Judith Kay Schwomeyer (

married name When a person (traditionally the wife in many cultures) assumes the family name of their spouse, in some countries that name replaces the person's previous surname, which in the case of the wife is called the maiden name ("birth name" is also used ...

Sladky; born November 14, 1950) is an American actress and former competitive

ice dancer 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 ...

. With her skating partner and then-husband, Jim Sladky, she became a four-time World medalist (silver in 1970; bronze in 1969, 1971, 1972) and five-time U.S. national champion (1968–1972).

Personal life

Judith Kay Schwomeyer was born on November 14, 1950. She graduated from

Shortridge High School Shortridge High School is a public high school located in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Shortridge is the home of the International Baccalaureate and arts and humanities programs of the Indianapolis Public Schools district.(IPS). Originall ...

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

. She is the daughter of Herb Schwomeyer, a Butler University coach and administrator, and sister of Sandy Lamb, an ice dancing coach. She was married to Jim Sladky from 1971 to 1990. She later married Blake Norton.

Career

Skating

Schwomeyer/Sladky won five national titles, from 1968 to 1972. They finished on the podium at four World Championships, winning silver in 1970 and bronze in 1969, 1971, and 1972). They were coached by

Ron Ludington Ronald Ludington (September 4, 1934 – May 14, 2020) was an American figure skating coach and pair skater. With Nancy Rouillard Ludington, he was the 1960 Olympic bronze medalist, 1959 World bronze medalist, and a four-time U.S. national cha ...

. Together with Ludington, Schwomeyer/Sladky created the ''Yankee Polka''

compulsory dance The compulsory dance (CD), now called the pattern dance, is a part of the figure skating segment of ice dance competitions in which all the competing couples perform the same standardized steps and holds to the music of a specified tempo and ge ...

. They first performed it as a competitive program in 1969. Following their retirement from competitive skating, the duo skated professionally. They were 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 1991.

Acting

Schwomeyer has worked as an actress. She is the Muppeteer of

Alice Snuffleupagus The Muppets are a group of puppet characters created by Jim Henson, many for the purpose of appearing on the children's television program ''Sesame Street''. Some of the best known Muppets on ''Sesame Street'' include Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, ...

in ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) a ...

'' and portrayed

Snoopy Snoopy is an anthropomorphic beagle in the comic strip ''Peanuts'' by Charles M. Schulz. He can also be found in all of the ''Peanuts'' films and television specials. Since his debut on October 4, 1950, Snoopy has become one of the most recog ...

in ''

Jingle All the Way ''Jingle All the Way'' is a 1996 American Christmas family comedy film directed by Brian Levant. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad as two rival fathers, mattress salesman Howard Langston (Schwarzenegger) and postal worker Myron Larab ...

''.

Competition results

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schwomeyer, Judy American female ice dancers American actresses Sesame Street Muppeteers 1950 births Living people World Figure Skating Championships medalists