Goldie Hawn
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Goldie Jeanne Hawn, born November 21, 1945, is an American actress, producer, dancer, and singer who achieved stardom and acclaim for her lighthearted comedic roles in film and television. In a career spanning six decades, she's earned an Academy Award and a Golden Globe, along with nominations for a BAFTA and two Primetime Emmys.
She first rose to fame on the NBC sketch comedy program *Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In*, from 1968 to 1970. Her screen debut was a minor role in the western comedy *The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band* in 1968. But it was her comedic role in *Cactus Flower* in 1969 that earned her the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress. She later received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for her role in the 1980 comedy *Private Benjamin*.
Hawn has graced the screen in numerous comedy films, including *There's a Girl in My Soup*, *Butterflies Are Free*, *The Sugarland Express*, *Shampoo*, *Foul Play*, and *Seems Like Old Times*. She continued her comedic success with *Overboard*, *Bird on a Wire*, *Death Becomes Her*, *Housesitter*, *The First Wives Club*, *The Out-of-Towners*, and *The Banger Sisters*. After a hiatus, Hawn returned to film with roles in *Snatched*, *The Christmas Chronicles*, and *The Christmas Chronicles 2*.
She is the mother of actors Oliver Hudson, Kate Hudson, and Wyatt Russell. Since 1983, she has been in a committed relationship with Kurt Russell. In 2003, she founded the Hawn Foundation, dedicated to educating underprivileged children.
Born in Washington, D.C., Goldie Hawn's father was a musician and conductor, and her mother owned a jewelry shop and dance school. Her father was of German and English descent, while her mother was Jewish, with roots in Hungary. Hawn was raised Jewish and began taking ballet and tap dance lessons at the age of three, even dancing in a production of *The Nutcracker* with the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo. Her stage debut came in 1964, playing Juliet in a Virginia Shakespeare Festival production of *Romeo and Juliet*.
In 1964, she ran and taught at a ballet school, having left American University where she was studying drama. Her professional dancing debut was at the New York World's Fair, and she later worked as a go-go dancer in New York City and New Jersey.
Hawn moved to California to dance at Melodyland Theatre, joining productions of *Pal Joey* and *How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying*. Her acting career began in the short-lived sitcom *Good Morning World* during the 1967-1968 season, playing a stereotypical "dumb blonde" girlfriend.
Her next role, and the one that brought her international attention, was also as a "dumb blonde" on *Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In*. Hawn often punctuated jokes with high-pitched giggles, delivering polished performances moments later. Noted for her cheerful attitude and bikini-clad, body-painted appearances, she became a quintessential "It" girl of the 1960s.
Her *Laugh-In* persona translated into three popular film appearances in the late 60s and early 70s: *Cactus Flower*, *There's a Girl in My Soup*, and *Butterflies Are Free*. After a bit role as a giggling dancer in *The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band*, her first major film role in *Cactus Flower* earned her an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress as Walter Matthau's suicidal fiancée. In the same year, she appeared in the television special *The Spring Thing*.
Following her Oscar win, Hawn's film career soared with successful comedies like *There's a Girl in My Soup*, *$,* and *Butterflies Are Free*. She proved her dramatic chops in 1974 with the satirical dramas *The Girl from Petrovka* and Steven Spielberg's *The Sugarland Express*. She then co-starred in Hal Ashby's classic satire *Shampoo*. Hawn also hosted two television specials: *Pure Goldie* in 1971 and *The Goldie Hawn Special* in 1978, which was nominated for a Primetime Emmy. The latter special marked a comeback after a two-year hiatus to focus on her marriage and the birth of her son. The special featured performances with George Burns, Shaun Cassidy, John Ritter, and the Harlem Globetrotters. Shortly after, the film *Foul Play*, with Chevy Chase, became a box office hit, revitalizing her career. Her next film, *Lovers and Liars*, was a box office bomb.
In 1972, Hawn released a solo country LP titled *Goldie*, featuring contributions from Dolly Parton and Buck Owens. AllMusic described it as a "sweetly endearing country-tinged middle of the road pop record."
Hawn's popularity continued into the 1980s with the variety special *Goldie and Liza Together*, nominated for four Emmy Awards. In 1980, she took the lead in *Private Benjamin*, a comedy she co-produced and which earned her a second Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. Her box office success continued with comedies like *Seems Like Old Times*, *Best Friends*, *Protocol*, *Wildcats*, and the World War II drama *Swing Shift*. At 39, Hawn graced the cover of *Playboy* in January 1985. Her last film of the decade was *Overboard* with Kurt Russell.
In 1990, she starred in the action comedy *Bird on a Wire* with Mel Gibson. The early 90s saw mixed success with the thriller *Deceived*, the drama *CrissCross*, and *Death Becomes Her* with Bruce Willis and Meryl Streep. Earlier in 1992, she starred in the successful screwball comedy *Housesitter* with Steve Martin.
Hawn took a four-year break from acting to care for her mother, who passed away from cancer in 1994. She returned as a producer for the satirical comedy *Something to Talk About* and made her directorial debut with the television film *Hope*.
Hawn returned to the screen in 1996 as the aging, alcoholic actress Elise Elliot in the successful *The First Wives Club*, alongside Bette Midler and Diane Keaton. For the film's soundtrack, she covered Lesley Gore's "You Don't Own Me." She also performed a cover of The Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night" on George Martin's 1998 album. She starred in Woody Allen's musical *Everyone Says I Love You* and reunited with Steve Martin for the remake of *The Out-of-Towners*, which was critically panned. In 1997, Hawn, Keaton, and Midler received Women in Film Crystal Awards. In 1999, she was awarded Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year. In 2001, she reunited with Warren Beatty and Diane Keaton for the critical and financial flop *Town & Country*. Her last live-action film for fifteen years was *The Banger Sisters* in 2002, opposite Susan Sarandon. In 2005, her autobiography, *A Lotus Grows in the Mud*, was published.
In 2013, Hawn guest-starred on *Phineas and Ferb*, voicing Peggy McGee. In 2017, she returned to the big screen in *Snatched* with Amy Schumer. In 2018, she cameoed as Mrs. Claus in *The Christmas Chronicles* and reprised the role in a leading capacity in the 2020 sequel.
Hawn has studied meditation and describes her religious beliefs as "Jewish Buddhist." She is a supporter of the LGBT community and has spoken out against the criminalization of gay people. She endorsed Senator Ted Kennedy in the 1980 Democratic presidential primaries.
Hawn's early relationships included actor Mark Goddard and singer Spiro Venduras. Her first husband was dancer Gus Trikonis, whom she married in 1969 and divorced in 1975. She then married musician Bill Hudson of the Hudson Brothers in 1976, with whom she had two children, Oliver and Kate. They divorced in 1982.
Goldie Hawn has been in a relationship with Kurt Russell since Valentine's Day 1983. They first met while filming *The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band* in 1967 and reconnected on the set of *Swing Shift*. They have a son, Wyatt. Hawn and Russell, who celebrated 40 years together in 2023, own homes across the country and have chosen not to marry, believing that marriage does not "cement" a relationship.
In 2003, Hawn founded the Hawn Foundation, a non-profit organization that offers youth education programs focused on improving academic performance through "life-enhancing strategies for well-being," including their signature program, MindUP.
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Goldie Jeanne Hawn (born November 21, 1945) is an American actress, producer, dancer, and singer. She achieved stardom and acclaim for playing lighthearted comedic roles in film and television. In a career spanning six decades, she has received several awards, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for a BAFTA Award and two Primetime Emmy Awards.
She rose to fame on the NBC sketch comedy program Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (1968–1970). She made her screen debut in a minor role the western comedy The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band (1968), before going on to receive the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress for her comedic role in Cactus Flower (1969). She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, playing a woman who enlists for the army in the comedy Private Benjamin (1980).
Hawn has also starred in such comedy films as There's a Girl in My Soup (1970), Butterflies Are Free (1972), The Sugarland Express (1974), Shampoo (1975), Foul Play (1978), Seems Like Old Times (1980). She later starred in Overboard (1987), Bird on a Wire (1990), Death Becomes Her (1992), Housesitter (1992), The First Wives Club (1996), The Out-of-Towners (1999), and The Banger Sisters (2002). Hawn made her return to film with roles in Snatched (2017), The Christmas Chronicles (2018), and The Christmas Chronicles 2 (2020).
Hawn is the mother of actors Oliver Hudson, Kate Hudson, and Wyatt Russell. She has been in a relationship with Kurt Russell since 1983. In 2003, she founded the Hawn Foundation, which educates underprivileged children.
== Early life ==
Hawn was born in Washington, D.C. to Laura (née Steinhoff), a jewelry shop/dance school owner, and Edward Rutledge Hawn, a musician and conductor who was a descendant of Edward Rutledge, the youngest signatory of the Declaration of Independence. She was named after her mother's aunt. She has one sister, entertainment publicist Patti Hawn; their brother, Edward Jr., died in infancy before Patti was conceived. Growing up, the girls were unaware of their deceased brother.
Her father was a Presbyterian of German and English descent. Her mother was Jewish, the daughter of Jewish immigrants from Hungary. Hawn was raised Jewish in Takoma Park, Maryland, and attended Montgomery Blair High School in nearby Silver Spring, Maryland.
Hawn began taking ballet and tap dance lessons at the age of three and danced in the corps de ballet of the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo production of The Nutcracker in 1955. She made her stage debut in 1964, playing Juliet in a Virginia Shakespeare Festival production of Romeo and Juliet.
In 1964, Hawn ran and taught in a ballet school, having dropped out of American University where she was majoring in drama. She made her professional dancing debut in a production of Can-Can at the Texas Pavilion of the New York World's Fair. She began working as a professional dancer a year later and appeared as a go-go dancer in New York City and at the Peppermint Box in New Jersey.
== Career ==
=== 1966–1969: Breakthrough and acclaim ===
Hawn moved to California to dance in a show at Melodyland Theatre, a theater in the round across from Disneyland, joining the chorus of Pal Joey and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying during the June 14 to September 1966 season. Hawn began her acting career as a cast member of the short-lived sitcom Good Morning World during the 1967–1968 television season, her role being that of the girlfriend of a radio disc jockey, with a stereotypical "dumb blonde" personality.
Her next role, which brought her to international attention, was also as a dumb blonde, as one of the regular cast members on the 1968–1973 sketch comedy show Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. Hawn often broke out into high-pitched giggles in the middle of a joke, then delivered a polished performance a moment after. Noted equally for her chipper attitude as for her bikini-attired and painted body, Hawn was seen as a 1960s "It" girl.
Her Laugh-In persona was parlayed into three popular film appearances in the late 1960s and early 1970s: Cactus Flower, There's a Girl in My Soup, and Butterflies Are Free. Hawn made her film debut in a bit role as a giggling dancer in the 1968 film The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band, in which she was billed as "Goldie Jeanne", but in her first major film role, in Cactus Flower (1969), she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress as Walter Matthau's suicidal fiancée. The same year, she appeared in The Spring Thing, a television special hosted by Bobbie Gentry and Noel Harrison. Other guests were Meredith MacRae, Irwin C. Watson, Rod McKuen, Shirley Bassey and Harpers Bizarre.
=== 1970–1989: Comedy stardom ===
After Hawn's Academy Award win, her film career took off. She starred in a string of successful comedies starting with There's a Girl in My Soup (1970), $ (1971), and Butterflies Are Free (1972). She continued proving herself in the dramatic league in 1974 with the satirical dramas The Girl from Petrovka and Steven Spielberg's theatrical debut The Sugarland Express. She then co-starred in Hal Ashby's classic satire Shampoo (1975). She also hosted two television specials: Pure Goldie in 1971 and The Goldie Hawn Special in 1978. The latter was a sort of comeback for Hawn, who had been out of the spotlight for two years since the 1976 release of the romantic comedy western The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox, while she was focusing on her marriage and the birth of her son.
On the special she performed show tunes and comedy bits alongside comic legend George Burns, teen matinee idol Shaun Cassidy, television star John Ritter (during his days on Three's Company), and even the Harlem Globetrotters joined her for a montage. The special later went on to be nominated for a primetime Emmy. Four months later the film Foul Play (with Chevy Chase), was released and became a box office smash, reviving Hawn's film career. The plot centered around an innocent woman in San Francisco who becomes mixed up in an assassination plot. Hawn's next film, Mario Monicelli's Lovers and Liars (1979), was a box office bomb.
In 1972, Hawn recorded and released a solo country LP for Warner Brothers, titled Goldie. It was recorded with the help of Dolly Parton and Buck Owens. AllMusic gives the album a favorable review, calling it a "sweetly endearing country-tinged middle of the road pop record".
Hawn's popularity continued into the 1980s, starting with another primetime variety special alongside actress and singer Liza Minnelli, Goldie and Liza Together (1980), which was nominated for four Emmy Awards. In the same year, Hawn took the lead role in Private Benjamin, a comedy she co-produced with her friend Nancy Meyers, who co-wrote the script. Meyers recalls Hawn's reaction when she first described the idea for the story with Hawn as its lead:
It was like watching the greatest audience I've ever seen. She laughed and then she got real emotional and her eyes would fill up with tears. She loved the image of herself in an Army uniform and she loved what the movie had to say.
Private Benjamin also stars Eileen Brennan and Armand Assante and garnered Hawn her second Academy Award nomination, this time for Best Actress. Hawn's box office success continued with comedies like Seems Like Old Times (1980), written by Neil Simon; Best Friends (1982), written by Valerie Curtin and Barry Levinson; Protocol (1984), co-written by Nancy Meyers; Wildcats (1986)—Hawn also served as executive producer on the latter two; and the World War II romantic drama Swing Shift (1984).
At the age of thirty-nine, Hawn posed for the cover of Playboy's January 1985 issue and was the subject of the Playboy Interview. Her last film of the 1980s was opposite partner Kurt Russell, for the third time, in the comedy Overboard (1987).
=== 1990–2002: Established star and hiatus ===
In 1990, she starred in the action comedy Bird on a Wire, a critically panned but commercially successful film that paired Hawn with Mel Gibson. Hawn had mixed success in the early 1990s, with the thriller Deceived (1991), the drama CrissCross, and opposite Bruce Willis and Meryl Streep in Death Becomes Her (both 1992). Earlier that year, she starred in Housesitter, a screwball comedy with Steve Martin, which was a commercial success.
Hawn was absent from the screen for four years while caring for her mother, who died of cancer in 1994. Hawn made her entry back into film as producer of the satirical comedy Something to Talk About starring Julia Roberts and Dennis Quaid and made her directorial debut in the television film Hope (1997) starring Christine Lahti and Jena Malone.
Hawn returned to the screen again in 1996 as the aging, alcoholic actress Elise Elliot in the financially and critically successful The First Wives Club, opposite Bette Midler and Diane Keaton, with whom she covered the Lesley Gore hit "You Don't Own Me" for the film's soundtrack. Hawn also performed a cover version of the Beatles' song, "A Hard Day's Night", on George Martin's 1998 album, In My Life.
She starred in Woody Allen's musical Everyone Says I Love You (1996) and reunited with Steve Martin for the comedy The Out-of-Towners (1999), a remake of the 1970 Neil Simon hit. The film was critically panned and was a box office failure. In 1997, Hawn, along with her co-stars from The First Wives Club, Diane Keaton and Bette Midler, received the Women in Film Crystal Awards.
In 1999, she was awarded Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year. In 2001, Hawn was reunited with former co-stars Warren Beatty (her co-star in $ and Shampoo) and Diane Keaton for the comedy Town & Country, a critical and financial fiasco. Budgeted at an estimated US$90 million, the film opened to little notice and grossed only $7 million in its North American theatrical release. In 2002, she starred in The Banger Sisters, opposite Susan Sarandon and Geoffrey Rush, her last live action film for fifteen years. In 2005 Hawn's autobiography, A Lotus Grows in the Mud, was published.
=== 2013–present: Career resurgence ===
In 2013, Hawn guest-starred, along with Gordon Ramsay, in an episode of Phineas and Ferb, in which she provided the voice of neighbor Peggy McGee. In 2017, Hawn returned to the big screen for the first time since 2002, co-starring with Amy Schumer in the comedy Snatched, playing mother and daughter. In 2018, Hawn cameoed as Mrs. Claus in the Netflix film The Christmas Chronicles. She played Mrs. Claus again, in a leading role, in its 2020 sequel The Christmas Chronicles 2.
== Personal life ==
=== Beliefs and views ===
Hawn has studied meditation. In 2012, Hawn has described her religious beliefs as "Jewish Buddhist".
Hawn is a supporter of the LGBT community. Speaking on nations such as Nigeria and others which have criminalized gay people, she said "This is man's inhumanity to man, of the first order." Hawn endorsed Senator Ted Kennedy in the 1980 Democratic presidential primaries.
=== Marriages and family ===
==== Early relationships ====
Hawn's pre-fame boyfriends included actor Mark Goddard and singer Spiro Venduras. Her first husband was dancer (later director) Gus Trikonis, who appeared as a Shark gang member in West Side Story. They married on May 16, 1969, and separated on April 9, 1973. Hawn then dated stuntman Ted Grossman, Swedish actor Bruno Wintzell and Italian actor Franco Nero, but did not file for divorce from Trikonis until New Year's Eve 1975, after becoming engaged to musician Bill Hudson of the Hudson Brothers, whom she'd met the previous summer on a first-class flight from New York to Los Angeles. Hawn was granted a divorce in June 1976 and married Hudson on July 3 in Takoma Park, Maryland, where she grew up. They had two children, son Oliver (born September 7, 1976) and daughter Kate (born April 19, 1979). Hudson filed for divorce on August 15, 1980. Hawn subsequently had romances with French actor Yves Rénier and Moroccan businessman Victor Drai. The divorce from Hudson was finalized in March 1982.
==== Kurt Russell ====
Hawn has been in a relationship with Kurt Russell since Valentine's Day 1983. The couple first met while filming The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band in 1967, but became involved after reconnecting on the set of Swing Shift. They have a son together, Wyatt (born July 10, 1986). In 2000 and again in 2004, news outlets reported that Hawn and Russell were on the verge of breaking up. During the alleged separations, Hawn was linked to newsman Charles Glass and Pakistani former cricketer and former Prime Minister, Imran Khan. Hawn and Russell, who celebrated 40 years together in 2023, own homes in Canada (Vancouver), Colorado (Snowmass), New York (Manhattan), and California (Santa Ynez Valley, Brentwood, and Palm Desert). Hawn has said that she has no plans to marry Russell, stating that she "would have been long divorced if [she'd] been married," and that she and Russell chose to stay together and they do not feel that marriage "cements" a relationship.
=== The Hawn Foundation ===
In 2003, Hawn founded the Hawn Foundation, a non-profit organization which provides youth education programs intended to improve academic performance through "life-enhancing strategies for well-being". The Hawn Foundation has supported research studies conducted by external researchers to evaluate the effectiveness of its educational program for children, called MindUP.
== Filmography ==
=== Film ===
=== Television ===
== Awards and nominations ==
== Discography ==
=== Albums ===
1972, Goldie, Reprise Records: MS 2061
=== Singles ===
1972, "Pitta Patta", Reprise Records: REP 1126 (directed by Van Dyke Parks)
1972, "Carey", Reprise Records: K14211 U.K Issue
1997, "You Don't Own Me", Columbia Records: XPCD842 (with Bette Midler and Diane Keaton)
== References ==
== Further reading ==
== External links ==
Goldie Hawn at IMDb
Goldie Hawn at the TCM Movie Database
Goldie Hawn at discogs.com
The Hawn Foundation
Goldie Hawn interview on BBC Radio 4 Desert Island Discs, September 23, 2012
Videos
"Hawn: From 'Cactus Flower' to 'Lotus'" USA Today (May 4, 2005)
"Goldie Hawn a Wallflower?" 60 Minutes. CBS News (May 1, 2005)
"Goldie Hawn's '10 Mindful Minutes' for Children". ABC News. September 9, 2011. Archived from the original on January 3, 2012. Retrieved July 14, 2012.
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