Early life

Hawn was born in Washington, D.C., the daughter of Laura (née Steinhoff; November 27, 1913 - November 27, 1993), a jewelry shop/dance school owner, and Edward Rutledge Hawn (September 28, 1908 - June 7, 1982), a band musician who played at major events in Washington. She was named after her mother's aunt.

Her father was a Presbyterian, and of German and English descent, while her mother was Jewish. Hawn had a Jewish upbringing.

Hawn is often reported to be a direct descendant of Edward Rutledge, the youngest signatory of the Declaration of Independence; however, genealogical research has shown that Rutledge is not an ancestor of Hawn's. Hawn began taking ballet and tap dance lessons at the age of three, and danced in the chorus of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo production of The Nutcracker in 1955. She made her stage debut in 1961, playing Juliet in a Virginia Shakespeare Festival production of Romeo and Juliet. By 1964, she ran and taught in a ballet school, having dropped out of American University, where she was majoring in drama.

In 1964, Hawn 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.

Career

1960s

Hawn began her acting career as a cast member of the short-lived situation comedy Good Morning, World during the 1967-68 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 as one of the regular cast members on the 1968-1973 sketch comedy show, Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. On the show, she would often break out into high-pitched giggles in the middle of a joke, and deliver a polished performance a moment after. Noted equally for her chipper attitude as for her bikini and painted body, Hawn was seen as something of 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 had made her feature 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.

1970s

After Hawn's Academy Award win, her film career took off. She starred in a string of above average and 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 with the 1974 satirical dramas The Girl from Petrovka and The Sugarland Express, and Shampoo in 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 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 a murder 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".

1980s

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 produced. Private Benjamin, which also stars Eileen Brennan and Armand Assante, 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), Protocol (1984), and Wildcats (1986) — Hawn also served as executive producer on the latter two — and dramas like Best Friends (1982) and Swing Shift (1984).

At the age of thirty-nine, Hawn posed for the cover of Playboy's January 1985 issue. Hawn posed in a giant martini glass wearing only a white collar shirt, a loosened black tie, fishnet stockings and a pair of red stilettos. Her last film of the 1980s was opposite partner Kurt Russell for the third time in the comedy Overboard (1987).

1990s

Hawn's career slowed down after leaving Hollywood in the late 1980s, but revived somewhat in 1990 with the action comedy Bird on a Wire, a critically panned but commercially successful picture 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 and critical success. Hawn was absent from the screen again 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, as well as making 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 continued her tenure in the 1990s with Woody Allen's musical Everyone Says I Love You (1996) and reuniting 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 not successful at the box office. In 1997, Hawn, along with her co-stars from The First Wives Club, Diane Keaton and Bette Midler, were recipients of the Women in Film Crystal Awards.

In 1999, she was awarded Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year.

2000s

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 run. In 2002, she starred in The Banger Sisters, opposite Susan Sarandon and Geoffrey Rush, her last live action film to date.

In 2005 Hawn's autobiography, A Lotus Grows in the Mud, was published.

2010s

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.

Hawn will be returning to big screen for the first time since 2002, in which she will portray the mother of Amy Schumer's character in the upcoming comedy Mother/Daughter.

Personal life

Hawn has studied meditation. In a 2012 interview, she stated, "I don't think of myself as a Buddhist. I was born Jewish, and I consider that my religion." She also stated, "It's not the idea of a particular religion that's important; it's the development of a spiritual life."

Hawn is a supporter of the LGBT community. Speaking on nations such as Nigeria and others which have criminalized homosexuals, she denounced these laws, stating, "This is man's inhumanity to man, of the first order."

Relationships and family

Hawn's first husband was dancer (later director) Gus Trikonis, who appeared as a Shark in West Side Story; his sister Gina played Graziella, Riff's girlfriend. They married in May 1969 in Honolulu, Hawaii and separated in 1973. Hawn then dated stuntman Ted Grossman and Swedish actor Bruno Wintzell, but did not divorce Trikonis until June 1976, after becoming engaged to musician Bill Hudson of the Hudson Brothers, whom she met in the summer of 1975 on a first-class flight from New York to L.A. They married in July 1976 in Takoma Park, Maryland, and had two children, actors Oliver and actress Kate. Hudson filed for divorce in August 1980, and it was finalized in March 1982.

Hawn has been in a relationship with actor Kurt Russell since 1983. The couple first met while filming The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band (1968), but became involved after meeting on the set of Swing Shift. They have a son, Wyatt (born July 10, 1986). They also own a home in Palm Desert, California. Hawn is also the stepmother of Kurt Russell's son Boston.

The Hawn Foundation

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

Title	Year	Role	Directed by	Notes
The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band	1968	Giggly Girl	Michael O'Herlihy	Credited as "Goldie Jeanne"
The Sidehackers	1969	Spectator	Gus Trikonis	Uncredited role; Alternatively titled "Five the Hard Way"
Cactus Flower	1969	Toni Simmons	Gene Saks
There's a Girl in My Soup	1970	Marion	Roy Boulting
$	1971	Dawn Divine	Richard Brooks	Also known as Dollars, and in the UK as The Heist
Butterflies Are Free	1972	Jill Tanner	Milton Katselas
The Sugarland Express	1974	Lou Jean Poplin	Steven Spielberg
The Girl from Petrovka	1974	Oktyabrina	Robert Ellis Miller
Shampoo	1975	Jill	Hal Ashby
The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox	1976	Amanda Quaid/Duchess Swansbury	Melvin Frank
Foul Play	1978	Gloria Mundy	Colin Higgins
Lovers and Liars	1979	Anita	Mario Monicelli	Originally titled "Viaggio con Anita"
Private Benjamin	1980	Pvt. Judy Benjamin/Goodman	Howard Zieff
Seems Like Old Times	1980	Glenda Gardenia Parks	Jay Sandrich
Best Friends	1982	Paula McCullen	Norman Jewison
Swing Shift	1984	Kay Walsh	Jonathan Demme
Protocol	1984	Sunny Davis	Herbert Ross
Wildcats	1986	Molly McGrath	Michael Ritchie
Overboard	1987	Joanna Stayton/Annie Proffitt	Garry Marshall
Bird on a Wire	1990	Marianne Graves	John Badham
Deceived	1991	Adrienne Saunders	Damian Harris
CrissCross	1992	Tracy Cross	Chris Menges
Housesitter	1992	Gwen Duncle/Buckley/Phillips	Frank Oz
Death Becomes Her	1992	Helen Sharp	Robert Zemeckis
The First Wives Club	1996	Elise Elliot	Hugh Wilson
Everyone Says I Love You	1996	Steffi Dandridge	Woody Allen
The Out-of-Towners	1999	Nancy Clark	Sam Weisman
Town & Country	2001	Mona Morris	Peter Chelsom
The Banger Sisters	2002	Suzette	Bob Dolman

Television

Title	Year	Role	Notes
Good Morning, World	1967-68	Sandy Kramer	Season 1 - 20 episodes
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In	1968-70	Herself (regular performer)	Seasons 1-3 - 64 episodes
Space Ghost Coast to Coast	1997	Herself	Season 4, Episode 15 - "Pavement"
Phineas and Ferb	2013	Peggy McGee	Season 4, Episode 23 - "Thanks But No Thanks"

Additional credits

• Private Benjamin (1980) (additionally served as executive producer)
• Protocol (1984) (additionally served as executive producer)
• Wildcats (1986) (additionally served as executive producer)
• My Blue Heaven (1990) (executive producer)
• Something to Talk About (1995) (executive producer)
• Hope (1997 TV movie) (director and executive producer)
• When Billie Beat Bobby (2001 TV movie) (executive producer)
• The Matthew Shepard Story (2002) (executive producer)

Discography

Albums

• 1972, Goldie, Reprise Records: MS 2061

Singles

• 1972, "Pitta Patta", Reprise Records: REP 1126 (directed by Van Dyke Parks)
• 1997, "You Don't Own Me", Columbia Records: XPCD842 (with Bette Midler and Diane Keaton)

Awards and nominations

Year	Nominated work	Association	Category	Result
1969	Cactus Flower	Academy Awards	Best Supporting Actress	Won
		David di Donatello	Special David	Won
		Golden Globe Awards	Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture	Won
		BAFTA	Best Actress in a Leading Role	Nominated
1970	There's a Girl in My Soup	BAFTA		Nominated
1972	Butterflies Are Free	Golden Globe Awards	Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy	Nominated
1975	Shampoo	Golden Globe Awards		Nominated
1976	The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox	Golden Globe Awards		Nominated
1978	Foul Play	Golden Globe Awards		Nominated
1980	Private Benjamin	Academy Awards	Best Actress	Nominated
		Golden Globe Awards	Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy	Nominated
		National Society of Film Critics	Best Actress	Nominated
		New York Film Critics	Best Actress	Nominated
1982	Best Friends	Golden Globe Awards	Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy	Nominated
1996	The First Wives Club	National Board of Review	Best Cast	Won
	Everyone Says I Love You	Satellite Awards	Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture	Nominated
2002	The Banger Sisters	Golden Globe Awards	Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy	Nominated

Charities

Goldie Hawn supports the following charitable causes: Diabetes, AIDS, Cancer, Children.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]