The gorgeous, raven-haired Welsh actress Catherine Zeta-Jones first came to prominence in the United Kingdom with her co-starring role as the eldest daughter in a boisterous farm family in the British TV series “The Darling Buds of May” (Yorkshire TV, 1991-93). A head-turner who balanced her stately beauty with an appealing working class bluntness, Zeta-Jones had begun her career as a child performer on the musical stage, starring as the wholesome heroine “Annie” and as the most sophisticated Tallulah in the stage musical “Bugsy Malone”. Her biggest stage break came when she headlined the West End production of “42nd Street”, portraying chorus girl-turned-star Peggy Sawyer. French director Philippe de Broca tapped the exotic actress for the title role in “Sheherazade” (1990). Zeta-Jones subsequently portrayed the explorer’s wife in “Christopher Columbus: The Discovery” (1992) and a reckless young woman desperate to be a duchess in the comedy “Splitting Heirs” (1993). She was well-cast as Eustacia Vye, the willful woman thought to be a witch, in the “Hallmark Hall of Fame” adaptation of “The Return of the Native” (CBS, 1994), opposite Clive Owen and Ray Stevenson.
After playing Chloe, the girlfriend of a surfer torn between the waves and a commitment to her, in the unusual British film “Blue Juice” (1995), Zeta-Jones was finally tapped by Hollywood to portray the villainous aviatrix Sala in “The Phantom” (1996). She continued to make in-roads in the USA portraying a woman jeopardizing her future by having a shipboard affair with an old flame in the CBS miniseries “Titanic” (1996). In 1998, Zeta-Jones landed the high profile role of a seductress opposite Antonio Banderas in “The Mask of Zorro” and made headlines in the trades when she won the female lead opposite Sean Connery in the romantic thriller “Entrapment” (1999).
While the actress’ onscreen May-December match-up with Connery captured much attention, it was nothing compared to the talk surrounding her real-life romance with actor-producer Michael Douglas, a Hollywood heavyweight 25 years her senior. The two became parents and subsequently married in 2000, in a highly publicized ceremony. Prior to the nuptials, Zeta-Jones played a playful, mysterious beauty in the 1999 remake of “The Haunting”, and had a memorable cameo as the glamorous, free-wheeling former girlfriend of John Cusack’s central character in “High Fidelity” (2000). She would next be seen to good effect playing the unwitting wife of a drug lord (Steven Bauer) in the roundly acclaimed feature “Traffic” (also 2000). Though the film co-starred Douglas, the two were in no scenes together, due to the thematically-linked three-part storyline. In 2001, Zeta-Jones was featured in “America’s Sweethearts”, a romantic comedy about a high-profile Hollywood couple, an experience not far from her own. Surely she hoped that life didn’t imitate art in this case, as the pair in question are in the midst of a bitter break up on the movie set, much to the chagrin of the film’s publicist.
In 2002, Zeta-Jones wowed audiences and critics with her hertofore undisplayed singing and dancing chops when she starred as the murderess Velma Kelly in the film version of the hit Broadway musical “Chicago.” Her dazzling performance earned Zeta-Jones an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress, as well as a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy/Musical. After a much-followed awards season that dovetailed with her high-profile second pregancy, the actress returned to the screen in “Intolerable Cruelty” (2003), the Coen Brothers’ venture into screwball comedy in which she deftly played the bewitching but gold-digging serial divorcee Marilyn Rexroth, the object of desire for her soon-to-be ex husband’s divorce attorney (George Clooney). Teaming for the first time with Tom Hanks and director Steven Spielberg, Zeta-Jones next appeared in “The Terminal” (2004) playing the flight attendant Amelia, who falls for the charms of an immigrant (Hanks) stranded in a New York airport terminal with valid pasport papers–Despite a solid attempt to portray a romantically-challenged woman, in the film Zeta-Jones was simply too beuatiful and sharp to be believed as a loser in love. She next joined Clooney and his co-horts Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Julia Roberts, et. al. for the lackluster sequel “Ocean’s Twelve” (2004), this time providing a love interest for Pitt and an adversary for the gang. Another sequel was next, the swashbuckling “The Legend of Zorro” (2005), reprising her role as Elena, now estranged from her masked husband (Antonio Banderas) trying to balance her thirst for adventure with her desire to be a responsible parent.
- Also Credited As:
Catherine Jones, Catherine Zeta Jones
- Born:
on 09/25/69 in Swansea, Wales
- Job Titles:
Actor, Dancer, Singer
Family
- Brother: David Jones. born c. 1967
- Brother: Lyndon Jones. born c. 1972; works at Zeta-Jones’ production company
- Father: David Jones. born c. 1944; formerly worked for a candy factory
- Grandmother: Kathleen Fair. maternal grandmother; died in June 2001
- Grandmother: Zeta Jones. paternal grandmother; source of Zeta-Jones’ stage name
- Mother: Patricia Jones. born c. 1946
- Son: Dylan Michael Douglas. born August 8, 2000; father, Michael Douglas
Significant Others
- Husband: Michael Douglas. began dating as of spring 1999; announced engagement in January 2000; father of Zeta-Jones’ son; married on November 18, 2000
- Companion: Angus Macfadyen. briefly engaged in 1995
- Companion: John Leslie.
- Companion: Jon Peters. reportedly turned down his marriage proposal in 1996 because “I want to be known as an actress rather than a Hollywood wife”
- Companion: Mick Hucknall.
- Companion: Nick Hamm.
- Companion: Paul McGann.
Milestones
- — Will star in and produce the rugby-themed comedy “Coming Out” (lensed 2004)
- — Will star in the adaptation of “The Ivy Chronicles,” a comedy-drama based on the upcoming novel by Karen Quinn (lensed 2005)
- 1981 Began her career playing “Annie” on stage
- 1986 Starred as Peggy Sawywer in West End production of the stage musical “42nd Street” (date approximate)
- 1990 Made feature film debut in the title role of Philippe de Broca’s “Sheherazade/Les 1001 nuits”
- 1991 Co-starred in British TV series “The Darling Buds of May”
- 1992 Appeared in episode of “The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles” (ABC)
- 1994 Starred in CBS TV-movie ” The Return of the Native”
- 1995 Had title role in the English-language made-for-German-television miniseries “Catherine the Great”; aired in USA in 2000
- 1996 Made US miniseries debut in “Titanic” (CBS)
- 1996 Played the villainous Sala in “The Phantom”
- 1998 Breakthrough screen role opposite Anthony Hopkins and Antonio Banderas in “The Mask of Zorro”
- 1999 Appeared alongside Liam Neeson and Lili Taylor in the remake of “The Haunting”
- 1999 Starred opposite Sean Connery in “Entrapment”
- 2000 Had a memorable supporting role as John Cusack’s beautiful but callous former girlfriend in “High Fidelity”
- 2000 Played the unsuspecting wife of a drug lord in Steven Soderbergh’s acclaimed drama “Traffic”
- 2001 Featured in the romantic comedy “America’s Sweethearts”
- 2002 Cast as murderess Velma Kelly in the film version of the hit Broadway musical “Chicago”; received a Golden Globe nomination
- 2002 Spokesperson for VoiceStream Mobile; replaced Jamie Lee Curtis
- 2003 Starred opposite George Clooney in “Intolerable Cruelty” directed by the Coen brothers
- 2003 Used her voice to bring the character Marina to life in the animation feature “Sinbad”
- 2004 Joined the ensemble cast of “Ocean’s Twelve,” the sequel to the 2001′s “Ocean’s Eleven” as the love interest to Brad Pitt’s Rusty Ryan
- 2004 Starred as a flight attendant who falls for an immigrant (Tom Hanks), living in a New York airport in the romantic comedy “The Terminal”
- 2005 Reunited with Antonio Banderas and director Martin Campbell in the epic adventure “The Legend of Zorro”
- Toured in “The Pajama Game”
