Blondes who let us have fun

Gwyneth Paltrow

Though the long, leggy blond actress, 35, is best known for her dramatic roles in such films as “Flesh and Bone,” “Proof,” “The Talented Mr. Ripley” and “Se7en,” Paltrow has more than proved herself as a comedic performer. Ironically, she’s proved to be funnier with a British accent than an American one. She received glowing notices as Jane Austin’s heroine in the 1996 version of “Emma” and won the lead actress Oscar as the Bard’s muse in the 1998 best picture winner, “Shakespeare in Love.” But the daughter of actress Blythe Danner has had more than her share of comedic missteps, including the wan 1996 David Schwimmer vehicle “The Pallbearer,” the misguided 2001 Farrelly brothers’ comedy “Shallow Hal.” and the mind-numbing 2003 stewardess comedy “View from the Top.”  (Nina Prommer / EPA)

Amy Poehler

The newest blond funny gal on the block. The “Saturday Night Live” regular -- described by Entertainment Weekly as a “brilliantly inventive sketch comedian” -- has worked her way up the movie ladder in supporting roles in films such as “Mean Girls,” “Mr. Woodcock” and “Blades of Glory” to a starring role opposite “SNL” alum Tina Fey in “Baby Mama.” Poehler plays the crass working-class Angie who agrees to become the surrogate mother for an unmarried executive named Kate (Fey) and ends up finding herself during her pregnancy. Next up for Poehler are the features “Hamlet 2” and “Spring Breakdown” and the Nickelodeon animated series “Mighty B,” for which she is producing, writing and providing the lead voice.  (Evan Agostini / Associated Press)

Marilyn Monroe

The legendary superstar followed in a grand tradition of “Fox Blondes” that included Alice Faye, Betty Grable and June Havoc. Though she did fine dramatic work during her short-lived career, most notably in her final feature, 1961’s “The Misfits,” Monroe is best known for her picture-perfect comedic timing. She made a great dumb blond in the 1953 comedies “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” and “How to Marry a Millionaire.” Of course, she became the object of every man’s desires when her white dress flipped up thanks to the subway grating on a New York sidewalk in 1955’s “The Seven Year Itch.”

Monroe grew only stronger as a comedic actress after heading to New York and studying the Method with Lee Strasberg. And in her first post-Strasberg film, 1956’s “Bus Stop,” she’s funny, winsome and poignant as Cherie, a young entertainer who is traveling by bus to get to “Hollywood and Vine.” Her performance of “That Old Black Magic” will make you laugh and cry at the same time. And despite dealing with enormous personal problems and demons, she is absolutely spot-on as Sugar Kane in Billy Wilder’s 1959 comedy, “Some Like It Hot.” She tragically died of a drug overdose in 1962 at the age of 36.  (Matty Zimmerman / AP)

Goldie Hawn

After a stint as a go-go dancer and a singer and dancer in theater and TV chorus lines, Hawn, now 63, was first seen by TV audiences as a ditsy neighbor in the 1967-68 CBS comedy series “Good Morning, World.” That role led to her being cast in 1968 as a regular on the landmark NBC sketch comedy series “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In.” With her close-cropped blond hair and big blue eyes, Hawn won over the hearts of America -- and earned two Emmy nominations -- with her giggles and verbal faux pas. British critic David Thomson wrote: “I don’t think any film has ever captured the lyrical blonde naivete that Goldie showed on TV’s ‘Laugh-In.’ She is usually pert and engaging: amiability perches on her high, child’s voice and gurgles from her baby’s mouth.”

Hollywood quickly snapped Hawn up, casting her as the sweetly dimwitted Greenwich Village salesgirl who is the mistress of a “married” dentist (Walter Matthau) in the 1969 comedy “Cactus Flower.” She won the supporting actress Oscar for her delightful performance. Over the subsequent decades, Hawn’s demonstrated her comedic versatility in such films as 1975’s “Shampoo,” 1978’s “Foul Play,” 1980’s “Private Benjamin,” for which she received a lead actress Oscar nod, and 1996’s “The First Wives Club.”  (Vince Bucci / Getty Images)

Kate Hudson

Like mother like daughter, Goldie’s 29-year-old daughter has established herself as one of the sunniest comedians working in films today. She picked up an Oscar nomination for supporting actress as the charismatic, free-spirited groupie, Penny, in Cameron Crowe’s 2000 coming-of-age flick “Almost Famous,” and she hit box-office pay dirt with 2003’s romantic comedy “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.” However, some of Hudson’s subsequent comedy choices, such as “You, Me and Dupree” and “Fool’s Gold,” have wasted her talents.  (Chris Jackson / Getty Images)

Owen Wilson

Not every funny blond is an actress. The blond bad-boy, who had battled substance abuse problems, made headlines last year after an apparent suicide attempt. But despite his off-screen problems, the actor and screenwriter, 39, is still one wild and crazy guy in such hits as “Wedding Crashers,” “The Royal Tennenbaums,” the animated film “Cars” and “Night at the Museum.” Though some of his recent films (“Drillbit Taylor”) have been critical and box-office disappointments, his career seems to be back on track. He’s currently filming “Marley & Me,” based on the bestseller, and is set for “Night at the Museum II: Escape From the Smithsonian.”  (Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times)