Born the daughter of a musician into a Jewish Maryland neighborhood, Hawn was three when she started dance lessons. At age 17, Hawn managed a dance studio while she was enrolled in drama courses at American University in Washington. In 1964, Hawn danced professionally at the Texas Pavilion of the New York World's Fair. She then began appearing in chorus lines on such musicals as Kiss Me Kate, Guys and Dolls and The Boyfriend. She eventually moved to California. Her first break came when an agent saw her dancing on the Andy Griffith Show and cast her in Good Morning World, a short-lived comedy series. From there she was cast as a dancer in an innovative comedy-variety show hosted by comedians Dan Rowan and Dick Martin. It was on Laugh-In (1968-1970) that the vivacious and kooky Hawn became popular. Originally, Hawn, whose bikini-clad body would be painted with funny slogans and designs, was a dancer, but when given a few lines, she proved herself funny in a naturalistic, winning and air-headed way. Her first foray into feature films was as a dancer in The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band (1968). She made her acting debut playing Walter Matthau's ditzy, Bohemian mistress in Cactus Flower (1969) and won an Oscar. Later that year she appeared opposite Peter Sellers in There's a Girl in My Soup. These and the subsequent Dollars (1971) utilized Hawn's "blonde" persona, but in 1972, she hinted that she concealed within, more than a talent for perkiness and comedy when she played a young woman who helps her blind lover deal with his past in Butterflies Are Free (1972). Hawn showed even more depth as a wife who springs her husband from jail in hopes of keeping her child in Steven Spielberg's feature film debut as a director The Sugarland Express (1973). Her subsequent films have been of varying quality. Career highlights include the wildly successful Private Benjamin (1980) which Hawn also executive produced, Seems Like Old Times (1982) and The First Wives Club (1996) in which she co-starred with Diane Keaton and Bette Midler. Hawn has two children by her first husband, comedian Bill Hudson, and one by her companion since 1986, actor Kurt Russell.