>Zeta-Jones, the middle of three children, was born Catherine Zeta Jones in Swansea, a maritime city located on the southern coast of Wales and the hometown of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. Her mother, Patricia (née Fair), was an Irish seamstress, and her father, David "Dai" Jones, was a Welsh sweet factory owner. Her father's cousin is married to singer Bonnie Tyler, who is also from Swansea, Wales. Her uncle owns Swansea's koda car dealership as well as Llanelli A.F.C. football club. Her name stems from those of her grandmothers - her maternal grandmother, Katherine Fair, and her paternal grandmother, Zeta Jones. The name "Zeta" originated from a ship that Catherine's great-grandfather used to captain out of Swansea Bay.
Zeta-Jones was raised Catholic. After her parents won £100,000 at bingo in the 1980s, they moved to St. Andrews Drive in Mayals, an upper class area of Swansea. Zeta-Jones attended Dumbarton House School in Swansea. Welsh comedian and actor Rob Brydon also went there. She left school early to further her acting ambitions without obtaining O levels and went on to attend The Arts Educational Schools in Chiswick for a full-time three year course in musical theatre.
Zeta-Jones' stage career began in childhood. She often performed at friends and family functions when she was younger. She was a part of a Catholic congregation's performing troupe before she was 10. During this time Catherine made her professional acting debut when she played the lead in Annie, a production at Swansea's Grand Theater. She also starred in a version of Bugsy Malone. When Catherine was 14, Mickey Dolenz (of "The Monkees" fame) was visiting Wales and stopped by the Grand Theater to audition Catherine for The Pyjama Game. He was so impressed with her performance that she was offered the opportunity to join his show for the rest of the tour. By 1987 Zeta-Jones was starring in 42nd Street as Peggy Sawyer in the West End. Once the show closed, the actress travelled to France, where she received the lead role in French director Philippe de Broca's 1001 Nights (also known as Sheherazade), her feature film debut.
Her Welsh and exotic looks, along with her singing and dancing ability, suggested a promising future, but it was in a straight acting role, as Mariette in the successful British television adaptation of H. E. Bates' The Darling Buds of May, that made her name. She briefly flirted with a musical career, beginning with a part in the 1992 album: Jeff Wayne's Musical Version Of Spartacus, from which the single "For All Time" was released in 1989. It failed to chart. She went on to release the singles "In the Arms of Love", "I Can't Help Myself", and a duet with David Essex, "True Love Ways". The duet was her only chart single, reaching #38 in the UK singles chart in 1994. She also starred in an episode of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, as well as in Christopher Columbus: The Discovery.
She continued to find moderate success with a number of television projects, including The Return of the Native (1994) and the mini-series Catherine the Great (1995). She also appeared in Splitting Heirs (1993), a comedy starring Eric Idle, Rick Moranis and John Cleese.
In 1996, she was cast as the evil aviatrix "Sala" in the action film, The Phantom , based on the comic created by Lee Falk. Her character did her best to kill Billy Zane's Phantom, while assisting villain Xander Drax (Treat Williams) in taking over the world with a weapon of doom. The following year, she starred in the CBS mini-series Titanic, which also starred Tim Curry and Peter Gallagher. Steven Spielberg, who noted her performance in the mini-series, recommended her to Martin Campbell, the director of The Mask of Zorro. Zeta-Jones subsequently landed a lead role in the film, alongside her fellow Welsh compatriot Anthony Hopkins and Antonio Banderas. The following year she co-starred with Sean Connery in the film Entrapment, and alongside Liam Neeson and Lili Taylor in The Haunting. In 2000, she starred in Traffic with future husband Michael Douglas. Her performance earned her first Golden Globe nomination, as Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture.
In 2003, she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Velma Kelly in the film Chicago. Chicago also won the Academy Award for Best Picture that year. On 22 October 2005, she referenced her award, as guest host on the television show Saturday Night Live, surrounded by four male dancers, mimicking the Bob Fosse-inspired Chicago-style dancing, suggesting in song that, no matter how bad she might be that night, "They Can't Take My Oscar Away". For her role in Chicago, she specifically requested a 1920s-style short bob wig, so her face could be seen and fans wouldn't doubt she did all her dancing herself.
In 2003 she voiced Marina in Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas opposite Brad Pitt, as well as starring in Intolerable Cruelty with George Clooney. In 2004 she was in The Terminal, as well as Ocean's Twelve, the sequel to Ocean's Eleven. In 2005 she reprised her role as Elena in The Legend of Zorro, the sequel to The Mask of Zorro. In 2007 she starred in the romantic comedy No Reservations, a remake of the German film Mostly Martha. She stars in and produces the rugby union-related comedy, Coming Out. The film is produced by her company Milkwood Films.
Zeta-Jones is married to actor Michael Douglas. She claims that when they met, he used the line "I'd like to father your children". They were married at the Plaza Hotel in New York City on 18 November 2000. A traditional Welsh choir (Côr Cymraeg Rehoboth) sang at her wedding; her Welsh gold wedding ring includes a Celtic motif and was purchased in the Welsh town of Aberystwyth. Their son, Dylan Michael Douglas, was born 8 August 2000. Their daughter, Carys Zeta Douglas, was born April 20, 2003.
Her elder brother, David A. Jones (also known as Cameron Jones), is Vice President of the film company, Initial Entertainment. He was an executive producer of Gangs of New York. Her younger brother, Lyndon Jones, is her personal manager and producer for Milkwood Films. Catherine's parents recently moved from their Mayals property to a £2 million home two miles further west along the Swansea coast, paid for by their daughter.
Apart from her acting career, Zeta-Jones is also an advertising spokeswoman. She is currently the global spokeswoman for cosmetics giant Elizabeth Arden.
Zeta-Jones lives predominantly with Michael and the children in Bermuda but they are regular visitors to the new family home in Swansea, Wales.
Stompanato
Rachel's Holiday
Racing the Monsoon
Death Defying Acts
No Reservations