“Gidget” is the linguistic blend of the words “girl” and “midget.” But the name means much more than that – it’s the movie that changed the course of surfing and made it mainstream. The fictional character was inspired by Frederick Kohner’s teenage daughter, Kathy Kohner, who embraced the surfing lifestyle in the sands of Malibu.

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Gidget: the story of Hollywood’s first surfing star

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