Search results
Jan 12, 2018 · LaVona Golden, the mother of figure skater Tonya Harding, is still alive and denies abusing her daughter. She says she worked hard to support Harding's career and that the movie I, Tonya exaggerated some scenes.
Jan 27, 2018 · Sandra Luckow, a childhood friend of Tonya Harding, shares her memories of LaVona Golden, the skater's allegedly abusive mother. She challenges some of the claims and portrayals in the biopic I, Tonya, starring Allison Janney.
- 3 min
- Ale Russian
LaVona "Sandy" Golden, the mother of figure skater Tonya Harding, calls her daughter a liar and defends herself against allegations of physical and emotional abuse. She also criticizes the biopic I, Tonya, and says she wants to reconcile with her estranged daughter.
Tonya Maxene Harding was born November 12, 1970, in Portland, Oregon, to LaVona Golden (b. 1940) and Albert Harding (1933–2009). During Harding's youth, her father held various odd jobs (managed apartments, drove a truck, and worked at a bait & tackle store), yet was often underemployed due to poor health.
- Fact: Harding Really Was That Happy to Land The Triple Axel.
- Fiction: Harding Peppered The Judges with Profanities.
- Fact: Harding Faced Abuse from Family Members Throughout Her Life.
- Fact: Nancy Kerrigan Screamed “Why?” After Being attacked.
- Fact: Shawn Eckhardt Saw Himself as An Influential Spy.
- Fact: Lavona Golden Had A Pet Bird.
Harding became the first American woman to land a triple axel, an extremely difficult jump in which the skater makes three and a half rotations with a forward approach, at the 1991 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Upon completing the jump, Harding’s mouth was agape and she appeared to cheer triumphantly at the milestone, much as Robbie plays the ...
InI, Tonya, Harding clashes with figure skating judges over her outfits, which were often homemade because she could not afford designer costumes. “Suck my d-ck,” she tells them after one competition. “This is f-cking rigged.” In reality, according to Harding’s comments in The Price of Gold, Harding told them, “Stay out of my face.” But the documen...
The movie includes many scenes depicting Harding’s mother both physically and emotionally abusing her. Her ex-husband Jeff Gillooly is shown doing much of the same, both before and after they split. In real life, Harding alleged that Gillooly beat her, while family and friends told reportersthat her mother, LaVona Golden, was violent. “He hit me, b...
As depicted in the movie, footage of the immediate aftermath of Kerrigan getting clubbed in the knee after practice at a Detroit ice rink shows the skater surrounded by medics, sobbing and screaming, “Why? Why? Why?”
Shawn Eckhardt, a friend of Gillooly’s and at one point a bodyguard for Harding, helped orchestrate the plot against Kerrigan. Eckhardt was a self-described espionage expert who said he had ties to a global network. The film shows his character, played by Paul Walter Hauser, bragging about knowing hitmen and being involved in risky exploits, claims...
Allison Janney plays Harding’s mother, LaVona Golden, in I, Tonya, and appears throughout the film with a parakeet perched on her shoulder, making for some of the movie’s funniest moments. Golden in real life actually sat for an interview, much as Janney does in the film, clad in fur with a bird sitting on her shoulder, shown in footage included in...
- 52 sec
- Mahita Gajanan
Dec 6, 2017 · LaVona Golden, also known as Sandy Golden, is the mother of the disgraced figure skater Tonya Harding. She denies abusing her daughter, but hasn't spoken to her since 2002 and is unimpressed by Allison Janney's portrayal of her in I Tonya.
Dec 10, 2017 · The I, Tonya true story reveals that, surprisingly, this actually happened. "We had all the actual footage—you couldn't invent this stuff," says Margot Robbie. "In an interview, Tonya's mom, LaVona, wore a fur coat with an actual bird sitting on her shoulder." And like in the movie, LaVona sewed Tonya's costumes, a task that Tonya would later ...
