HELLO AMERICA!—When you spot Goldie Hawn on camera, she causes you to smile or laugh. She’s an actress who was born to do just that it seems. When I served as an Associate Director on Laugh during her time on that hit show, there was no one more disciplined or respected what was assigned for her character to do than Goldie. The young girl was “for real” in every positive sense; just watching her go through her on-camera character moves was like sitting in on a master class of pure professionalism.
Goldie reminded me that when she auditioned for the Rowan and Martin TV hit “Laugh In” she believed she would never work again, it was so bad. “They gave me cards to read,” she reminded, “and I dropped them one by one. I couldn’t remember any of the lines they wanted me to memorize, so I made them up. It was absolutely horribly and when I heard the producers breaking up in laughter, I wanted to escape and lock myself in a closet somewhere. However, they thought the character I portrayed was perfect for that kind of show and let me know very quickly that they’d like me on the show! It was unbelievable. My only response to them was ‘Dear god, REALLY?!’ So, that’s when that quirky with the stupid facial expressions was born.”
Many Goldie Hawn fans never knew what humble beginning she experienced before landing in Hollywood to become one of the top earning talents in the film industry. She is the daughter of a musician and actress who observed her special interest in ballet and tap-dancing at the tender age of 3.
“I loved every minute of putting on the dancing shoes, both ballet and tap. Every move, I was asked to make seemed natural, my body captured the rhythm no matter what the music was. I pictured myself as another Ginger Rogers or even an Eleanor Powell, after all, they were considered royalty of the dance!”
At age 18, Goldie dropped out of Washington, D.C.’s American University to head up her own ballet school which resulted in her being signed to make various dance appearances throughout New York City as well as Europe.
“Instinctively,” she said, “I knew I was making the right decisions for what I needed to achieve as an artist.” Her gut feeling was right on target because within very little time, she was signed for “Laugh In” being nominated for Emmys and then when leaving that show was signed by Disney for films: “The One and Only, Original Family Band” where she met her future companion Kurt Russell. She even won critical acclaim for her dramatic performance in Steven Spielberg’s 1974 film “The Sugarland Express.”
Goldie is the first to remind you that her life hasn’t been all sunshine and flowers.
“Hey, I’ve had some very trying times just like everybody else,” she said. “However, I managed to keep my life and my family together dealing in honesty and truth. And when I became a grandmother, believe me I’ve always been ready to give wise advise. It doesn’t mean that it was always appreciated but as you know, I’ve always been known to express what I really feel with love, of course.”
