Out 1941. She is still held in great respect in her adopted country....
I don`t say these stars were faultless.... But I DO THINK it`s time they are appreciated for their achivements.
I don`t say these stars were faultless.... But I DO THINK it`s time they are appreciated for their achivements.
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