Goldie Hawn is a real sweetheart

Goldie Hawn is America's Sweetheart, an Oscar-winning Actress, the long-time partner of Kurt Russell, and mother of actress Kate Hudson.

Basically, she's the quintessential blonde bomb-shell. But did you know she's also a serious student of Buddhism? And a frequent traveler to India?

Hawn recently sat down with the The Telegraph for an interview, wherein she discussed her Hawn Foundation, a group she founds which works to implement the Buddhist technique of Mindfulness training into US middle schools to teach students about meditation benefits, awareness techniques and positive thinking skills.

The actress, who reportedly describes herself as Jewish-Buddhist, recently was in the news in the UK for her alternative teaching methods, when it was reported she'd been talking to the Tories about introducing the techniques into British schools.

For her part, Hawn says the story was exaggerated by the British press. But she's still a vocal advocate for implementing some aspects Buddhism and other Eastern-origin philosophies into modern Western life.

Oh, and she's also a dedicated conservationist, recently appearing in London as guest of honour at an event hosted by The Elephant Family, a charity that raises money for the endangered Asian Elephant. For the last two months, over 250 statues of elephants have dotted the UK's capital city of London!

In the Telegraph interview, Hawn revealed that on one of her India trips, she encountered a blind elephant and its calf, who acted as the mother's eyes, an experience that moved her to tears.

So, is she an actress? Or has she graduated to an activist and philanthropist?

"I'm a humanitarian," she told The Telgraph. "I'm a dreamer, someone who wishes the best for mankind."

Photograph: Reuters