Catherine Zeta Jones
Catherine Zeta-Jones was born in Swansea, West Glamorgan, Wales, UK, the daughter of Welshman Dai Jones, who formerly worked for a candy factory, and Irish mother Pat Jones. Named after her grandmothers: Catherine Fair on her mother’s side, and Zeta Jones on her fathers.
In November 2000 she married actor Michael Douglas. Catherine and Michael share the same birthday, 25 years apart. He was born 25 September 1944; she was born 25 September 1969. Catherine’s father-in-law is the actor Kirk Douglas.
Her brother David Jones (b. 1967) is a development executive and brother Lyndon Jones (b.1972) works at her production company. Catherine showed an interest early on in entertainment. She starred on stage in "Annie", "Bugsy Malone" and "The Pajama Game". At 15 she had the lead in the British revival of "42nd Street". She was originally cast as the second understudy for the lead role in the musical but when the star and first understudy became sick the night the play’s producer was in the audience, she was given the lead for the rest of the musical’s production.
She first made a name for herself in the early 1990s when she starred in the Yorkshire Television comedy/drama series "The Darling Buds of May" (1991). The show was a smash hit and made her one of the United Kingdom’s most popular television actresses. She subsequently played supporting roles in several films including Christopher Columbus: The Discovery (1992), the miniseries Catherine the Great (1995) (TV) and a larger part as the seductive Sala in The Phantom (1996) before landing her breakthrough role playing the fiery Elena opposite Anthony Hopkins and Antonio Banderas in The Mask of Zorro (1998).
She has starred in many big-budget blockbusters like Entrapment (1999), The Haunting (1999) and Traffic (2000), for which many believed she was robbed of an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress. Her character in Traffic (2000) was changed to a pregnant woman, because Zeta-Jones herself was pregnant at the time with her son, Dylan.
She gave birth to their son Dylan Michael in August 2000. Her first daughter, named Carys Zeta Douglas, arrived early Easter morning in New Jersey (April 20, 2003).
The 2009 Sunday Times estimates her and husband Michael Douglas’ net worth at $278 million.
On being awarded the CBE in June 2010, as a British subject, she said: “I feel incredibly proud, at the same time it is overwhelming and humbling. And my mum and dad are delighted beyond belief.”
