Goldie Hawn began her career as one of the regular cast members on the 1960s sketch comedy show , she personified a 1960s It girl. On the show, she would often break out into high-pitched giggles in the middle of a joke, yet in the next moment deliver a very polished performance. Hawn won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in the 1969 film , which co-starred the now-deceased acting legends, Walter Matthau and Ingrid Bergman.

Into the 1970s and 1980s, Hawn remained a popular figure in entertainment, appearing in various films (generally comedies), and moving into film production as well. She gathered great respect as a comedy actress and was outspoken in her liberal political views. Her career died down a bit until 1992 when she revitalized it opposite Bruce Willis and Meryl Streep in the film opposite Bette Midler and Diane Keaton. Through the late 1990s and beyond, she has remained popular (in part thanks to the success of her now adult daughter, actress Kate Hudson, whose father is the musician Bill Hudson). She appeared in opposite Susan Sarandon in 2002.

Hawn has proved her singing talent with a cover version of the Beatles' song "A Hard Day's Night" on George Martin's album (1998). Along with Diane Keaton and Bette Midler, Hawn covered the Lesley Gore hit "You Don't Own Me" for (2005) which Hawn claims is not a Hollywood tell-all, but rather a memoir and record of what she has learned in her life so far.

She has been in a relationship with Kurt Russell since 1983, and they have a son together, Wyatt Russell, who is now in Vancouver, British Columbia learning and playing hockey. Hawn became a grandmother on 7 January 2004 when her daughter Kate Hudson gave birth to son Ryder Russell Robinson.

Her son Oliver Hudson is also an actor, appearing on the short-lived (WB) television series (2004–2005).

Hawn's father, Edward Rutledge Studlendgehawn, was a descendant of Edward Rutledge, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Edward was a Presbyterian, but Goldie's mother was Jewish, the daughter of immigrants from Hungary, and Hawn was raised Jewish. Nowadays, Hawn is a practising Buddhist, but still considers herself Jewish, and she has raised her children in both the Jewish and Buddhist beliefs.