Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn are truly one of the standout, enduring couples of Hollywood.
The two A-listers have now been together for four decades (they celebrated their 40th anniversary on Valentine’s Day, this past weekend) and they remain just as committed to one another as they were back in the very beginning.
Given the various allures and distractions life in the spotlight can bring, it’s a wonder that neither ever seems to have put a foot wrong. I mean, how many celebrities couple up, perhaps have kids, and appear to be very happy, only to go their separate ways a few short years later?
The answer is a lot. Most of them, in fact.
But not Kurt and Goldie. No, they’ve proven themselves to be the gold standard when it comes to long-lasting Hollywood romances, and have created a beautiful family over the years.
So what’s the secret behind their success? Well, the pair themselves claim it has rather a lot to do with marriage … namely not engaging in it.
When it comes to beloved Hollywood couples, there are few who can boast the adoration and love of fans worldwide like Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn can.
The pair, lauded just as much for their individual on-screen exploits as their heartwarming affection for one another, have been together now for almost 40 years – no mean feat in an age where celebrities seem to trade partners like pairs of old shoes.
What makes Kurt and Goldie’s relationship so very special – and, we might add, so real in the eyes of the public – is their steadfast dedication to each other. They don’t wield their romance as a tool to heighten their celebrity presence, nor have they ever been embroiled in scandals or publicity stunts to hijack the locomotive PR train.
Instead, theirs is a partnership that appears to be a throwback to a bygone era, an inspiring and very agreeable union that reminds us all what true love is really about.
As of the weekend, Goldie and Kurt have been together for 40 years. They’ve been superstars on the big screen during that period, but at the same time have been able to share a loving relationship and show great devotion to their families.
The couple’s admirable commitment to each other is something special, and their love story throughout the years is even more fascinating.
Goldie and Kurt first met while filming The Only and Only, Genuine Original Family Band in 1966. Hawn recalled the meeting in an interview with BBC Radio 4.
“I was 21 and he was 16,” Hawn said.
“I thought he was adorable, but he was much too young. Then, years later we met up again, and I remembered that I liked him very much when I first met him. We both said we would never go out with another actor so it just shows you never can tell.”
However, they weren’t ready to start dating quite yet. And even though one might think that Goldie Hawn was the happiest person in the world at that point, she was actually struggling.
As per reports, she battled depression behind closed doors – something she didn’t come out with to the public.
Speaking on the talk show Good Morning Britain, Hawn revealed that her mental health struggles started in her early 20s.
“When I was young, I became depressed. I was 21 and I was rising to success,” she said.
I know it sounds terrible, but it’s a very, very difficult thing, I didn’t necessarily want that.”
Goldie Hawn married actor Gus Trikonis in 1969, though the couple separated after four years. She was granted a divorce in June 1976 and married Bill Hudson just a couple of weeks later, a marriage that lasted six years.
In 1983, Russell and Hawn met again while filming Swing Shift.
This time, the charming and handsome Russell tried to impress Hawn with the pick-up line: “Man, you’ve got a great figure.”
“I was severely hungover and I didn’t know Goldie at all outside of having worked with her those many years before,” Russell said in a 2017 interview with Conan O’Brien.
“I just didn’t have in my mind what I was going to see, and she had a great body. So the first thing that came out was, ‘Man, you’ve got a great figure.’ It came out quickly and it could’ve gone wrong, and she said, ‘Why thank you.’”
At the time, Goldie had two children from her marriage with Bill Hudson. Her son Oliver was born Sep 7, 1976, and daughter Kate was born Apr 19, 1979.
Today, Kurt and Goldie have been an item for 40 years, but the celebrity pair are still deeply in love.
And perhaps the most interesting thing about their bond? They’ve never felt the need for a marriage certificate to make it more concrete.
“For people like us, the marriage certificate wasn’t going to create anything that otherwise we wouldn’t have,” Russell told People.
“I don’t know – 40 years isn’t enough to finally say, ‘Well I guess…’”
Hawn added: “Our children got married … Oliver’s very happily married and Wyatt’s very happily married. Katie got married once and that didn’t work, and she’s with this most amazing human and I don’t know if she’ll marry again. The point is that we all tried marriage and sometimes marriage doesn’t work.
“It’s not about the marriage. It’s about the people and the relationship, and the will to stay together. And that’s a big one because if you want it, you can have it. You’ve got to give things up, but the joy and the excitement of being together and touching the toes of somebody at night is really a nice feeling.”
I don’t care what anyone says, Kurt and Goldie are a couple to aspire to.
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