Katarina Witt Bio

German ice skater Katarina Witt is best known for her back-to-back gold medals at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics. But she also gained recognition for her work with Carmen on Ice, for which she won an Emmy. Although retired, she remains one of the most successful and popular ice skaters to ever take the rink.

 

Katarina Witt was born December 3, 1965 in Staaken, Nauen, East Germany. East Germany has obviously since collapsed and is now known simply as “Germany.” Witt obtained her education from Karl Marx Stadt, which became known as Chemnitz after the unification of East and West Germany. Displaying an aptitude for sports early on, the school focused on developing that athletic talent. By 1977, her full-time coach was Jutta Muller.

 

Her first Olympic appearance was in 1984. Although it was her first showing on that stage, Witt took gold over the heavily favored American skater Rosalynn Sumners. The following year, she took first at the World Championships, a title which she reclaimed in 1987 and 1988.

 

1988 also saw her come out on top at the Olympics. She took the gold in an extremely heated battle between her, Debi Thomas, and Elizabeth Manley.

 

In an uncharacteristic move for East German athletes, Witt turned professional after defending her Olympic title. Her first gig after turning pro was a tour with noted figure skater Brian Boitano. So popular was their tour that they sold out Madison Square Garden. It was the first time in a decade that an ice show was able to accomplish that feat.

 

Deciding to make the transition into part-time acting, Witt also gained a great amount of exposure in 1990 when she starred in Carmen on Ice. Costarring Boitano, Brian Orser, Yvonne Gomez, and other skaters, Witt surprised everyone and took the 1990 Emmy Award.

 

In 1994, she had a triumphant return to the Olympics. She took seventh overall, but it was widely known that the appearance was more about the freedom of her homeland than the acquisition of medals. Her performance, in which she skated to a Pete Seeger arrangement of “Where Have All the Flowers Gone,” is widely known and revered in the skating world.

 

1995 was another important year for her as she earned induction into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame.

 

Continuing her acting trend, Witt costarred in 1994’s Greatest Hits on Ice. The production featured many of the biggest names in ice skating such as Ekaterina Gordeeva, Sergei Grinkov, Scott Hamilton, Nancy Kerrigan, Michelle Kwan, and others.

 

She also shared the screen with Kelsey Grammer, David Hyde Pierce, and John Mahoney for one episode of Frasier.

 

Her largest acting role, however, came in 1998 when she took a speaking role in Ronin. She appeared with Hollywood A-listers Robert De Niro, Jean Reno, Natascha McElhone, Stellan Skarsgard, Sean Bean, and Jonathan Pryce.

 

Also in 1998, she made headlines when she bared it all for Hugh Hefner’s Playboy magazine. The issue sold out, something the magazine hadn’t done since Marilyn Monroe appeared in its pages.

 

Outside of skating, Witt is known for her 2005 novel entitled Only with Passion.

 

In more recent years, she has served as producer to the television program Stars auf Eis.

 

Adding intrigue to her already diverse talents and life, Witt was even rumored to be a state informant for the Ministerium für Staatssicherheit, better known as the Stasi.

 

In her personal life, she has been romantically linked to Richard Dean Anderson, Marcus Herrmann, and Dave Hoffis.




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