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 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 ...

who competed in

single skating Single skating is a discipline of figure skating in which male and female skaters compete individually. Men's singles and women's singles are governed by the International Skating Union (ISU). Figure skating is the oldest winter sport contested ...

pair skating Pair skating is a figure skating discipline defined by the International Skating Union (ISU) as "the skating of two persons in unison who perform their movements in such harmony with each other as to give the impression of genuine Pair Skating a ...

and

ice dancing Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. Ac ...

. He also coached professionally for 60 years, skated in films and authored skating works. He was born and raised in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, California where he graduated from John Marshall High School, and spent most of his life and career in Northern California.

Skating career

Turner won the men's singles title at the 1940 and 1941

United States 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 often ...

. Also in 1941, he became the first skater to medal in three disciplines at one U.S. Championship, adding the pairs title with

Donna Atwood Donna Arlene Atwood (February 14, 1925 – December 20, 2010) was an American figure skater. She was born in Newton, Kansas, to pharmacist Chester Atwood and Allie Atwood, his wife. The family moved to Albuquerque before relocating to Los Angeles ...

and the silver medal in ice dancing with Elizabeth Kennedy. Self-taught with the Los Angeles Figure Skating Club, he was the first skater from west of the Mississippi River to win a U.S. senior title. Turner did not appear in the Winter Olympics or World Championships which were subject to worldwide cancellation from 1940 to 1946 due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and post-war rebuilding. During the war, Turner served as a lieutenant in the

U.S. Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

, piloting a single seat

P-47 Thunderbolt The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bombe ...

from bases in France for over 60 missions against German forces. After the war, he became a coach and skated professionally."History of the Los Angeles Figure Skating Club"
, by

Virginia Vale Virginia Vale (born Dorothy Howe, May 20, 1920 – September 14, 2006) was an American film actress. She starred in a number of B-movie westerns but took a variety of other roles as well, notably in ''Blonde Comet'' (1941), in which she playe ...

, club newsletter, 1982 (from LAFSC website) Turner partnered with

Sonja Henie Sonja Henie (8 April 1912 – 12 October 1969) was a Norway, Norwegian figure skating, figure skater and film star. She was a three-time List of Olympic medalists in figure skating, Olympic champion (Figure skating at the 1928 Winter Olympics, ...

during her tour and in ''Iceland'' in 1942. He also performed as a skating double for

Cary Grant Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one o ...

in ''

The Bishop's Wife ''The Bishop's Wife'' (also known as ''Cary and the Bishop's Wife'') is a 1947 American romantic comedy film directed by Henry Koster and starring Cary Grant, Loretta Young, and David Niven. The plot is about an angel who helps a bishop with his ...

'' in 1948, and for

Patric Knowles Reginald Lawrence Knowles (11 November 1911 – 23 December 1995), better known as Patric Knowles, was an English film actor. Born in Horsforth, West Riding of Yorkshire, he made his film debut in 1932, and played either first or second fi ...

in the Abbott & Costello comedy, ''Hit the Ice'' in 1943. As a coach, he taught or set programs for

Allen Schramm Allen Schramm (born 1961) is an American former competitive figure skater. He is the 1978 Nebelhorn Trophy champion, 1978 Grand Prix International St. Gervais champion, 1979 Prague Skate silver medalist, and 1980 NHK Trophy bronze medalist. He ...

Dudley Richards Dudley "Dud" Shaw Richards (February 4, 1932 – February 15, 1961) was an American figure skater who competed in men's singles and pairs. In singles, he won the bronze medal at the 1953 United States Figure Skating Championships and finished si ...

Karol Kennedy Karol Estelle Kennedy Kucher (February 14, 1932 in Shelton, Washington – June 25, 2004 in Seattle, Washington) was an American pair skater. With her brother, Peter, she won five U.S. Championship titles from 1948 to 1952. Known as "The Kenned ...

, Peter Kennedy,

Catherine Machado Catherine Louise Machado (April 20, 1936 – September 14, 2021) was an American figure skater. She was born in Santa Monica, California. She was a two-time U.S. national bronze medalist. In 1956, Machado became the first Latina to represent ...

Richard Dwyer Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stron ...

Tim Brown Timothy, Timmy, or Tim Brown may refer to: Music * Timothy Brown (bassist) (born 1969), bassist for the band The Boo Radleys * Timothy Brown (conductor) (born 1946), English choral conductor * Timothy Brown (hornist), English hornist Sports Gridir ...

Andree Anderson {{Infobox figure skater , name= Andree Anderson , image= , caption= , fullname= Andree Anderson , altname= Andree Jacoby , country= {{USA , formercountry= , birth_date= , birth_place= Chicago, Illinois , hometown= , residence= , death_date= , d ...

, Lorin O'Neil Caccamise, and

Tenley Albright Tenley Emma Albright (born July 18, 1935) is an American former figure skater and surgeon. She is the 1956 Olympic champion, the 1952 Olympic silver medalist, the 1953 and 1955 World Champion, the 1953 and 1955 North American champion, and the ...

. He authored one book, "The Skaters," and Skating magazine carried his columns in the 1980s. Eugene Turner was inducted into the

United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame The United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame serves as a repository for the sport of figure skating. The United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame is where the greatest names in the history of the sport are honored. To be inducted into it is consid ...

in 1983 and the

Professional Skaters Association The Professional Skaters Association International is the largest figure skating coaches association in the world. The PSA was founded on August 10, 1938, in Lake Placid, New York, as the American Skaters Guild, just two years (1936) after the Ice ...

Coaches Hall of Fame in 2012.Hall of Fame inductees

Results

(men's singles) (pairs with

) (ice dance with Elizabeth Kennedy)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Eugene American male single skaters American male pair skaters American male ice dancers Figure skaters from Los Angeles 1920 births 2010 deaths 20th-century American people