Goldie Hawn Biography

Goldie Jeanne Hawn (born November 21, 1945) is an American actress, film director, producer, and occasional singer. Hawn is known for her roles in television's Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In and films like Private Benjamin, Foul Play, Shampoo, Overboard, Bird on a Wire, Death Becomes Her, The First Wives Club, and Cactus Flower, for which she won the 1969 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She is the mother of actors Oliver and Kate Hudson. Hawn has maintained a relationship with actor Kurt Russell since 1983.

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. She has a sister, Patricia; her brother, Edward, died as an infant before Goldie's birth.

Through her father, Hawn is a direct descendant of Edward Rutledge, the youngest signatory of the Declaration of Independence. Hawn was raised in Takoma Park, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C., and attended Montgomery Blair High School in nearby Silver Spring, Maryland. Her father was Presbyterian and her mother was Jewish, the daughter of immigrants from Hungary; Hawn had a Jewish upbringing.

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 1967-1968 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 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, popular 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 and revived Hawn's career in the film industry. 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 primetime Emmys. 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 January 1985 issue. Hawn posed in a giant martini glass wearing nothing but a white collar shirt, a loosened black tie, 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 + Lucy Awards#Crystal award|Women in Film Crystal Awards]].

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 appeared in The Banger Sisters opposite Susan Sarandon and Geoffrey Rush.

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

Personal life

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. Her second husband was Bill Hudson, of the Hudson Brothers; the couple married in 1976 and divorced in 1980. They have two children, actor Oliver Hudson (born September 1976) and actress Kate Hudson (born April 1979).

Hawn has been in a relationship with actor Kurt Russell since 1983. They had first met while filming The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band (1968), but became involved only after meeting on the set of Swing Shift. They have a son, Wyatt Russell (born 1986).

Hawn is the stepmother of Kurt Russell's son Boston, and she became a grandmother in 2004 when her daughter gave birth to son Ryder Russell Robinson. Her second grandson, Wilder Brooks Hudson, was born to her son Oliver and his wife, actress Erinn Bartlett, in 2007. In 2010, Oliver and his wife had another boy, whom they named Bodhi Hawn Hudson. Her daughter Kate gave birth to her fourth grandson, named Bingham Hawn Bellamy, in July 2011. Her son Oliver welcomed his first girl and Goldie's first granddaughter in July 2013, named Rio.

Religion

Hawn became involved in Eastern philosophy in 1972. She practices Buddhism and has raised her children in both Buddhist and Jewish traditions. She stated on Larry King Live, in 2006, that she is a Jewish Buddhist, and considers herself ethnically Jewish and a follower of Buddhist philosophies. In a 2012 interview, when asked about her religion, Hawn stated, "I don't think of myself as a Buddhist. I was born Jewish, and I consider that my religion", as well as that "It's not the idea of a particular religion that's important; it's the development of a spiritual life".

Hawn travels to India annually, and has visited Israel, stating that she felt a strong identification with its people. She has been criticized by pro-Palestinian activists for her support for Israel and the Jewish National Fund. In 1997, she was one of a number of Hollywood stars and executives to sign an open letter to then-German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, published as a newspaper advertisement in the International Herald Tribune, which protested the treatment of Scientologists in Germany.

Mindfulness

Hawn founded and funds The Hawn Foundation, which teaches the Buddhist technique of mindfulness training; where kindergarten through seventh-graders are instructed in mindful awareness techniques and positive thinking skills, then tested for changes in behavior, social and emotional competence, and moral development. A study by the University of British Columbia indicated that children who participated in the program increased significantly in the areas of optimism and positive emotions, while decreasing in aggression. Hawn was in negotiation with the British Conservative Party (before the country's 2010 general election) to set up a school in Britain where her MindUp technique would be taught. Hawn realizes that many parents oppose bringing Buddhist methods into public schools, and stated: "There will always be people who see this as scary, or as some kind of Eastern philosophy that they don't want for their kids." Hawn adds, "Mindfulness gives kids a tool for understanding how their brain works, for having more self-control."

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Other notes
1967"1968	Good Morning, World	Sandy Kramer	TV series
1968"1970	Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In	Herself (Regular Performer)	TV series Nominated - Emmy Award for Special Classification Achievements - Individuals (Variety Performances) (1969) Nominated - Emmy Award for Special Classification of Outstanding Program and Individual Achievement - Individuals (1970)
1968	The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band	Giggly Girl	Credited as Goldie Jeanne.
1969	Five the Hard Way		Uncredited
	Cactus Flower	Toni Simmons	Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress David di Donatello Award: Special David Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress " Motion Picture Nominated - BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer - Female
1970	There's a Girl in My Soup	Marion	Nominated - BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role Nominated " Golden Laurel Award for Best Comedy Performance, Female
1971	$	Dawn Divine	aka Dollars
1972	Butterflies Are Free	Jill Tanner	Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actress " Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1974	The Sugarland Express	Lou Jean Poplin
	The Girl from Petrovka	Oktyabrina
1975	Shampoo	Jill	Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actress " Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1976	The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox	Amanda Quaid/Duchess Swansbury	Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actress " Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1978	Foul Play	Gloria Mundy	Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actress " Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1979	Lovers and Liars	Anita
1980	Private Benjamin	Pvt. Judy Benjamin/Goodman	Nominated - Academy Award for Best Actress Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actress " Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Nominated - National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress (3rd place) Nominated - New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress (2nd place)
	Seems Like Old Times	Glenda Gardenia Parks
1982	Best Friends	Paula McCullen	Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actress " Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1984	Swing Shift	Kay Walsh
	Protocol	Sunny Davis
1986	Wildcats	Molly McGrath
1987	Overboard	Joanna Stayton/Annie Proffitt
1990	Bird on a Wire	Marianne Graves
1991	Deceived	Adrienne Saunders
1992	CrissCross	Tracy Cross
	Housesitter	Gwen Phillips
	Death Becomes Her	Helen Sharp	Nominated - American Comedy Award for Funniest Actress in a Motion Picture (Leading Role)
1996	The First Wives Club	Elise Elliot	National Board of Review Award for Best Cast Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actress " Comedy
	Everyone Says I Love You	Steffi Dandridge	Nominated - Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress " Motion Picture Comedy or Musical
1999	The Out-of-Towners	Nancy Clark
2001	Town & Country	Mona Miller	Nominated - Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress
2002	The Banger Sisters	Suzette	Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actress " Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
2013	Phineas and Ferb	Peggy McGee	"Thanks But No Thanks" (voice)