When it comes to celebrity couples, is there any duo as iconic as Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell? The actors have been in a committed relationship since the 1980s … but it turns out their road to romance started far earlier.
Goldie and Kurt’s love story actually began back in 1966, when the two met in the early stages of their career. At the time, Goldie was 21 years old — five years older than 16-year-old Kurt. Even though they had an age difference and both didn’t want to date actors, Goldie admitted Kurt left a surprise first impression on her.
“I was 21 and he was 16 and I thought he was adorable but he was much too young,” she told Desert Island Discs on BBC Radio 4 in 2012, per People. “Years later we met up again and I liked him and I remembered that I liked him very much when I first met him. But we both said we would never go out with another actor so it just shows you never can tell.”
Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn in July 1983.Fast forward to 1983, and Goldie and Kurt reconnected during the latter’s audition for the movie Swing Shift. This time around, Kurt thought Goldie was stunning, but he made a snafu and had to comment on her figure. While he thought Goldie was not going to be pleased by the phrase, she actually was flattered by it. They had their first date shortly after (which came with a heart-pumping moment involving breaking into a house Goldie was renovating at the time), and they later fell in love while filming Swing Shift.
But as Goldie explained to People in 2017, there was one major thing that played a role in her evolving new relationship. Goldie was already mom to son Oliver Hudson and his sister Kate Hudson (whom she shared with ex-husband Bill Hudson), meaning she had to think of how they’d react to Kurt dating their mom. Luckily, she didn’t have to worry based on how Kurt (who had a son Boston Russell with ex-wife Season Hubley) related to her kids.
“What really got me was when I watched my kids when they’d come to the set and how he was with them,” she said. “He was amazing with them. He was such a natural.”
As Goldie and Kurt blended their families, they decided to expand their love in different ways. Along with welcoming their son Wyatt Russell in July 1986, they later collaborated on the 1987 film Overboard. They also continued to support one another as their respective careers continued to skyrocket, whether it be walking the red carpet with each other or being cheerleaders behind the scenes. They also have become partners in a new stage of their lives that began back in 2004: becoming grandparents.
Kate welcomed her son Ryder Russell Robinson (whom she shares with ex-husband Chris Robinson and whose middle name is an ode to her stepfather) in January 2004, and Goldie was so excited to see her and Kurt take on this new element of family life. “I would love to be a grandmother,” she told People in 2003. “I’m not pushing the matter, but it would be so much fun.”Although the couple has been together for so long, Goldie and Kurt are famous for choosing not to tie the knot. So, what was the reason behind their decision to stay unmarried? It came down to wanting to make their love mean a lot more than signing a piece of paper.
Kevin Mazur//Getty Images
Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell attend the Oscars in March 2025.
“A lasting relationship isn’t about marriage,” Goldie told Porter magazine in 2015, per E! News. “It’s about compatibility and communication. And you both need to want it to work … Being together, two pillars holding up the house and the roof, and being different, not having to agree on everything, learning how to deal with not agreeing. Everything’s a choice.”
Goldie also explained to CNN in 2023 that she wasn’t emotionally prepared for how marriage could potentially lead to divorce and eventual hurt.
“Why should we get married?” Goldie commented. “When it doesn’t work out, it ends up to be big business … How many divorces are fun? How many divorces actually don’t cost money? How many divorces make you hate the person more than you did before? How many divorces have hurt children?”
Clearly, Goldie and Kurt have managed to make their love work for them. And even after so many years together, there is still so much in store for them. As Kurt shared during his and Goldie’s double star ceremony on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in May 2017, he’s lucky to have someone like her in his life.
“To you, I owe my wonderful life,” Kurt told Goldie in his speech, per Entertainment Tonight at the time. “Simply put, Goldie, I cherish you. And all the stars in the sky or on the boulevard can’t hold a candle to that.”
