Donna Arlene Atwood (February 14, 1925 – December 20, 2010) was an American
figure skater
Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...
. She was born in
Newton, Kansas
Newton is a city in and the county seat of Harvey County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 18,602. Newton is located north of Wichita. The city of North Newton is located immediately north and e ...
, to pharmacist Chester Atwood and Allie Atwood, his wife. The family moved to
Albuquerque before relocating to
Los Angeles when she was 9. She died on December 30, 2010, aged 85, at the
Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in
Woodland Hills, California.
Career
Donna began taking dancing lessons at age 3. Her skating began at age 13, when she was inspired by seeing a
Sonja Henie ice show, and was given her first pair of skates by her older brother. At age 15, she won two medals at the 1941
U.S. Figure Skating Championships
The U.S. Figure Skating Championships is a figure skating competition held annually to crown the national champions of the United States. The competition is sanctioned by U.S. Figure Skating. In the U.S. skating community, the event is ofte ...
: the senior
pairs title with partner
Eugene Turner
Eugene Turner (November 26, 1920 – January 14, 2010)"U.S. Hall of Fame Member Eugene Turner Passes Away", U.S. Figure Skating (websit/ref> was an American champion figure skater who competed in single skating, pair skating and ice dancing. He ...
., and the junior ladies title.
That same year,
John H. Harris, operating owner of the
Ice Capades, offered her a contract with his show. She signed with the Ice Capades at age 16, and within a year she was its star, billed as "The Queen of the Ice". She toured with the show for fifteen years, giving over 6,000 performances in two dozen venues. She was so famous that newspaper headlines of the day referred to her only as "Donna". On her farewell tour, she starred in a production of
Peter Pan, making her entrance flying above the audience. She often spoke of it as her favorite role.
Donna Atwood retired from the role of lead skater in 1956 at age 31, moving into a custom-built
Beverly Hills home complete with a piano that folded into the wall.
She made a single television appearance in 1961 as Phyllis Merrill in the ''
Perry Mason'' episode, "The Case of the Renegade Refugee."
In the 1970s, when her children were grown and she was "tired of doing nothing," she began coaching young figure skaters in California.
Family life
In 1949, Donna married her mentor John H. Harris, 27 years her senior, with whom she had twin sons in 1950 and a daughter in 1952.
["Obituaries: John H. Harris, Showman, Dies; First Owner of Ice Capades", '' The New York Times'', 13 Feb 196]
/ref>
To facilitate her travel with young children, the Ice Capades Theatrical property, props department used a 10-foot traveling trunk to build a portable nursery that could be rolled into her hotel room. When her sons reached school age, she retired from skating. She was 31 years old, and at the peak of her career.
Results
(pairs with Eugene Turner
Eugene Turner (November 26, 1920 – January 14, 2010)"U.S. Hall of Fame Member Eugene Turner Passes Away", U.S. Figure Skating (websit/ref> was an American champion figure skater who competed in single skating, pair skating and ice dancing. He ...
)
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Atwood, Donna
1925 births
2010 deaths
American female pair skaters
21st-century American women
20th-century American women