Michael Kirby

Michael Kirby was a Canadian figure skater and actor who moved from competitive skating into Hollywood films and later ran skating rinks. He became a national champion in his teens, took silver at the 1941 North American Championships, and won the Canadian title in 1942 before joining the Ice Follies the following year. In the late 1940s he signed with MGM and appeared in Keep Your Powder Dry (1945) and, in 1948, Summer Holiday as Mickey Rooney's older brother. After skating with Sonja Henie at a West Los Angeles rink in 1947, he worked on her film The Countess of Monte Cristo (1948) and toured with her Hollywood Ice Review. He returned to acting in the 1970s and continued through Mythic Warriors: Guardians of the Legend. He also opened instructional rinks around Chicago, coached Ronnie Robertson and Dick Button, helped found the Ice Rink Section of the Illinois Recreation Association, and wrote a biography of Sonja Henie.