Goldie Hawn Has the Last Laugh

Originally published in May 1981

Goldie Hawn was plain-looking as a young girl: “I’d cry a lot and run home to Mom and ask, ‘When am I going to be a wow, like other girls?’ Mom always used to reply, ‘Don’t worry, Goldie, one of these days you won’t be able to control all those boys who are going to come around.’ And I’d say, ‘Oh?’ and start bawling again.

I wasn’t crazy about my looks, because my face is sort of flat. I have no cheekbones and my eyelids look big and heavy, especially when I’m tired.

“I fight hard not to become tough. On the one hand, I’m good old Goldie, kind of a kewpie doll in a male-run industry. I’m liked and they expect jokes and zaniness. But as a businesswoman, I have to make decisions that some disagree with or object to harshly. I have to protect my best interests, and why shouldn’t I put across my point of view? But I’d never want to act like a man.

“The only thing they understand in Hollywood is money. If a movie makes money, they love you. Hollywood’s values are generally very superficial and unhealthy.

“I get called things, such as ‘golden girl,’ which are cute or flattering, but I’m kind of an average woman, middle-class, middle-of-the-road. And I try real hard.”

—“Goldie Hawn Has the Last Laugh” by George Haddad-Garcia, May/June 1981

This article is featured in the March/April 2021 issue of The Saturday Evening Post. Subscribe to the magazine for more art, inspiring stories, fiction, humor, and features from our archives.

Featured image: AF archive / Alamy Stock Photo