Goldie Hawn
About
Goldie is the sweetheart of the Hollywood film industry, her Academy Award-winning roles and lasting impressions have gained her adoring audiences worldwide. A woman of many talents, Hawn is not only a gifted actor, but also a creative director, savvy producer, flourishing entrepreneur, respected CEO and loving parent.
Goldie 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.
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 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.
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.
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), as well as proving herself in the dramatic league with the 1974 satirical dramas The Girl from Petrovka and The Sugarland Express, and Shampoo in 1975.
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.
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, as well as making her directorial debut in the television film Hope (1997) starring Christine Lahti and Jena Malone.
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.
In 2005, Hawn’s autobiography, A Lotus Grows in the Mud, was published.
Hawn founded and funds The Hawn Foundation, which teaches the Buddhist technique of mindfulness training; where fourth- through seventh-graders are instructed in mindful awareness techniques and positive thinking skills. 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’s humble approach to life has earned her respect not only as an actress, but also as a grounded and approachable human being.