Goldie Jeanne Hawn was born in 1945 in Washington, D.C., to the owner of a jewelry salon and a musician. Her mother was Jewish, the daughter of Hungarian immigrants. From the age of three, Hawn took ballet and dance lessons, and her acting debut took place in 1961 in the play Romeo and Juliet. Over the next couple of years she danced professionally, also performing on New York theater stages.

Goldie Hawn first appeared on screen in 1967 in the television series Good Morning, World, and a year later came her film debut in the musical The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band. Goldie Hawn's first significant role was the carefree party girl Toni Simmons in the comedy Cactus Flower (1969), for which she was awarded an Oscar in the category of Best Supporting Actress. A deeper role came to her in The Sugarland Express, Steven Spielberg's directorial debut (1973). Two years later the actress brilliantly played Warren Beatty's girlfriend in the comedy Shampoo. For the film Private Benjamin (1980), Hawn was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress. In January 1985 the semi-nude actress appeared on the cover of Playboy magazine.

In the 1980s Goldie Hawn acted rather rarely, and a string of new film works followed from the late 1980s with roles in the comedies Overboard, where she starred opposite her husband Kurt Russell, as well as Bird on a Wire (1990), Housesitter (1992) and Death Becomes Her (1992). In 1996 the actress played the abandoned alcoholic wife Elise Elliot in the comedy The First Wives Club (1996), in which she starred alongside Diane Keaton and Bette Midler. Goldie Hawn last appeared on cinema screens in 2002 in the comedy The Banger Sisters, in which Susan Sarandon was her co-star.