Dorothy Hamill

1956-

American figure skater

In the mid-1970s, American figure skater Dorothy Hamill was the leader in her field, capping her success with a gold medal at the 1976 Winter Olympics. She was known for her signature "Hamill camel" and wedge/bob haircut which started a fashion craze. After the Olympics, Hamill turned professional, skating in shows and professional events, and later owning the Ice Capades. As a skater, her style balanced athleticism and grace, and she was a dominant freestyle specialist.

Hamill was born on July 26, 1956, in Chicago, Illinois (some sources say Riverside, Colorado, or Riverside, Connecticut), the youngest of three children born to Chambers and Carol Hamill. Hamill was raised in Greenwich, Connecticut, where her father was an executive at Pitney Bowes Company.

Begins Skating

Both Hamill's father and brother skated but were not serious about it. Hamill herself began skating when she was about eight years old. She used her brother's hockey

skates that were too big for her until she received a pair of inexpensive skates for Christmas. Hamill taught herself to skate forwards on a local pond, but could not teach herself to skate backwards. She also saw someone spinning on television, and thought it looked cool.

This led Hamill to convince her parents to take group lessons at a local rink. She soon became obsessed with skating and was very good. Hamill skated under USFSA (United States Figure Skating Association), moving straight from juvenile to novice, skipping intermediate. Her mother drove her to New York City and other locales to train. One of her first coaches was Sonya Dun-field (née Klopfer), who won the U.S. ladies singles championship in 1951.

Develops the Hamill Camel

By the time Hamill was 12, she was winning major championships. When she was 12, she was the national ladies novice singles championship. Among the highlights of Hamill's program at the championship was her innovation in skating, the so-called "Hamill camel." It was a flying camel that went into a sit-spin. It was developed in 1969, while she was training with Gustave Lussi in Lake Placid, New York.

In 1970, Hamill moved up to juniors and won the Eastern junior singles title. She then competed in the U.S. ladies singles competition, and finished second. Her desire to train intensely (skating seven hours a day, six days a week) led her to drop out of school and receive her education from a tutor. Hamill later earned her high school equivalency degree. While her parents supported her skating and these kind of decisions, it was a financial burden and resulted in her mother traveling with her daughter, away from her husband. Though Hamill did well in competitions, she often suffered from stage fright.

Hamill won the Eastern sectional ladies singles title and finished seventh at the world championships in 1971. This led to another important coaching change. She met Carlo Fassi at the Pre-Olympic Invitational. He had also coached champion Peggy Fleming who won the gold medal at the 1968 Winter Olympics. Fassi invited her to begin training with him in Colorado.

Hamill's experiences in Colorado were positive. The high altitude improved her stamina. She also studied ballet and worked on her fitness. Fassi himself helped Hamill with compulsory figures—the aspect of competition that she struggled with the most. Hamill also began working with choreographer Bob Paul. Paul chorreographed routines that highlighted her athletic abilities, especially her jumps, and her Hamill camel.

Chronology

The results were positive. In 1973, Hamill finished fourth in the world ladies singles championships. In 1974 and 1975, Hamill won the U.S. championship for ladies senior singles. Her second victory was impressive, in part because she had an injured foot but still pulled out the win. Hamill still had problems with sensitivity, however. At the 1974 World Championships, she heard boos from the crowd as she was warming up for her free skate. Hamill left the ice crying, believing the booing was directed at her. However, the crowd was actually booing the judges for the previous competitors scores. After she was reassured about the situation, she skated well. She won the silver medal.

Wins Olympic Gold

In 1976, Hamill began the year by winning her third consecutive U.S. championships. There was some controversy as some believed the judges scored her generously. Hamill received scores of 5.8 and 5.9 out of 6.0 though she took out the loop and flip jumps of her program. She followed this up with a gold medal performance at the Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria. She won despite a big scare. She was walking with coach Fassi when a car carrying another skater and coach approached them. Fassi pushed her out of the way, but the car accelerated and would have hit her had she not been moved by him.

Despite Hamill's victory at the U.S. championships, she had not been favored to win the gold medal at the Olympics because she had finished second at the world championships two years in a row. She had the lead after the compulsory figures, but had an emotional moment after seeing a sign that read "Dorothy, Wicked Witch of the West." But Hamill pulled it together. She scored a perfect 6.0 in the short program, and kept her lead after the freeskate to win the gold medal. Hamill later said it was her best competition as an amateur.

After the Olympics, Hamill went on to win the World Championships in 1976, at the competition at Göteborg, Germany. She won both the compulsories and the free skate. By this time, Hamill was considered the best freestyle skater in the world and considered "America's Sweetheart." However, her skating style would be considered somewhat dated now. Hamill's most difficult jump was the double axel, and she could not land a triple salchow consistently.

Hamill's jumps got higher later and she learned to better blend artistry and athleticism. But she explained to Vicki Michaelis of the Denver Post that jumps should not be valued over artistry, or vice versa. "I don't think skating should be limited to one or the other. I think it should be absolutely both. I guess I've been sort of frustrated over the years where people say it has to be one or it has to be the other … I think that's part of the appeal of skating, that some people like the grace and beauty, some people like the athleticism and some people just like the entertainment value of it."

Turns Professional as a Skater

After her Olympic win, Hamill became a phenomenon in the United States. Her short bob/wedge hairstyle became extremely popular. To take advantage of her commercial opportunities and pay back her parents for the cost of training (they were in debt because of it), she turned professional. Though she was shy, Hamill appeared in a number of commercials and television specials.

One of Hamill's first contracts was a two-year deal with the Ice Capades worth $1,000,000. She told Kenneth Denlinger of the Washington Post, that she did Ice Capades "because it was a chance to pay people for their help (literally, because that gold medal cost an estimated $75,000 in training-related expenses over the years)… I also knew that I wanted to skate, not teach, and this was the only I could see to do it."

A featured skater on the Ice Capades tour, Hamill found the demands of the professional life very different from her days as an amateur. The travel and performances were more physically demanding, and there was a very different, grinding schedule. Hamill became stressed out, especially by the weigh-ins. She had to worry about her weight. Skating with the Ice Capades led to her developing a bleeding ulcer.

In the 1980s, Hamill continued to skate professionally, and had two significant television specials. In 1983, she appeared in an ice version of Romeo and Juliet that aired on CBS and was very successful. The production won an Emmy Award for Hamill. Later in the decade, she appeared in Nutcracker on Ice, a show produced by Hamill and her second husband, sports medicine doctor/former Olympic skier Kenneth Forsythe. (Hamill's first husband was Dean Martin, Jr., the son of entertainer Dean Martin, who was a tennis player, actor, and musician. They were married from 1982-84.)

Awards and Accomplishments

Despite her negative experience with the Ice Capades, Hamill continued to appear in touring ice shows. In 1984, she appeared with John Curry and his Ice Dancing company. In the middle of the decade, Hamill also appeared in the Stars on Ice show. She also competed in professional skating championships, winning a number of titles. In 1984 and 1985, she won the World Professional Figure Skating Championship. In 1986 and 1987, she won the Women's NutraSweet Pro World Title.

After the birth of her daughter, Alexandra, Hamill stopped skating professionally for about six years. However, she still appeared in commercials and maintained endorsement deals with companies such as NurtraSweet, Healthy Choice, Casio, and Bausch & Lomb.

Buys Ice Capades

In 1993, the Ice Capades was in serious financial trouble. The company had filed for bankruptcy in 1991. Hamill, her husband, and businessman Ben C. Tinsdale, bought the company in 1993. She put it under her own company, Dorothy Hamill International, of which she was president. She told Steve Wulf of Sports Illustrated, "It was breaking my heart to think there would be no more Ice Capades. It wasn't just that I once skated for the company, it was also the thought of all those skaters out of work."

When Hamill took over, she changed Ice Capades to suit her tastes as a skater. The shows had become dated using a variety format, but Hamill made it into a show on ice. She hired better quality skaters, choreographers, and costumers. She also did away with weigh-ins. One of her greatest successes was with the Ice Capades show she executive produced, 1994's Cinderella Frozen in Time. Praised by critics and aired as a special on ABC, Hamill herself skated the lead in many stops on the tour. Hamill also created other ice shows, including Hansel & Gretel—Frozen in Time.

In 1995, Hamill and her partners sold Ice Capades to International Entertainment, Inc. Though she intended to retire again from professional skating, divorce and bankruptcy problems contributed to her return to the ice. In 1995, she skated in the Legends of Figure Skating, replacing an ill Katarina Witt . In 1996, Hamill skated in the Hershey's Kisses Figure Skating Challenge, a team competition between three teams of four skaters. Her team included Michelle Kwan , Todd Eldredge, and Dan Hollander.

Hamill was asked to compete in the 2000 Winter Goodwill Games, against other professional skaters and the leading amateurs of the day. Though she had not competed in over a decade, she did well, placing fifth. As Sharon Raboin wrote in USA Today, "Hamill delighted with her tight, fast spins, where she looks like a blur; her tremendous edge control, mastered years ago with compulsory figures training; and her desire to make the most of every moment in her program."

Hamill believed she aged well as a skater. She told Wulf from Sports Illustrated, "I don't think people realize that skaters get better as they get older. Olympic skating is all about jumping, how many triples you hit

cleanly. Watch professional skaters, and you'll see a more fluid, more disciplined style. Some of it comes with practice, some of it comes with maturity…"

Though Hamill was diagnosed with osteoarthritis in 2000, she continued to skate in professional tours such as Champions on Ice. Her name was still a draw. Hamill also continued to appear in commercials and work as a skating commentator for various broadcasts. Of her life, she explained to Tim Reynolds of The Times Union, "There have been good times, there have been bad times, there have been hectic times. But I've always had skating. When things were, or are, going badly in my personal life, I always have my therapy. I always have my skating."

CONTACT INFORMATION

Address: PO Box 16286, Baltimore, MD 21210; 75490 Fairway Dr., Indian Wells, CA 92210-8423.

Related Biography: Coach Gustave Lussi

One of Dorothy Hamill's coaches was Gustave Lussi, a Swiss-born skater who trained seven Olympic medallists and 16 world champions, including Dick Button and Scott Hamilton. Lussi was a ski jumper in his native country, and came to the United States in 1915. He established his reputation in ice skating by producing and directing a famous ice show at the St. Regis Hotel in Manhattan in the 1930s. Lussi began working as a figure skating coach in 1942. As a coach, he adapted techniques from ski jumping to skating. Lussi was strict but produced a number of athletically impressive skaters. He worked as a figure skating coach until shortly before his death in 1993 at the age of 94.

SELECTED WRITINGS BY HAMILL:

(With Elva Clairmont) Dorothy Hamill On and Off the Ice, A. A. Knopf, 1983.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Books

Hickok, Ralph. A Who's Who of Sports Champions: Their Stories and Records. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1995.

Johnson, Anne Janette. Great Women in Sports. Detroit: Visible Ink Press, 1996.

Layden, Joe. Women in Sports: The Compete Book on the World's Greatest Female Athletes. General Publishing Group, 1997.

Malone, John. The Encyclopedia of Figure Skating. Facts on File, Inc., 1998.

Porter, David L., editor. Biographical Dictionary of American Sports: Basketball and Other Indoor Sports. New York: Greenwood Press, 1989.

Sherrow, Victoria. Encyclopedia of Women and Sports. ABC-CLIO, 1996.

Woolum, Janet. Outstanding Women Athletes: Who They Are and How they Influenced Sports in America. Oryx Press, 1998.

Periodicals

Bird, Dennis. "Obituary: Gustave Lussi." The Independent, (July 7, 1993): 22.

Brown, Ben et al. "Hamill Revamps Ice Capades." USA Today, (September 24, 1993): 2C.

Denlinger, Kenneth. "Loner Hamill Now Has Many New Friends ; A Chance to Pay People Back." Washington Post, (February 2, 1977): F1.

"Figure Skating; Hamill Still Skating for Titles." New York Times, (December 27, 1987): section 5, p. 6.

Ginsburg, David. "Former Gold Medalist Hamill Copes With Painful Disease." Associated Press State & Local Wire, (September 11, 2000).

"Good skate: Dorothy Hamill Chips in to Buy the Ice Capades." People Weekly, (March 22, 1993): 32.

"Gustave Lussi." The Times, (July 2, 1993).

Harvin, Al. "Gustave Lussi." New York Times, (July 27, 1993): section 1, p. 34.

Little, Lyndon. "Dorothy Hamill Doesn't Miss the Pressures of Competition." Vancouver Sun, (January 8, 1993): E3.

Michaelis, Vicki. "Hamill Still Riding Her Camel." Denver Post, (February 15, 2000): D12.

"On Sister Act." People Weekly, (April 11, 1994): 112.

"On Very Thin Ice." People Weekly, (April 22, 1996): 75.

Raboin, Sharon. "Hamill, 43, Continues to Enchant Crowds." USA Today, (February 21, 2000): 10C.

Reynolds, Tim. "Princess of the Ice." Time Union, (February 16, 2000): CC1.

Schuster, Rachel. "Hamill Recalls Own Incident." USA Today, (January 28, 1994): 3C.

Ulman, Howard. "Hamill Has Fun in Nerve-Wrecking Return." Associated Press, (March 26, 1996).

Wilner, Barry. "25 Years Later, Hamill Still Golden." The Record, (February 13, 2001): S5.

Wulf, Steve. "Cinderella Story." Sports Illustrated, (March 7, 1994): 48.

Other

"Athlete Profile: Dorothy Hamill." US Olympic Team. http://www.usolympicteam.com/athlete_profile/d_hamill.html (January 13, 2003).

Sketch by A. Petruso