Catherine pictured with her parents and siblings in 1974.
Gallery of Catherine Zeta-Jones
1979
Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom
Vatherine Zeta-Jones' childhood photo. Around 1979.
Gallery of Catherine Zeta-Jones
1980
Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom
Vatherine Zeta-Jones' childhood photo. Around 1980.
Gallery of Catherine Zeta-Jones
1980
Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom
Catherine Zeta-Jones in childhood. Around 1980.
Gallery of Catherine Zeta-Jones
1983
Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom
Young Catherine Zeta-Jone. Around early-mid 1980.
College/University
Career
Gallery of Catherine Zeta-Jones
1893
57-60 Haymarket, St. James's, London SW1Y 4QX, United Kingdom
Actress Catherine Zeta-Jones sets her hands in cement after the premiere of 'Splitting Heirs' at Planet Hollywood on April 01, 1993 in London. Photo by Dave Benett.
Gallery of Catherine Zeta-Jones
1984
London, United Kingdom
Catherine Zeta Jones, Freddie Mercury and Jill Gasgoine at party or musical "42nd Street" on August 8, 1984 in London, England. Photo by Tom Wargacki.
Gallery of Catherine Zeta-Jones
1989
London Coliseum, St Martin's Ln, London WC2N 4ES, United Kingdom
Catherine Zeta Jones and Philip Gould dancing during a dress rehearsal at the London Coliseum of a new production by the English National Opera and Scottish opera of Kurt Weill's two-act opera "Street Scene". The opera, set in New York in a late 1930's summer, is described as a portrait of ordinary urban life, with the action centred on an apartment block and the families who live in it. Photo by Fiona Hanson.
Gallery of Catherine Zeta-Jones
1990
New York City, New York, United States
Catherine Zeta-Jones with her husband Michael Douglas; circa 1999; New York. Photo by Art Zelin.
Gallery of Catherine Zeta-Jones
1999
Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, 1 Boulevard de la Croisette, 06400 Cannes, France
Zeta-Jones at the premiere of Entrapment at the 52nd Cannes Film Festival in 1999.
Gallery of Catherine Zeta-Jones
1999
W Sands Rd, St Andrews KY16 9XL, United Kingdom
Actress Catherine Zeta Jones in action during the Pro-Am before the Alfred Dunhill Cup played at The Old Course, St. Andrews, Scotland.
Gallery of Catherine Zeta-Jones
1999
6925 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, CA 90028, United States
Sean Connery and Catharine Zeta Jones at the Manns Chinese Theatre in Hollywood where Sean Connery had his handprints and footprints moulded in cement. Photo by Dan Callister.
Gallery of Catherine Zeta-Jones
2000
110 E 42nd St, New York, NY 10017, United States
Actors Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas attend the 17th Annual Night Of Stars 2000: Salute To Icons Of Design October 24, 2000, in New York City. The couple are getting married November 18, 2000 at New York's Plaza Hotel. Photo by Robin Platzer.
Gallery of Catherine Zeta-Jones
2003
6360 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028, United States
Actor Kirk Douglas and his daughter-in-law actress Catherine Zeta-Jones arrive at the premiere of "The In-Laws" at the Cinerama Dome May 19, 2003 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Kevin Winter.
Gallery of Catherine Zeta-Jones
2015
22-24 Leicester Square, West End, London WC2H 7LQ, United Kingdom
Carys Douglas,Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones and son Dylan Douglas attend the European premiere of Marvel's "Ant-Man" at Odeon Leicester Square on July 8, 2015 in London, England. Photo by Dave J. Hogan.
Gallery of Catherine Zeta-Jones
2017
53 Park Ln, Mayfair, London W1K 1QA, United Kingdom
Catherine Zeta Jones attends the Walpole British Luxury Awards 2017 at Dorchester Hotel on November 20, 2017 in London, England. Photo by Eamonn McCormack.
Gallery of Catherine Zeta-Jones
2019
Silverstone, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom
Actors Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones (centre) and their son Dylan Douglas pose for a photo on the grid before the F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain at Silverstone on July 14, 2019 in Northampton, England. Photo by Mark Thompson.
Gallery of Catherine Zeta-Jones
2019
30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10112, United States
Dylan Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Carys Zeta Douglas attend The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama 2019 Gala at The Rainbow Room on March 1, 2019 in New York City. Photo by Bonnie Biess.
Gallery of Catherine Zeta-Jones
2019
Los Angeles, California, United States
Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones attend the Netflix 2019 Golden Globes After Party on January 6, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Tommaso Boddi.
Gallery of Catherine Zeta-Jones
2019
Piazza del Colosseo, 1, 00184 Roma RM, Italy
Zoey Deutch, Catherine Zeta Jones, Susan Sarandon, Carys Zeta Douglas, Kiernan Shipka, Lilakoi Moon,and Jason Momoa attends the Cocktail at Fendi Couture Fall Winter 2019/2020 on July 04, 2019 in Rome, Italy. Photo by Vittorio Zunino Celotto.
Gallery of Catherine Zeta-Jones
2019
9876 Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90210, United States
Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas attend the 76th Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 06, 2019 in Beverly Hills, California. Photo by George Pimentel.
Achievements
2001
March 2001 Catherine Zeta-Jones on Vogue Magazine cover.
Membership
Awards
Academy Award
2003
6801 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, CA 90028, United States
Zeta-Jones at the 75th Academy Awards.
Critics' Choice Movie Awards
2003
9641 Sunset Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90210, United States
Actress Catherine Zeta-Jones accepts the award for Best Supporting Actress at the 8th Annual Critics' Choice Awards at the Beverly Hills Hotel on January 17, 2003 in Beverly Hills, California. The ceremony will be telecast on Saturday January 18, 2003 on E! Photo by Robert Mora.
British Academy Film Award
2004
22-24 Leicester Square, West End, London WC2H 7LQ, United Kingdom
Catherine Zeta-Jones attends the Orange 2003 British Academy Film Awards at the Odeon Cinema in Leicester Square on March 14, 2003 in London. Photo by Dave Benett.
Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year
2005
Cambridge, MA, United States
On stage to accept her Woman of the Year award at Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Theatricals, Catherine Zeta-Jones, 35, first needed to prove to the presenters that she was worthy of the title. One of her tasks was to participate in "Pudding Idol," a mock version of the popular television series. With lyrics personalized just for her, Zeta-Jones belted out the new words to a "Chicago" favorite.
Drama Desk Award
2010
Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023, United States
Zeta-Jones at the Drama Desk Award ceremony in 2010, where she won Outstanding Actress in a Musical for her role in A Little Night Music.
Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre
2010
1260 6th Ave, New York, NY 10020, United States
Catherine Zeta-Jones waith her a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical.
Outer Critics Circle Award
2011
234 W 44th St, New York, NY 10036, United States
Catherine Zeta Jones picked up her Best Actress in a Musical award from the Outer Critics Circle at Sardi’s.
Most Excellent Order of the British Empire
2011
Westminster, London SW1A 1AA, United Kingdom
Welsh actress Catherine Zeta-Jones poses for photographers with her Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), after it was awarded to her by Britain's Prince Charles during an Investiture Ceremony at Buckingham Palace, in London February 24, 2011.
57-60 Haymarket, St. James's, London SW1Y 4QX, United Kingdom
Actress Catherine Zeta-Jones sets her hands in cement after the premiere of 'Splitting Heirs' at Planet Hollywood on April 01, 1993 in London. Photo by Dave Benett.
London Coliseum, St Martin's Ln, London WC2N 4ES, United Kingdom
Catherine Zeta Jones and Philip Gould dancing during a dress rehearsal at the London Coliseum of a new production by the English National Opera and Scottish opera of Kurt Weill's two-act opera "Street Scene". The opera, set in New York in a late 1930's summer, is described as a portrait of ordinary urban life, with the action centred on an apartment block and the families who live in it. Photo by Fiona Hanson.
6925 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, CA 90028, United States
Sean Connery and Catharine Zeta Jones at the Manns Chinese Theatre in Hollywood where Sean Connery had his handprints and footprints moulded in cement. Photo by Dan Callister.
Actors Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas attend the 17th Annual Night Of Stars 2000: Salute To Icons Of Design October 24, 2000, in New York City. The couple are getting married November 18, 2000 at New York's Plaza Hotel. Photo by Robin Platzer.
9641 Sunset Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90210, United States
Actress Catherine Zeta-Jones accepts the award for Best Supporting Actress at the 8th Annual Critics' Choice Awards at the Beverly Hills Hotel on January 17, 2003 in Beverly Hills, California. The ceremony will be telecast on Saturday January 18, 2003 on E! Photo by Robert Mora.
6360 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028, United States
Actor Kirk Douglas and his daughter-in-law actress Catherine Zeta-Jones arrive at the premiere of "The In-Laws" at the Cinerama Dome May 19, 2003 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Kevin Winter.
22-24 Leicester Square, West End, London WC2H 7LQ, United Kingdom
Catherine Zeta-Jones attends the Orange 2003 British Academy Film Awards at the Odeon Cinema in Leicester Square on March 14, 2003 in London. Photo by Dave Benett.
On stage to accept her Woman of the Year award at Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Theatricals, Catherine Zeta-Jones, 35, first needed to prove to the presenters that she was worthy of the title. One of her tasks was to participate in "Pudding Idol," a mock version of the popular television series. With lyrics personalized just for her, Zeta-Jones belted out the new words to a "Chicago" favorite.
Welsh actress Catherine Zeta-Jones poses for photographers with her Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), after it was awarded to her by Britain's Prince Charles during an Investiture Ceremony at Buckingham Palace, in London February 24, 2011.
22-24 Leicester Square, West End, London WC2H 7LQ, United Kingdom
Carys Douglas,Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones and son Dylan Douglas attend the European premiere of Marvel's "Ant-Man" at Odeon Leicester Square on July 8, 2015 in London, England. Photo by Dave J. Hogan.
53 Park Ln, Mayfair, London W1K 1QA, United Kingdom
Catherine Zeta Jones attends the Walpole British Luxury Awards 2017 at Dorchester Hotel on November 20, 2017 in London, England. Photo by Eamonn McCormack.
Actors Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones (centre) and their son Dylan Douglas pose for a photo on the grid before the F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain at Silverstone on July 14, 2019 in Northampton, England. Photo by Mark Thompson.
30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10112, United States
Dylan Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Carys Zeta Douglas attend The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama 2019 Gala at The Rainbow Room on March 1, 2019 in New York City. Photo by Bonnie Biess.
Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones attend the Netflix 2019 Golden Globes After Party on January 6, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Tommaso Boddi.
Zoey Deutch, Catherine Zeta Jones, Susan Sarandon, Carys Zeta Douglas, Kiernan Shipka, Lilakoi Moon,and Jason Momoa attends the Cocktail at Fendi Couture Fall Winter 2019/2020 on July 04, 2019 in Rome, Italy. Photo by Vittorio Zunino Celotto.
9876 Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90210, United States
Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas attend the 76th Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 06, 2019 in Beverly Hills, California. Photo by George Pimentel.
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Catherine Zeta-Jones is a Welsh-born actress and singer. She demonstrated her versatility in a wide range of films, most notably the musical Chicago (2002), for which she won the Academy Award for best supporting actress.
Background
Ethnicity:
Catherine Zeta-Jones is of Welsh and Irish descent.
Catherine Zeta-Jones was born on September 25, 1969, in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom to the family of David Jones and Patricia Fair. Zeta was her middle name; she added the hyphen later. Her name comes from her grandmothers; her maternal grandmother was Catherine Fair and on her father's side Zeta Jones. The name Zeta is of Greek origin. Zeta-Jones' father owned a factory that manufactured sweets while her mother used to be a seamstress. She has two siblings; both of them brothers David and Lyndon. She made her acting debut as a child, playing the lead in Annie at Swansea's Grand Theatre. She also starred in a production of Bugsy Malone, and at 14 impressed Mickey Dolenz when he auditioned her for a role in The Pyjama Game. Dolenz gave her the opportunity to join the show for the rest of its tour.
Education
Catherine Zeta-Jones was a performer right from the time she was a child and enrolled at the Hazel Johnson School of Dance at the age of five. She was also the main performer in the theatre group of her local church. Zeta-Jones was a British tap-dancing competition as well when she was 11 years old. Zeta-Jones studied at the Dumbarton House School located in her native Swansea but she dropped out of school without obtaining her O-Levels and instead relocated to London in order to become an actor. It was something that she had always intended to do. She attended the Arts Educational School in Chiswick to study musical theatre for three years.
At age 15 Catherine Zeta-Jones quit school and moved to London to pursue a career in acting. Her first major onstage role came two years later in a West End revival of the musical 42nd Street when both the lead and the first understudy for the role were unable to perform; the producer of the musical then made her the lead for the remainder of the production run. It was not until she landed the role of Mariette Larkin in the popular British television comedy-drama series The Darling Buds of May during the early 1990s, however, that Zeta-Jones became well known in England. Her popularity made her a frequent target of the media; after a particularly harrowing incident in which she drove her car into a lamppost while trying to elude the paparazzi, Zeta-Jones moved to the United States.
Zeta-Jones relocated to Los Angeles but initially found it difficult to gain a foothold in Hollywood films. She starred instead in made-for-television movies. Her performance in one such project, the 1996 miniseries Titanic, caught the eye of director Steven Spielberg, who thought she would be suitable for a leading role in his then-upcoming production of The Mask of Zorro (1998). After this breakthrough, Zeta-Jones went on to star opposite Sean Connery in the thriller Entrapment (1999) and to portray the wife of a drug dealer in Steven Soderbergh's Oscar-winning drama Traffic (2000). Zeta-Jones appeared in the romantic comedy High Fidelity in 2000, the same year she married actor Michael Douglas.
In 2002 Zeta-Jones starred as the homicidal entertainer Velma Kelly in the film adaptation of the popular Broadway musical Chicago. Her singing and dancing skills impressed critics and audiences and helped her win an Oscar. She subsequently appeared in several comedies, including Intolerable Cruelty (2003), in which she played a cunning gold digger opposite George Clooney, and The Terminal (2004), a film directed by Spielberg and featuring Tom Hanks. In 2004 she starred with Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Matt Damon in Ocean's Twelve, a sequel to the blockbuster Ocean's Eleven (2001).
During the latter half of the 2000s, Zeta-Jones's film work became more sporadic, although The Legend of Zorro (2005) and the romantic comedy No Reservations (2007) provided her with prominent roles. She returned the following decade in such films as the 1980s-set rock musical Rock of Ages (2012) and the romantic comedy Playing for Keeps (2012). In 2013 Zeta-Jones appeared in the crime thrillers Broken City, as the glamorous wife of a corrupt politician, and Side Effects, as a secretive psychotherapist. Also that year she played a Russian spy in the action-comedy RED 2. She then returned to television, portraying the actress Olivia de Havilland in the anthology series Feud and the drug trafficker Griselda Blanco in the TV movie Cocaine Godmother (both 2017). She later starred in the series Queen America (2018-2019).
Zeta-Jones grew up Catholic and got her to start acting in a Catholic performance troupe. She seems to continue to practice her childhood faith. She's a fan of wearing elaborate and expensive crucifixes, which drew the criticism of a charity organization based in the Vatican. After her husband, actor Michael Douglas, recovered from throat cancer, she said her "prayers were answered." And she at least at one point was making plans to baptize her children. Despite all this, her husband identifies as Jewish and she said once that she wasn’t necessarily going to raise her children Catholic, but just let them decide what path to take. And she wasn’t married in a church, or even in a religious ceremony at all. Her wedding was performed in a hotel by a judge. So while she appears to be a practicing Catholic, she does not do everything by the book and doesn’t seem to mind that those she loves don't share her faith.
Politics
There's not much information out there about Zeta-Jones' political beliefs, but she's rather liberal based on one little comment. She seemed a little miffed when asked what she thought about the 2012 presidential election in the summer of that year. She reminded the reporter that she cannot vote in the United States and votes in her own country. Then she said, "There really is a ridiculous amount of money wasted on campaigning over here. You know, we [British people] just get down to business, don't we? You vote and then it's done. This goes on for two years, it's ridiculous. I can't wait until November when it's all over and Obama is back in."
Views
Zeta-Jones supports a number of charities and causes. She is a patron of Swansea's Longfields Day Centre for the disabled and has made big donations to the center. In 2001, she auctioned an outfit she wore in The Mask of Zorro to collect money for AIDS patients in Africa. In 2005, she became the ambassador of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children charity and launched the Full Stop appeal in Wales to raise awareness on child abuse. She also supported other charitable organizations for children such as the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children and the Noah's Ark Appeal, among others. She is also the founding host for A Fine Romance, an annual charitable program that helps raise funds for the Motion Picture and Television Fund and is one of the members of the Cinema for Peace Foundation.
Quotations:
"I used to go around looking as frumpy as possible because it was inconceivable you could be attractive as well as be smart. It wasn't until I started being myself, the way I like to turn out to meet people, that I started to get any work."
"I was a chorus girl. That's all I ever wanted - to be onstage. I would queue up for auditions and then change my costume or put on a different leotard and audition again. It might take me two tries, but I always got the job. I figured out what they wanted."
"For marriage to be a success, every woman and every man should have her and his own bathroom. The end."
Personality
In 2010, Zeta-Jones put work aside to support her husband through a difficult time: He successfully battled throat cancer, but the family crisis put a strain on them all. The following year, Zeta-Jones sought treatment for bipolar II, a type of manic depression, also publicly acknowledging that she had been diagnosed with a mental health disorder. At the time, she told InStyle magazine, "I'm not the kind of person who likes to shout out my personal issues from the rooftops but, with my bipolar becoming public, I hope fellow sufferers will know it is completely controllable." In April 2013, Zeta-Jones again checked into a treatment center for help with her illness.
Interests
dancing
Politicians
Barack Obama
Writers
Dylan Thomas, Sue Monk Kidd
Artists
Alberta Ferretti
Sport & Clubs
golf
Music & Bands
Gladys Knight, Elvis Presley, Van Morrison, Bonnie Tyler
Connections
In 1998, Zeta-Jones met fellow actor Douglas at the Deauville American Film Festival. According to several reports, soon after they were introduced, he told her, "I want to father your children." The pair soon became a couple, despite a 25-year age difference. They welcomed their first child together, son Dylan, in August 2000, and later that year they married at New York City's posh Plaza Hotel. In 2003, she and Douglas added to their family with the arrival of daughter Carys. That August, it was revealed that she and her husband were going through a difficult time. The pair decided to take "some time apart to evaluate and work on their marriage," according to a statement given to The Huffington Post by their spokesperson. It was reported later that year that they had reconciled.