Catherine Zeta-Jones
Encyclopedia
Catherine Zeta-Jones, CBE
, (icon; born Catherine Zeta Jones; 25 September 1969) is a British
actress. She began her career on stage at an early age. After starring in a number of United Kingdom and United States television films and small roles in films, she came to prominence with roles in Hollywood movies such as the 1998 action film The Mask of Zorro
and the 1999 crime thriller film Entrapment
. Her breakthrough role was in the 2000 film Traffic
, for which she earned her first Golden Globe Award
nomination for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture.
Zeta-Jones subsequently starred as Velma Kelly in the 2002 film adaptation of the musical Chicago
, a critical and commercial success, and received an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. Later, she appeared in the 2003 romantic comedy film Intolerable Cruelty
and 2004 crime comedy film Ocean's Twelve
. Zeta-Jones starred in the 2005 sequel of the 1998 film, The Legend of Zorro
. She also starred in the 2008 biopic romantic thriller Death Defying Acts
. In 2010, she won the Tony Award
for Best Leading Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of Desiree in A Little Night Music
.
, Wales, to Patricia (née Fair), a seamstress of Irish descent, and David James Jones, a Welsh sweet factory owner. She was named after her grandmothers, Catherine Fair and Zeta Jones. The name Zeta is reportedly taken from the Henry Bath ship “Zeta” that was captained by her great grandfather. She now hyphenates her name as "Catherine Zeta-Jones", accepting the mistake by the United States press early in her career.
, a co-educational independent school
in Swansea, but left early to further her acting ambitions. She then attended the independent The Arts Educational Schools
in Chiswick
, West London, for a full time three year course in musical theatre.
. Zeta-Jones made her professional acting debut when she played the lead in Annie
, a production at Swansea Grand Theatre
. When she was 14, Mickey Dolenz cast her as Tallulah in Bugsy Malone
. In 1986, at age 17 she had a part in the chorus of The Pajama Game
at the Haymarket Theatre, Leicester starring Paul Jones
and Fiona Hendley
. The show subsequently toured the UK and in 1987, she starred in 42nd Street
as Peggy Sawyer at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
. She was cast in the leading role after both the actress playing Peggy Sawyer and her understudy fell ill. She also played Mae Jones in the Kurt Weill
opera Street Scene
with the English National Opera
at the London Coliseum Theatre
in 1989. After the show closed, she travelled to France where she played the lead role in French director Philippe de Broca
's Les 1001 Nuits, her feature film
debut.
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 brought her to public attention and made her a British tabloid darling. 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 1992. It reached #36 in the UK charts. 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", 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
.
In 1990, Zeta-Jones participated in a television commercial for the German Deutsche Bahn
at the age of 21, playing the part of a young woman eloping with her lover from a joyless marriage, a role which apparently helped in promoting her acting career. She continued to find moderate success with a number of television projects, including The Return of the Native (1994) based on the novel of the same name
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 by Lee Falk
. The following year, she co starred in the CBS
mini-series Titanic
, which also starred Peter Gallagher
, Tim Curry
and George C. Scott
.
, who noted her performance in the mini-series Titanic, recommended her to Martin Campbell
, the director of The Mask of Zorro
. Zeta-Jones subsequently landed a lead role in the film, alongside compatriot Anthony Hopkins
and Antonio Banderas
. She learned dancing, riding, sword-fighting and took part in dialect classes to play her role as Elena. Commenting on her performance, Variety noted, "Zeta-Jones is bewitchingly lovely as the center of everyone's attention, and she throws herself into the often physical demands of her role with impressive grace." She won the Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Female Newcomer and received an Empire Award nomination for Best British Actress and a Saturn Award
nomination for Best Actress.
In 1999, she co-starred with Sean Connery
in the film Entrapment
, and alongside Liam Neeson
and Lili Taylor
in The Haunting
. The following year, she starred in the critically acclaimed Traffic
with future husband Michael Douglas
. Traffic earned praise from the press, with the critic for the Dallas Observer
calling the movie "a remarkable achievement in filmmaking, a beautiful and brutal work". Zeta-Jones' performance earned her her first Golden Globe nomination, as Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
as well as many other nominations and acclaim.
She took the lead role of America's Sweethearts
, a 2001 romantic comedy
film which also starred Julia Roberts
, Billy Crystal
and John Cusack
. The film received unfavorable reviews, with Los Angeles Weekly stating that the film "isn't just banal, it's aggressively, arrogantly banal." However, it was a hit at the box office grossing over $138 million worldwide. Her character in the film was Gwen Harrison who is a film star.
In 2002, Zeta-Jones continued her momentum and played murderous vaudevillian
Velma Kelly in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical Chicago. Her performance was well received by critics; Seattle Post-Intelligencer
stated, "Zeta-Jones makes a wonderfully statuesque and bitchy saloon goddess." Slate
magazine also praised her performance, saying that she "has a smoldering confidence that takes your mind off her not – always – fluid dancing – although she's a perfectly fine hoofer, with majestic limbs and a commanding cleavage."
Chicago was a commercial success, grossing more than $306 million worldwide, and received universal acclaim. In 2003, Zeta-Jones garnered an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
, a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards
, for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role and as a member of Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture for her performance. Also that year, she voiced Marina in the animated film Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas
opposite Brad Pitt
, as well as starring as serial divorcee Marilyn Rexroth in the black comedy Intolerable Cruelty
with George Clooney
.
as well as Europol
agent Isabel Lahiri in Ocean's Twelve
, the sequel to Ocean's Eleven
. She and the cast members were nominated for the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast. In 2005, she reprised her role as Elena in The Legend of Zorro
, the sequel to The Mask of Zorro. The film received negative-mixed reviews; however, the critics acclaimed the individual performances of the actors, Banderas and Zeta-Jones. The Legend of Zorro grossed over $142 million worldwide.
In 2007, she starred opposite Aaron Eckhart
and Abigail Breslin
in the American romantic comedy drama No Reservations
, a remake of the German film Mostly Martha
, for which she received a People's Choice Award nomination. The film garnered mixed or average reviews but was successful commercially, grossing $92 million worldwide. Claudia Puig of USA Today
wrote that Zeta-Jones "shines as a character that finely balances off-putting reserve with sympathetic appeal."
In 2008, starred alongside Guy Pearce
and Saoirse Ronan
in Death Defying Acts
, a biopic about legendary escapologist Harry Houdini
at the height of his career in the 1920s. The film was well received by many critics; View London
noted that "Zeta Jones also pulls off an extremely impressive Edinburgh accent and it's great to see her in a decent role for once." In 2009, Zeta-Jones starred in romantic comedy The Rebound
, in which she played a 40-year old mother of two who falls in love with a younger man, played by Justin Bartha
. The film was released in cinemas in several countries throughout 2009. The film is set to be released in the United States on 25 December 2010.
In August 2009, it was announced she would return to her musical roots and make her Broadway debut in the revival of A Little Night Music
with Angela Lansbury
, beginning December 2009. For her performance, Zeta-Jones received an Outer Critics Circle Award
, Drama Desk Award
, as well as a Tony Award
for Best Leading Actress in a Musical.
Apart from her acting career, Zeta-Jones is also an advertising spokeswoman, currently the global spokeswoman for cosmetics giant Elizabeth Arden
. She has appeared in numerous TV commercials for the phone company T-Mobile
, and one for Alfa Romeo
. She is also the spokeswoman for Di Modolo jewellery. Zeta-Jones was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours
.
parodied Zeta-Jones as a vacuous über-celebrity named Catherine Spartacus-Zeta-Douglas-Jones on their show French & Saunders
in the series Back With a Vengeance. (Spartacus is a movie role memorably played by Zeta-Jones' father-in-law
). Catherine Spartacus-Zeta-Douglas-Jones alternates between a strong Welsh accent and a strong American accent and uses Welsh-language phrases when she speaks.
Zeta-Jones is also parodied in the BBC's The Impressions Show with Culshaw and Stephenson
by Debra Stephenson
reading Beauty and the Beast also alternating between strong Welsh and American accents. Zeta is also mentioned in the song Hollywood
by Marina and the Diamonds in the line "Oh my God, you look just like Shakira
no, no, you're Catherine Zeta, actually my name's Marina".
Zeta-Jones has appeared on several magazine covers, including Allure
, Harper's Bazaar
, W
, Vanity Fair
, and Vogue
. She was chosen one of "1998's Most Beautiful People" by People
magazine, she also was ranked number 68 in FHM
' s "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2005" special supplement, and was named number 82 in 2006. She was ranked number 50 on VH1
' s "100 Hottest Hotties".
, with whom she shares a birthday, and is exactly 25 years her senior, at the Deauville Film Festival in France in August 1998, after being introduced by Danny DeVito
. They began dating in March 1999. Zeta-Jones claims that when they met, he used the line "I'd like to father your children." They became engaged on 31 December 1999, and were married at the Plaza Hotel
in New York City on 18 November 2000, just weeks after Douglas' divorce was finalized. A traditional Welsh choir (Côr Cymraeg Rehoboth) sang at their wedding. Her Welsh gold
wedding ring includes a Celtic motif and was purchased in the Welsh town of Aberystwyth
. They have two children. Their son, Dylan Michael Douglas (named after Dylan Thomas
), was born on 8 August 2000, with Zeta Jones' pregnancy incorporated into her role in Traffic
. Their daughter, Carys Zeta Douglas, was born on 20 April 2003.
Zeta-Jones has two brothers, David and Lyndon. Her younger brother, Lyndon Jones, is her personal manager and producer for Milkwood Films.
In 2004, Douglas and Zeta-Jones took legal action against stalker
Dawnette Knight, who was accused of sending violent letters to the couple that contained graphic threats on Zeta-Jones' life. Testifying, Zeta-Jones said the threats left her so shaken she feared a nervous breakdown. Knight claimed she had been in love with Douglas and admitted to the offences, which took place between October 2003 and May 2004. She was sentenced to three years in prison.
In April 2011, Zeta-Jones sought treatment for bipolar II disorder
, checking herself into Silver Hill Hospital
in New Canaan, Connecticut
.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, (icon; born Catherine Zeta Jones; 25 September 1969) is a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
actress. She began her career on stage at an early age. After starring in a number of United Kingdom and United States television films and small roles in films, she came to prominence with roles in Hollywood movies such as the 1998 action film The Mask of Zorro
The Mask of Zorro
The Mask of Zorro is a 1998 American swashbuckler film based on the Zorro character created by Johnston McCulley. It was directed by Martin Campbell and stars Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Stuart Wilson...
and the 1999 crime thriller film Entrapment
Entrapment (film)
Entrapment is a 1999 American caper film directed by Jon Amiel and starring Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones.-Plot:Virginia "Gin" Baker is an investigator for Waverly Insurance. Robert "Mac" MacDougal is an international art thief. A priceless Rembrandt painting is stolen from an office one...
. Her breakthrough role was in the 2000 film Traffic
Traffic (2000 film)
Traffic is a 2000 American crime drama film directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Stephen Gaghan. It explores the illegal drug trade from a number of perspectives: a user, an enforcer, a politician and a trafficker. Their stories are edited together throughout the film, although some of the...
, for which she earned her first Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
nomination for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture.
Zeta-Jones subsequently starred as Velma Kelly in the 2002 film adaptation of the musical Chicago
Chicago (2002 film)
Chicago is a 2002 musical film adapted from the satirical stage musical of the same name, exploring the themes of celebrity, scandal, and corruption in Jazz-age Chicago....
, a critical and commercial success, and received an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. Later, she appeared in the 2003 romantic comedy film Intolerable Cruelty
Intolerable Cruelty
Intolerable Cruelty is a 2003 romantic comedy film directed by Joel and Ethan Coen and starring Academy Award winners George Clooney, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Geoffrey Rush and Billy Bob Thornton with Cedric the Entertainer...
and 2004 crime comedy film Ocean's Twelve
Ocean's Twelve
Ocean's Twelve is a 2004 American crime comedy film, the sequel to 2001's Ocean's Eleven. Like its predecessor, which was a remake of the 1960 film Ocean's 11, the film used a celebrity ensemble cast. It was released in the United States on December 10, 2004. A third film, Ocean's Thirteen, was...
. Zeta-Jones starred in the 2005 sequel of the 1998 film, The Legend of Zorro
The Legend of Zorro
The Legend of Zorro is a 2005 sequel to The Mask of Zorro , both directed by Martin Campbell. Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones reprise their roles as the titular hero and his spouse, and Rufus Sewell stars as the villain...
. She also starred in the 2008 biopic romantic thriller Death Defying Acts
Death Defying Acts
Death Defying Acts is a 2007 supernatural romantic thriller. The film is a UK-Australian co-production directed by Gillian Armstrong and starring Guy Pearce and Catherine Zeta-Jones. It concerns an episode in the life of Hungarian-American escapologist Harry Houdini at the height of his career in...
. In 2010, she won the Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for Best Leading Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of Desiree in A Little Night Music
A Little Night Music
A Little Night Music is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. Inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, it involves the romantic lives of several couples. Its title is a literal English translation of the German name for Mozart's Serenade...
.
Early life
Zeta-Jones was born Catherine Zeta Jones in SwanseaSwansea
Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...
, Wales, to Patricia (née Fair), a seamstress of Irish descent, and David James Jones, a Welsh sweet factory owner. She was named after her grandmothers, Catherine Fair and Zeta Jones. The name Zeta is reportedly taken from the Henry Bath ship “Zeta” that was captained by her great grandfather. She now hyphenates her name as "Catherine Zeta-Jones", accepting the mistake by the United States press early in her career.
Education
Jones was educated at Dumbarton House SchoolDumbarton House School
Dumbarton House School was a co-educational independent school located in Swansea, Wales in south Wales. The school opened in 1923 and closed in 1993. The buildings were demolished to make way for a new block of flats.-Notable former pupils:...
, a co-educational independent school
Independent school
An independent school is a school that is independent in its finances and governance; it is not dependent upon national or local government for financing its operations, nor reliant on taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of tuition charges, gifts, and in some cases the...
in Swansea, but left early to further her acting ambitions. She then attended the independent The Arts Educational Schools
The Arts Educational Schools
Arts Educational Schools, London is an independent co-educational school specialising in the performing arts and based in Chiswick, London in the United Kingdom...
in Chiswick
Chiswick
Chiswick is a large suburb of west London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It is located on a meander of the River Thames, west of Charing Cross and is one of 35 major centres identified in the London Plan. It was historically an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex, with...
, West London, for a full time three year course in musical theatre.
Early work, 1986–1995
Zeta-Jones' stage career began in childhood. She often performed at friends and family functions and was part of local dance troupe the Hazel Johnson School of Dance which rehearsed at St Alban's Church, TreboethTreboeth
Treboeth is a village in the Mynydd-Bach ward of Swansea, West Glamorgan, Wales.Gwyrosydd Primary School is located in Treboeth. The local secondary school is the Daniel James Community School...
. Zeta-Jones made her professional acting debut when she played the lead in Annie
Annie (musical)
Annie is a Broadway musical based upon the popular Harold Gray comic strip Little Orphan Annie, with music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and the book by Thomas Meehan. The original Broadway production opened in 1977 and ran for nearly six years with a blonde Annie as the poster...
, a production at Swansea Grand Theatre
Swansea Grand Theatre
The Grand Theatre is a performing arts venue in the centre of Swansea, Wales. The theatre stages plays, pantomimes and touring theatrical acts visiting Swansea. The Grand Theatre is the base for the UK's only Russian ballet company, the Swansea Ballet Russe....
. When she was 14, Mickey Dolenz cast her as Tallulah in Bugsy Malone
Bugsy Malone
Bugsy Malone is a 1976 musical film, very loosely based on events in New York City in the Prohibition era, specifically the exploits of gangsters like Al Capone and Bugs Moran, as dramatized in cinema...
. In 1986, at age 17 she had a part in the chorus of The Pajama Game
The Pajama Game
The Pajama Game is a musical based on the novel 7½ Cents by Richard Bissell. It features a score by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. The story deals with labor troubles in a pajama factory, where worker demands for a seven-and-a-half cents raise are going unheeded...
at the Haymarket Theatre, Leicester starring Paul Jones
Paul Jones (singer)
Paul Jones is an English singer, actor, harmonica player, and radio personality and television presenter.-Career:As P. P...
and Fiona Hendley
Fiona Hendley
Fiona Hendley is a British actress and latterly Christian speaker, married to the former Manfred Mann singer and actor Paul Jones.-Musical and Acting Career:...
. The show subsequently toured the UK and in 1987, she starred in 42nd Street
42nd Street (musical)
42nd Street is a musical with a book by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble, lyrics by Al Dubin, and music by Harry Warren. The 1980 Broadway production, directed by an ailing Gower Champion and orchestrated by Philip J. Lang, won the Tony Award for Best Musical and became a long-running hit...
as Peggy Sawyer at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...
. She was cast in the leading role after both the actress playing Peggy Sawyer and her understudy fell ill. She also played Mae Jones in the Kurt Weill
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
opera Street Scene
Street Scene (opera)
Street Scene is a Broadway musical or, more precisely, an "American opera" by Kurt Weill , Langston Hughes , and Elmer Rice...
with the English National Opera
English National Opera
English National Opera is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St. Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden...
at the London Coliseum Theatre
Coliseum Theatre
The London Coliseum is an opera house and major performing venue on St. Martin's Lane, central London. It is one of London's largest and best equipped theatres and opened in 1904, designed by theatrical architect Frank Matcham , for impresario Oswald Stoll...
in 1989. After the show closed, she travelled to France where she played the lead role in French director Philippe de Broca
Philippe de Broca
Philippe de Broca was a French film director.Born Philippe Claude Alex de Broca de Ferrussac in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, the son of a photographer of noble origins. de Broca was a cinephile from an early age, and he studied at the l'École technique de photographie et de cinématographie...
's Les 1001 Nuits, her feature film
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
debut.
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
H. E. Bates
Herbert Ernest Bates, CBE , better known as H. E. Bates, was an English writer and author. His best-known works include Love for Lydia, The Darling Buds of May, and My Uncle Silas.-Early life:...
' The Darling Buds of May
The Darling Buds of May
The Darling Buds of May is a British comedy drama which was first broadcast between 1991 and 1993 produced by Yorkshire Television for the ITV Network. It is set in an idyllic rural 1950s Kent, among a large, boisterous family. The three series were based on the novels by H. E. Bates. Originally...
that brought her to public attention and made her a British tabloid darling. She briefly flirted with a musical career, beginning with a part in the 1992 album Jeff Wayne's Musical Version Of Spartacus
Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of Spartacus
Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of Spartacus was a 1992 concept album by Jeff Wayne and others, telling the story of Roman gladiator, Spartacus....
, from which the single "For All Time" was released in 1992. It reached #36 in the UK charts. 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", reaching #38 in the UK singles chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
in 1994. She also starred in an episode of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles is an American television series that aired on ABC from March 4, 1992, to July 24, 1993. The series explores the childhood and youth of the fictional character Indiana Jones and primarily stars Sean Patrick Flanery and Corey Carrier as the title character, with...
as well as in Christopher Columbus: The Discovery
Christopher Columbus: The Discovery
Christopher Columbus: The Discovery, a 1992 film directed by James Bond alumnus John Glen, was the last project developed by the father and son production team of Alexander and Ilya Salkind. It follows the events leading up to and including the voyage of Columbus to the New World in 1492...
.
In 1990, Zeta-Jones participated in a television commercial for the German Deutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn AG is the German national railway company, a private joint stock company . Headquartered in Berlin, it came into existence in 1994 as the successor to the former state railways of Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany and the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany...
at the age of 21, playing the part of a young woman eloping with her lover from a joyless marriage, a role which apparently helped in promoting her acting career. She continued to find moderate success with a number of television projects, including The Return of the Native (1994) based on the novel of the same name
The Return of the Native
The Return of the Native is Thomas Hardy's sixth published novel. It first appeared in the magazine Belgravia, a publication known for its sensationalism, and was presented in twelve monthly installments from January to December 1878...
and the mini-series Catherine the Great (1995). She also appeared in Splitting Heirs
Splitting Heirs
Splitting Heirs is a 1993 British film starring Eric Idle, Rick Moranis, Barbara Hershey, Catherine Zeta-Jones, John Cleese and Sadie Frost. The film was directed by Robert Young, and features music by Michael Kamen...
(1993), a comedy starring Eric Idle
Eric Idle
Eric Idle is an English comedian, actor, author, singer, writer, and comedic composer. He was as a member of the British comedy group Monty Python, a member of the The Rutles on Saturday Night Live and author of the play, Spamalot....
, Rick Moranis
Rick Moranis
Frederick Allan "Rick" Moranis is a Canadian comedian, actor, musician, and a magician. Moranis came to prominence in the late 1970s on the sketch comedy show Second City Television, and later appeared in several Hollywood films including Strange Brew; Ghostbusters; Spaceballs; Little Shop of...
and John Cleese
John Cleese
John Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report...
. In 1996, she was cast as the evil aviatrix Sala in the action film, The Phantom, based on the comic by Lee Falk
Lee Falk
Lee Falk, born Leon Harrison Gross , was an American writer, theater director, and producer, best known as the creator of the popular comic strip superheroes The Phantom and Mandrake the Magician, who at the height of their popularity attracted over a hundred million readers every day...
. The following year, she co starred in the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
mini-series Titanic
Titanic (TV miniseries)
Titanic is a made-for-TV movie that premièred on CBS in 1996. Titanic follows several characters on board the RMS Titanic when she sinks on her maiden voyage in 1912. The miniseries was directed by Robert Lieberman. The original music score was composed by Lennie Niehaus...
, which also starred Peter Gallagher
Peter Gallagher
Peter Killian Gallagher is an American actor, musician and writer. Since 1980, Gallagher has played many roles in numerous Hollywood films. He starred as Sandy Cohen in the television drama series The O.C. from 2003 to 2007...
, Tim Curry
Tim Curry
Timothy James "Tim" Curry is a British actor, singer, composer and voice actor, known for his work in a diverse range of theatre, film and television productions. He currently resides in Los Angeles, California....
and George C. Scott
George C. Scott
George Campbell Scott was an American stage and film actor, director and producer. He was best known for his stage work, as well as his portrayal of General George S. Patton in the film Patton, and as General Buck Turgidson in Stanley Kubrick's Dr...
.
Career success, 1998–2003
Steven SpielbergSteven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
, who noted her performance in the mini-series Titanic, recommended her to Martin Campbell
Martin Campbell
-Life and career:Campbell was born in Hastings, New Zealand. He directed two James Bond films, 1995's GoldenEye, starring Pierce Brosnan, and 2006's Casino Royale, starring Daniel Craig, and was the first Bond director since John Glen to direct more than one film, as well as the oldest director in...
, the director of The Mask of Zorro
The Mask of Zorro
The Mask of Zorro is a 1998 American swashbuckler film based on the Zorro character created by Johnston McCulley. It was directed by Martin Campbell and stars Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Stuart Wilson...
. Zeta-Jones subsequently landed a lead role in the film, alongside compatriot Anthony Hopkins
Anthony Hopkins
Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins, KBE , best known as Anthony Hopkins, is a Welsh actor of film, stage and television...
and Antonio Banderas
Antonio Banderas
José Antonio Domínguez Banderas , better known as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish film actor, film director, film producer and singer...
. She learned dancing, riding, sword-fighting and took part in dialect classes to play her role as Elena. Commenting on her performance, Variety noted, "Zeta-Jones is bewitchingly lovely as the center of everyone's attention, and she throws herself into the often physical demands of her role with impressive grace." She won the Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Female Newcomer and received an Empire Award nomination for Best British Actress and a Saturn Award
Saturn Award
The Saturn Award is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Saturn Awards were devised by Dr. Donald A. Reed in 1972, who felt that films within...
nomination for Best Actress.
In 1999, she co-starred with Sean Connery
Sean Connery
Sir Thomas Sean Connery , better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy...
in the film Entrapment
Entrapment (film)
Entrapment is a 1999 American caper film directed by Jon Amiel and starring Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones.-Plot:Virginia "Gin" Baker is an investigator for Waverly Insurance. Robert "Mac" MacDougal is an international art thief. A priceless Rembrandt painting is stolen from an office one...
, and alongside Liam Neeson
Liam Neeson
Liam John Neeson, OBE is an Irish actor who has been nominated for an Oscar, a BAFTA and three Golden Globe Awards.He has starred in a number of notable roles including Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List, Michael Collins in Michael Collins, Peyton Westlake in Darkman, Jean Valjean in Les...
and Lili Taylor
Lili Taylor
Lili Anne Taylor is an American actress notable for her appearances in such award-winning indie films as Mystic Pizza, Say Anything..., Short Cuts and I Shot Andy Warhol, and the acclaimed TV show Six Feet Under....
in The Haunting
The Haunting (1999 film)
The Haunting is a 1999 remake of the 1963 horror film of the same name. Both films are based on the novel The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, published in 1959. The Haunting was directed by Jan de Bont and stars Liam Neeson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Owen Wilson and Lili Taylor...
. The following year, she starred in the critically acclaimed Traffic
Traffic (2000 film)
Traffic is a 2000 American crime drama film directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Stephen Gaghan. It explores the illegal drug trade from a number of perspectives: a user, an enforcer, a politician and a trafficker. Their stories are edited together throughout the film, although some of the...
with future husband Michael Douglas
Michael Douglas
Michael Kirk Douglas is an American actor and producer, primarily in movies and television. He has won three Golden Globes and two Academy Awards; first as producer of 1975's Best Picture, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and as Best Actor in 1987 for his role in Wall Street. Douglas received the...
. Traffic earned praise from the press, with the critic for the Dallas Observer
Dallas Observer
The Dallas Observer is a free alternative weekly newspaper distributed around the Dallas, Texas . At its inception, it was conceived as a weekly local arts and cinema review publication, with the credo "Advocate for Excellence in the Arts" on the cover. For a time during the early years, the paper...
calling the movie "a remarkable achievement in filmmaking, a beautiful and brutal work". Zeta-Jones' performance earned her her first Golden Globe nomination, as Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
The Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association in 1944 for a performance in a motion picture released in the previous year....
as well as many other nominations and acclaim.
She took the lead role of America's Sweethearts
America's Sweethearts
America's Sweethearts is a 2001 romantic comedy film, directed by Joe Roth, starring Julia Roberts, Billy Crystal, John Cusack, and Catherine Zeta-Jones. The film also stars Keri Lynn Pratt, Hank Azaria, Stanley Tucci, Seth Green, Alan Arkin, and Christopher Walken, and features a cameo appearance...
, a 2001 romantic comedy
Romantic Comedy
Romantic Comedy can refer to* Romantic Comedy , a 1979 play written by Bernard Slade* Romantic Comedy , a 1983 film adapted from the play and starring Dudley Moore and Mary Steenburgen...
film which also starred Julia Roberts
Julia Roberts
Julia Fiona Roberts is an American actress. She became a Hollywood star after headlining the romantic comedy Pretty Woman , which grossed $464 million worldwide...
, Billy Crystal
Billy Crystal
William Edward "Billy" Crystal is an American actor, writer, producer, comedian and film director. He gained prominence in the 1970s for playing Jodie Dallas on the ABC sitcom Soap and became a Hollywood film star during the late 1980s and 1990s, appearing in the critical and box office successes...
and John Cusack
John Cusack
John Paul Cusack is an American film actor and screenwriter. He has appeared in more than 50 films, including The Journey of Natty Gann, Say Anything..., Grosse Point Blank, The Thin Red Line, Stand by Me, Con Air, Being John Malkovich, High Fidelity, Serendipity, Runaway Jury, The Ice Harvest,...
. The film received unfavorable reviews, with Los Angeles Weekly stating that the film "isn't just banal, it's aggressively, arrogantly banal." However, it was a hit at the box office grossing over $138 million worldwide. Her character in the film was Gwen Harrison who is a film star.
In 2002, Zeta-Jones continued her momentum and played murderous vaudevillian
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
Velma Kelly in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical Chicago. Her performance was well received by critics; Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is an online newspaper and former print newspaper covering Seattle, Washington, United States, and the surrounding metropolitan area...
stated, "Zeta-Jones makes a wonderfully statuesque and bitchy saloon goddess." Slate
Slate (magazine)
Slate is a US-based English language online current affairs and culture magazine created in 1996 by former New Republic editor Michael Kinsley, initially under the ownership of Microsoft as part of MSN. On 21 December 2004 it was purchased by the Washington Post Company...
magazine also praised her performance, saying that she "has a smoldering confidence that takes your mind off her not – always – fluid dancing – although she's a perfectly fine hoofer, with majestic limbs and a commanding cleavage."
Chicago was a commercial success, grossing more than $306 million worldwide, and received universal acclaim. In 2003, Zeta-Jones garnered an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
, a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Best Actress in a Supporting Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding supporting performance in a film...
, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards
Screen Actors Guild Awards
A Screen Actors Guild Award is an accolade given by the Screen Actors Guild to recognize outstanding performances by its members. The statuette given, a nude male figure holding both a mask of comedy and a mask of tragedy, is called "The Actor"...
, for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role and as a member of Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture for her performance. Also that year, she voiced Marina in the animated film Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas
Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas
Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas is a 2003 American animated swashbuckling fantasy aventure film produced by DreamWorks Animation, using traditional 2D animation with some 3D...
opposite Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt
William Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
, as well as starring as serial divorcee Marilyn Rexroth in the black comedy Intolerable Cruelty
Intolerable Cruelty
Intolerable Cruelty is a 2003 romantic comedy film directed by Joel and Ethan Coen and starring Academy Award winners George Clooney, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Geoffrey Rush and Billy Bob Thornton with Cedric the Entertainer...
with George Clooney
George Clooney
George Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award...
.
2004–2010
In 2004, she played air hostess Amelia Warren in The TerminalThe Terminal
The Terminal is a 2004 American comedy-drama film directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Hanks and Catherine Zeta-Jones. It is about a man trapped in a terminal at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport when he is denied entry into the United States and at the same time cannot...
as well as Europol
Europol
Europol is the European Union's criminal intelligence agency. It became fully operational on 1 July 1999....
agent Isabel Lahiri in Ocean's Twelve
Ocean's Twelve
Ocean's Twelve is a 2004 American crime comedy film, the sequel to 2001's Ocean's Eleven. Like its predecessor, which was a remake of the 1960 film Ocean's 11, the film used a celebrity ensemble cast. It was released in the United States on December 10, 2004. A third film, Ocean's Thirteen, was...
, the sequel to Ocean's Eleven
Ocean's Eleven (2001 film)
Ocean's Eleven is a 2001 American comedy-crime caper and remake of the 1960 Rat Pack caper film of the same name. The 2001 film was directed by Steven Soderbergh and features an ensemble cast including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Andy García, and Julia Roberts. The film was...
. She and the cast members were nominated for the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast. In 2005, she reprised her role as Elena in The Legend of Zorro
The Legend of Zorro
The Legend of Zorro is a 2005 sequel to The Mask of Zorro , both directed by Martin Campbell. Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones reprise their roles as the titular hero and his spouse, and Rufus Sewell stars as the villain...
, the sequel to The Mask of Zorro. The film received negative-mixed reviews; however, the critics acclaimed the individual performances of the actors, Banderas and Zeta-Jones. The Legend of Zorro grossed over $142 million worldwide.
In 2007, she starred opposite Aaron Eckhart
Aaron Eckhart
Aaron Edward Eckhart is an American film and stage actor. Born in California, he moved to England at the age of 13, when his father relocated the family. Several years later, he began his acting career by performing in school plays, before moving to Sydney, Australia, for his high school senior year...
and Abigail Breslin
Abigail Breslin
Abigail Kathleen Breslin is an American teen actress. She is one of the youngest actresses ever to be nominated for an Academy Award....
in the American romantic comedy drama No Reservations
No Reservations (film)
No Reservations is a 2007 American romantic drama film directed by Scott Hicks. The screenplay by Carol Fuchs is an adaptation of an original script by Sandra Nettelbeck, which served as the basis for the 2001 German film Mostly Martha.-Plot:...
, a remake of the German film Mostly Martha
Mostly Martha (film)
Bella Martha is a 2001 German romantic comedy drama film directed by Sandra Nettelbeck. The American movie No Reservations is heavily based on this. It is about a skilled chef in Hamburg, Germany. When her sister dies, she is left taking care of her niece, who gives her problems...
, for which she received a People's Choice Award nomination. The film garnered mixed or average reviews but was successful commercially, grossing $92 million worldwide. Claudia Puig of USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
wrote that Zeta-Jones "shines as a character that finely balances off-putting reserve with sympathetic appeal."
In 2008, starred alongside Guy Pearce
Guy Pearce
Guy Edward Pearce is an English-born Australian actor and musician, known for his roles as Leonard Shelby in Christopher Nolan's Memento, Lieutenant Ed Exley in L.A...
and Saoirse Ronan
Saoirse Ronan
Saoirse Una Ronan is an Irish film actress. She began her career as a child and came to international prominence in 2007 after co-starring in the film Atonement, which gained her nominations for a BAFTA, a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.Ronan has since appeared in...
in Death Defying Acts
Death Defying Acts
Death Defying Acts is a 2007 supernatural romantic thriller. The film is a UK-Australian co-production directed by Gillian Armstrong and starring Guy Pearce and Catherine Zeta-Jones. It concerns an episode in the life of Hungarian-American escapologist Harry Houdini at the height of his career in...
, a biopic about legendary escapologist Harry Houdini
Harry Houdini
Harry Houdini was a Hungarian-born American magician and escapologist, stunt performer, actor and film producer noted for his sensational escape acts...
at the height of his career in the 1920s. The film was well received by many critics; View London
View London
View London, owned by the 2 View Group Ltd, is an online entertainment guide to London, UK covering restaurants, pubs, bars and nightclubs in London. It also has a "What's On" guide and reviews of current cinema releases by Matthew Turner, its resident film critic.The site allow users to post...
noted that "Zeta Jones also pulls off an extremely impressive Edinburgh accent and it's great to see her in a decent role for once." In 2009, Zeta-Jones starred in romantic comedy The Rebound
The Rebound
The Rebound is a 2009 romantic comedy film directed by Bart Freundlich, starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Justin Bartha. The film was released in theaters in several countries in late 2009...
, in which she played a 40-year old mother of two who falls in love with a younger man, played by Justin Bartha
Justin Bartha
Justin Lee Bartha is an American actor, known for his co-starring role as Riley Poole in the National Treasure films and as Doug Billings in The Hangover and The Hangover Part II.-Early life:...
. The film was released in cinemas in several countries throughout 2009. The film is set to be released in the United States on 25 December 2010.
In August 2009, it was announced she would return to her musical roots and make her Broadway debut in the revival of A Little Night Music
A Little Night Music
A Little Night Music is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. Inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, it involves the romantic lives of several couples. Its title is a literal English translation of the German name for Mozart's Serenade...
with Angela Lansbury
Angela Lansbury
Angela Brigid Lansbury CBE is an English actress and singer in theatre, television and motion pictures, whose career has spanned eight decades and earned her more performance Tony Awards than any other individual , with five wins...
, beginning December 2009. For her performance, Zeta-Jones received an Outer Critics Circle Award
Outer Critics Circle Award
The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on and Off-Broadway and were begun during the 1949-1950 theater season. The awards are decided upon by theater critics who review for out-of-town newspapers, national publications, and other media outlets...
, Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
, as well as a Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for Best Leading Actress in a Musical.
Apart from her acting career, Zeta-Jones is also an advertising spokeswoman, currently the global spokeswoman for cosmetics giant Elizabeth Arden
Elizabeth Arden
Florence Nightingale Graham , who went by the business name Elizabeth Arden, was a Canadian-American businesswoman who built a cosmetics empire in the United States. At the peak of her career, she was one of the wealthiest women in the world.-Biography:Arden was born in 1884 at Woodbridge, Ontario,...
. She has appeared in numerous TV commercials for the phone company T-Mobile
T-Mobile
T-Mobile International AG is a German-based holding company for Deutsche Telekom AG's various mobile communications subsidiaries outside Germany. Based in Bonn, Germany, its subsidiaries operate GSM and UMTS-based cellular networks in Europe, the United States, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands...
, and one for Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of cars. Founded as A.L.F.A. on June 24, 1910, in Milan, the company has been involved in car racing since 1911, and has a reputation for building expensive sports cars...
. She is also the spokeswoman for Di Modolo jewellery. Zeta-Jones was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours
2010 Birthday Honours
The Birthday Honours 2010 for the Commonwealth Realms were announced on 7 June 2010 in New Zealand and 12 June 2010 in United Kingdom to celebrate the Queen's Birthday of 2010.-Knights Bachelor:*Professor John Rex Beddington CMG, for science...
.
In the media
Dawn French and Jennifer SaundersJennifer Saunders
Jennifer Jane Saunders is an English comedienne, screenwriter, singer and actress. She has won two BAFTAs, an International Emmy Award, a British Comedy Award, a Rose d'Or Light Entertainment Festival Award, two Writers' Guild of Great Britain Awards, and a Peoples Choice Award.She first came into...
parodied Zeta-Jones as a vacuous über-celebrity named Catherine Spartacus-Zeta-Douglas-Jones on their show French & Saunders
French & Saunders
French and Saunders is a British sketch comedy television show written by and starring comic duo Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. It is also the name by which the performers are known on the occasions when they appear elsewhere as a double act....
in the series Back With a Vengeance. (Spartacus is a movie role memorably played by Zeta-Jones' father-in-law
Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas is an American stage and film actor, film producer and author. His popular films include Out of the Past , Champion , Ace in the Hole , The Bad and the Beautiful , Lust for Life , Paths of Glory , Gunfight at the O.K...
). Catherine Spartacus-Zeta-Douglas-Jones alternates between a strong Welsh accent and a strong American accent and uses Welsh-language phrases when she speaks.
Zeta-Jones is also parodied in the BBC's The Impressions Show with Culshaw and Stephenson
The Impressions Show with Culshaw and Stephenson
The Impressions Show with Culshaw and Stephenson is a British comedy sketch show which stars impressionists Jon Culshaw and Debra Stephenson. A second series was broadcast between 14 November 2010 - 23 December 2010 and a third series started on the 26 October 2011 at 8.30pm on BBC One...
by Debra Stephenson
Debra Stephenson
Debra Stephenson is an English actress, comedian, impressionist and singer.-Career:At the age of fourteen Stephenson appeared on BBC TV's Opportunity Knocks, winning her way through to the All-Winners' Final, broadcast live from the London Palladium...
reading Beauty and the Beast also alternating between strong Welsh and American accents. Zeta is also mentioned in the song Hollywood
Hollywood (Marina and the Diamonds song)
"Hollywood" is the second single from Marina and the Diamonds' debut studio album, The Family Jewels. It was released on 1 February 2010, followed by the album's release three weeks later on 22 February 2010.-Background:...
by Marina and the Diamonds in the line "Oh my God, you look just like Shakira
Shakira
Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll , known professionally as Shakira , is a Colombian singer who emerged in the music scene of Colombia and Latin America in the early 1990s...
no, no, you're Catherine Zeta, actually my name's Marina".
Zeta-Jones has appeared on several magazine covers, including Allure
Allure (magazine)
Allure is the leading U.S. women’s beauty magazine, published monthly by Condé Nast in New York City. It was founded in 1991 by editor in chief Linda Wells, who has been at the helm of the magazine ever since. From its inception, the magazine has been widely recognized for its intelligent,...
, Harper's Bazaar
Harper's Bazaar
Harper’s Bazaar is an American fashion magazine, first published in 1867. Harper’s Bazaar is published by Hearst and, as a magazine, considers itself to be the style resource for “women who are the first to buy the best, from casual to couture.”...
, W
W (magazine)
W is a monthly American fashion magazine published by Condé Nast Publications, who purchased original owner Fairchild Publications in 1999. It was created in 1971 by the publisher of sister magazine Woman's Wear Daily, James Brady. The magazine is an oversize format – ten inches wide and...
, Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair (magazine)
Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...
, and Vogue
Vogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
. She was chosen one of "1998's Most Beautiful People" by People
People (magazine)
In 1998, the magazine introduced a version targeted at teens called Teen People. However, on July 27, 2006, the company announced it would shut down publication of Teen People immediately. The last issue to be released was scheduled for September 2006. Subscribers to this magazine received...
magazine, she also was ranked number 68 in FHM
FHM
FHM, originally published as For Him Magazine, is an international monthly men's lifestyle magazine.- History :The magazine began publication in 1985 in the United Kingdom under the name For Him and changed its title to FHM in 1994 when Emap Consumer Media bought the magazine, although the full For...
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
Personal life
Zeta-Jones met actor Michael DouglasMichael Douglas
Michael Kirk Douglas is an American actor and producer, primarily in movies and television. He has won three Golden Globes and two Academy Awards; first as producer of 1975's Best Picture, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and as Best Actor in 1987 for his role in Wall Street. Douglas received the...
, with whom she shares a birthday, and is exactly 25 years her senior, at the Deauville Film Festival in France in August 1998, after being introduced by Danny DeVito
Danny DeVito
Daniel Michael DeVito, Jr. , better known as Danny DeVito, is an American actor, comedian, director and producer. He first gained prominence for his portrayal of Louie De Palma on the ABC and NBC television series Taxi , for which he won a Golden Globe and an Emmy.DeVito and his wife, Rhea Perlman,...
. They began dating in March 1999. Zeta-Jones claims that when they met, he used the line "I'd like to father your children." They became engaged on 31 December 1999, and were married at the Plaza Hotel
Plaza Hotel
The Plaza Hotel in New York City is a landmark 20-story luxury hotel with a height of and length of that occupies the west side of Grand Army Plaza, from which it derives its name, and extends along Central Park South in Manhattan. Fifth Avenue extends along the east side of Grand Army Plaza...
in New York City on 18 November 2000, just weeks after Douglas' divorce was finalized. A traditional Welsh choir (Côr Cymraeg Rehoboth) sang at their wedding. Her Welsh gold
Welsh gold
Welsh gold is highly prized because of its origin and scarcity, and occurs naturally in two distinct areas of Wales. One area is in North Wales in a band stretching from Barmouth, past Dolgellau and up towards Snowdonia. This was mined at several mines, the largest of which were the Gwynfynydd Gold...
wedding ring includes a Celtic motif and was purchased in the Welsh town of Aberystwyth
Aberystwyth
Aberystwyth is a historic market town, administrative centre and holiday resort within Ceredigion, Wales. Often colloquially known as Aber, it is located at the confluence of the rivers Ystwyth and Rheidol....
. They have two children. Their son, Dylan Michael Douglas (named after Dylan Thomas
Dylan Thomas
Dylan Marlais Thomas was a Welsh poet and writer, Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 11 January 2008. who wrote exclusively in English. In addition to poetry, he wrote short stories and scripts for film and radio, which he often performed himself...
), was born on 8 August 2000, with Zeta Jones' pregnancy incorporated into her role in Traffic
Traffic (2000 film)
Traffic is a 2000 American crime drama film directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Stephen Gaghan. It explores the illegal drug trade from a number of perspectives: a user, an enforcer, a politician and a trafficker. Their stories are edited together throughout the film, although some of the...
. Their daughter, Carys Zeta Douglas, was born on 20 April 2003.
Zeta-Jones has two brothers, David and Lyndon. Her younger brother, Lyndon Jones, is her personal manager and producer for Milkwood Films.
In 2004, Douglas and Zeta-Jones took legal action against stalker
Stalker
-In media:* Stalker , a 1995 dark ambient album by Lustmord & Robert Rich, inspired by the film* Stalker , an episode of the American television series CSI...
Dawnette Knight, who was accused of sending violent letters to the couple that contained graphic threats on Zeta-Jones' life. Testifying, Zeta-Jones said the threats left her so shaken she feared a nervous breakdown. Knight claimed she had been in love with Douglas and admitted to the offences, which took place between October 2003 and May 2004. She was sentenced to three years in prison.
In April 2011, Zeta-Jones sought treatment for bipolar II disorder
Bipolar II disorder
Bipolar II disorder is a bipolar spectrum disorder characterized by at least one hypomanic episode and at least one major depressive episode; with this disorder, depressive episodes can be more frequent and are more intense than hypomanic episodes...
, checking herself into Silver Hill Hospital
Silver Hill Hospital
Silver Hill Hospital, founded in 1931, is a psychiatric hospital in New Canaan, Connecticut. The hospital focuses on psychiatric disorders and substance abuse and offers inpatient and outpatient treatment to both adolescents and adults...
in New Canaan, Connecticut
New Canaan, Connecticut
New Canaan is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, northeast of Stamford, on the Fivemile River. The population was 19,738 according to the 2010 census.The town is one of the most affluent communities in the United States...
.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Scheherazade | English: 1001 Nights | |
| 1991 | Mariette | ||
| 1992 | Christopher Columbus: The Discovery Christopher Columbus: The Discovery Christopher Columbus: The Discovery, a 1992 film directed by James Bond alumnus John Glen, was the last project developed by the father and son production team of Alexander and Ilya Salkind. It follows the events leading up to and including the voyage of Columbus to the New World in 1492... |
Beatriz | |
| 1993 | Splitting Heirs Splitting Heirs Splitting Heirs is a 1993 British film starring Eric Idle, Rick Moranis, Barbara Hershey, Catherine Zeta-Jones, John Cleese and Sadie Frost. The film was directed by Robert Young, and features music by Michael Kamen... |
Kitty | |
| 1994 | Victoria Chapmann | ||
| 1994 | Eustacia Vye | ||
| 1995 | Catherine the Great | Catherine II | |
| 1995 | Blue Juice Blue Juice Blue Juice is a 1995 British film directed by Carl Prechezer and starring Sean Pertwee, Catherine Zeta Jones, Ewan McGregor and Steven Mackintosh. It follows JC as he attempts to reconcile his surfer lifestyle and loser friends with the pressure to grow up from his girlfriend... |
Chloe | |
| 1996 | Sala | ||
| 1998 | Eléna (De La Vega) Montero | ||
| 1999 | Entrapment Entrapment (film) Entrapment is a 1999 American caper film directed by Jon Amiel and starring Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones.-Plot:Virginia "Gin" Baker is an investigator for Waverly Insurance. Robert "Mac" MacDougal is an international art thief. A priceless Rembrandt painting is stolen from an office one... |
Virginia Baker | |
| 1999 | Theo | ||
| 2000 | High Fidelity High Fidelity (film) High Fidelity is a 2000 American comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Frears and starring John Cusack and the Danish actress Iben Hjejle. The film is based on the 1995 British novel of the same name by Nick Hornby, with the setting moved from London to Chicago and the name of the lead character... |
Charlie Nicholson | |
| 2000 | Traffic Traffic (2000 film) Traffic is a 2000 American crime drama film directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Stephen Gaghan. It explores the illegal drug trade from a number of perspectives: a user, an enforcer, a politician and a trafficker. Their stories are edited together throughout the film, although some of the... |
Helena Ayala | |
| 2001 | America's Sweethearts America's Sweethearts America's Sweethearts is a 2001 romantic comedy film, directed by Joe Roth, starring Julia Roberts, Billy Crystal, John Cusack, and Catherine Zeta-Jones. The film also stars Keri Lynn Pratt, Hank Azaria, Stanley Tucci, Seth Green, Alan Arkin, and Christopher Walken, and features a cameo appearance... |
Gwen Harrison | |
| 2002 | Chicago Chicago (2002 film) Chicago is a 2002 musical film adapted from the satirical stage musical of the same name, exploring the themes of celebrity, scandal, and corruption in Jazz-age Chicago.... |
Velma Kelly | |
| 2003 | Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas is a 2003 American animated swashbuckling fantasy aventure film produced by DreamWorks Animation, using traditional 2D animation with some 3D... |
Marina | Voice role |
| 2003 | Intolerable Cruelty Intolerable Cruelty Intolerable Cruelty is a 2003 romantic comedy film directed by Joel and Ethan Coen and starring Academy Award winners George Clooney, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Geoffrey Rush and Billy Bob Thornton with Cedric the Entertainer... |
Marylin Rexroth | |
| 2004 | Amelia Warren | ||
| 2004 | Ocean's Twelve Ocean's Twelve Ocean's Twelve is a 2004 American crime comedy film, the sequel to 2001's Ocean's Eleven. Like its predecessor, which was a remake of the 1960 film Ocean's 11, the film used a celebrity ensemble cast. It was released in the United States on December 10, 2004. A third film, Ocean's Thirteen, was... |
Isabel Lahiri | Nominated — Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast |
| 2005 | Eléna (De La Vega) Montero | Nominated – People's Choice Award for Favorite Female Action Star People's Choice Awards The People's Choice Awards is an American awards show recognizing the people and the work of popular culture. The show has been held annually since 1975 and is voted on by the general public. The People's Choice Awards air on CBS and are produced by Procter & Gamble and Survivor magnate Mark Burnett... |
|
| 2007 | No Reservations | Kate Armstrong | |
| 2007 | Death Defying Acts Death Defying Acts Death Defying Acts is a 2007 supernatural romantic thriller. The film is a UK-Australian co-production directed by Gillian Armstrong and starring Guy Pearce and Catherine Zeta-Jones. It concerns an episode in the life of Hungarian-American escapologist Harry Houdini at the height of his career in... |
Mary McGarvie | |
| 2009 | Sandy | ||
| 2012 | Playing the Field Playing the Field (film) Plyaing the Field is an upcoming film directed by Gabriele Muccino and starring Gerard Butler, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Uma Thurman, Jessica Biel and Dennis Quaid.-Plot:... |
Denise | Post-production |
| 2012 | Lay the Favorite Lay the Favorite Lay the Favorite is an upcoming crime-comedy film. Based on Beth Raymer's memoir of the same title, the film follows a young, free-spirited woman as she journeys through the legal and illegal world of sports gambling.-Cast:... |
Tulip Heimowitz | Post-production |
| 2012 | Rock of Ages | Patricia Whitmore | Post-production |
| 2013 | Broken City | Filming |
Theatre Credits
| Year | Show | Role | Awards and nominations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Annie Annie (musical) Annie is a Broadway musical based upon the popular Harold Gray comic strip Little Orphan Annie, with music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and the book by Thomas Meehan. The original Broadway production opened in 1977 and ran for nearly six years with a blonde Annie as the poster... |
Annie | |
| 1983 | Bugsy Malone Bugsy Malone Bugsy Malone is a 1976 musical film, very loosely based on events in New York City in the Prohibition era, specifically the exploits of gangsters like Al Capone and Bugs Moran, as dramatized in cinema... |
Tallulah | |
| 1986 | The Pajama Game The Pajama Game The Pajama Game is a musical based on the novel 7½ Cents by Richard Bissell. It features a score by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. The story deals with labor troubles in a pajama factory, where worker demands for a seven-and-a-half cents raise are going unheeded... |
Chorus | |
| 1987 | 42nd Street 42nd Street (musical) 42nd Street is a musical with a book by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble, lyrics by Al Dubin, and music by Harry Warren. The 1980 Broadway production, directed by an ailing Gower Champion and orchestrated by Philip J. Lang, won the Tony Award for Best Musical and became a long-running hit... |
Peggy Sawyer | |
| 1989 | Street Scene Street Scene (opera) Street Scene is a Broadway musical or, more precisely, an "American opera" by Kurt Weill , Langston Hughes , and Elmer Rice... |
Mae Jones | |
| 2009 | A Little Night Music A Little Night Music A Little Night Music is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. Inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, it involves the romantic lives of several couples. Its title is a literal English translation of the German name for Mozart's Serenade... |
Desiree Armfeldt |