Stewart REBURN

Stewart Reburn was the junior Canadian champion in the men’s singles in 1928, the same year that he came third in the senior pairs championship with Veronica Clarke. The following year he was runner-up in the senior singles to Bud Wilson, who won the first of his record-setting nine Canadian titles in the event. He was second to Wilson again in 1931, which led to his selection for the 1932 Winter Olympics, although he withdrew prior to competition, while Wilson took home bronze. Reburn, who had also taken bronze in the pairs event with Cecil Smith at the 1931 national championships, was absent from the national scene for two years, but returned in 1934 with a new partner, Louise Bertram. They came second that year in the nationals, behind Wilson and his sister Constance, but captured the title a year later, as well as bronze at the 1935 North American Championships. The duo then travelled to the 1936 Winter Olympics, where they finished sixth in a field of 18 teams. At that year’s World Championships, they were fourth.

Reburn continued to compete as an amateur with Bertram until October 1938, when he was chosen by Sonja Henie to be her professional skating partner. He performed with her until 1940, and even made an appearance in her 1939 film Second Fiddle, before joining the Royal Canadian Air Force, where he rose to the rank of Lieutenant during World War II. He was wounded by shrapnel in December 1943, which ended both his skating and his budding acting career, but after the war he worked behind the scenes in the film industry for several years, prior to taking up real estate management. He died after a six-month battle with cancer at the age of 63.