Catherine Zeta-Jones

Catherine Zeta-Jones
CBE

Zeta-Jones at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival.
Born Catherine Zeta Jones
(1969-09-25) 25 September 1969
Swansea, Wales
Residence Bedford Hills, New York, U.S.
Occupation Actress
Years active 1981–present
Spouse(s) Michael Douglas (m. 2000)
Children 2
Awards Full list
Website catherinezetajones.com

Catherine Zeta-Jones, CBE (/ˈztə/; born 25 September 1969[lower-alpha 1]) is a Welsh actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award and a Tony Award, and in 2010 she was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for her film and humanitarian endeavors.

Born and raised in Swansea, Wales, Zeta-Jones aspired to be an actress from a young age. In her early teens, she played roles in the West End productions of the musicals Annie and Bugsy Malone. She studied musical theatre at the Arts Educational Schools, London, and had her stage breakthrough with a leading role in a 1987 production of 42nd Street. She went on to make her screen debut with the unremarkable French-Italian film 1001 Nights (1990), but found greater success as a regular on the British television series The Darling Buds of May (1991–93). Dismayed at being typecast as the romantic interest in British films, Zeta-Jones shifted base to Los Angeles, and was cast in the superhero film The Phantom (1996).

Zeta-Jones initially established herself in Hollywood with roles that highlighted her sex appeal in the action film The Mask of Zorro (1998) and the caper thriller Entrapment (1999). Critics praised her portrayal of a vengeful pregnant woman in Traffic (2000) and a murderous singer in the musical Chicago (2002). The latter won her Academy and BAFTA Awards for Best Supporting Actress, among other accolades. She starred in high-profile films for much of the decade, including the black comedy Intolerable Cruelty (2003), the crime film Ocean's Twelve (2004), the comedy The Terminal (2004), and the romantic comedy No Reservations (2007). Parts in smaller-scale features were followed by a decrease in workload, during which she returned to stage and portrayed an ageing actress in A Little Night Music (2009), winning a Tony Award. Zeta-Jones continued to work intermittently in the 2010s, starring in the psychological thriller Side Effects (2013) and the action film Red 2 (2013).

In addition to acting in films, Zeta-Jones supports various charities and causes, and is a prominent celebrity endorser of brands. Her struggle with depression and bipolar II disorder has been well-documented by the media. She is married to the actor Michael Douglas with whom she has two children.

Early life and initial stage career

Catherine Zeta-Jones was born in Swansea on 25 September 1969, and was raised in the suburban area of Mumbles.[lower-alpha 2][1] Her father, David Jones, owns a sweet factory, and her mother, Patricia (née Fair), is a seamstress.[2][3][4] Her parents are of Welsh origin, and she also has Irish ancestry on her mother's side.[5] She was named after her grandmothers, Zeta Jones and Catherine Fair.[6] She has two brothers, David, who worked as an electrician and Lyndon, who worked as a sales representative before venturing into film production.[7][8] The family came from a modest economic background, but their fortunes improved when they won £50,000 in a local bingo competition.[8] Due to her hyperactive nature as a child, Zeta-Jones' mother sent her to the Hazel Johnson School of Dance when she was four years old to better channel her energy.[9] She was educated at the Dumbarton House School, a private school in Swansea.[7]

Zeta-Jones participated in stage shows at her school from a young age, and garnered attention when she was featured in a local newspaper for winning a Junior Star Trail talent competition, where she sang a Shirley Bassey song.[10][11] As part of a dance troupe, she routinely took trips to London, where she would audition for roles in the theatre.[12] At the age of nine, she was selected to play one of the orphan girls in a West End production of the musical Annie, and in her early teens, she became a tap-dancing champion.[10][13] In 1981, she played the lead role of Annie in a Swansea production of the musical, which was staged at the Swansea Grand Theatre.[3][6] Two years later, she played the lead role of Tullulah in a West End production of Bugsy Malone.[10] When she was 15, Zeta-Jones dropped out of school without obtaining O-levels, deciding to stay permanently in London to pursue a full-time acting career, and to perform in a touring production of the play The Pajama Game.[10][14] Describing her teenage years in London, Zeta-Jones said, "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".[13] She went on to attend the independent Arts Educational Schools in Chiswick, London, for a three-year course in musical theatre.[15]

In 1987, when she was 17 years old, Zeta-Jones was picked as the second understudy to the lead actress in a West End production of 42nd Street. During one of the performances, both the star and the first understudy were unavailable, resulting in Zeta-Jones stepping in to play the role of Peggy Sawyera chorus girl who becomes a star. The producer, impressed by her ability, let her play the role for the next two years.[16][17][18] Her next stage appearance was with the English National Opera at the London Coliseum in 1989 as Mae Jones in Street Scene, an opera by Kurt Weill.[15][19]

Career

1990–96: Screen debut and career struggles

In 1990, Zeta-Jones made her film debut in director Philippe de Broca's French-Italian film 1001 Nights. An adaptation of the Persian fable One Thousand and One Nights, the film recounts the tale from the perspective of Scheherazade (Zeta-Jones), one of the brides of King Sharir (Thierry Lhermitte).[20] The film was not well received at the box office but garnered attention for featuring Zeta-Jones in the nude.[21] Greater success followed when she starred opposite David Jason and Pam Ferris in the British period comedy-drama television series The Darling Buds of May from 1991 to 1993. Adapted from H. E. Bates' novel of the same name, Zeta-Jones played the role of the eldest, voluptuous daughter of a family living in the countryside in 1950s Britain.[16][22] The series was the highest-rated television show in the country at the time, and Zeta-Jones garnered wide public recognition for it; she said: "Literally, with one hour of television my life completely changed. I couldn't go anywhere".[12][23]

Following a brief appearance as Beatriz Enríquez de Arana in the largely panned Christopher Columbus: The Discovery (1992),[24] Zeta-Jones featured as a belly dancer in disguise in a 1992 episode of George Lucas' television series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.[25] She next took on the part of an aspiring duchess in Splitting Heirs (1993), a farcical period drama from director Robert Young about two children (Eric Idle and Rick Moranis) who are separated at birth. Reviews for the film were negative, though critic Vincent Canby of The New York Times was appreciative of her comic timing.[26][27] The year 1994 saw Zeta-Jones play the melancholic Eustacia Vye in the television movie The Return of the Native, an adaptation of the novel of the same name (1878) by Thomas Hardy, and the wife of Lloyd Owen's character in the television war drama The Cinder Path.[28][29] She was then cast as the eponymous protagonist of the 1995 television biopic Catherine the Great. In a mixed review, critic Lisa Nesselson of Variety found the miniseries to be "brightly colored" but "wooden and hollow", though thought that Zeta-Jones "imparts a certain grace and resolve to her sovereign-in-the-making".[30] Zeta-Jones next starred as the pragmatic girlfriend of Sean Pertwee's character in Blue Juice (1995), a stoner comedy, which critic Leonard Maltin described as a "superficial and predictable" production.[31]

Dismayed at being typecast as the romantic interest in British films, Zeta-Jones shifted base to Los Angeles. She remarked, "There was all this fuss about who I was and wasn't dating. I was a pretty face and a big bust and nothing else. People in the business believed what they read about me. So I decided to move away and start again."[32] She believed that the anonymity she faced in America helped her get roles on merit and not due to her public image.[12][32] She earned the part of Sala, the hench-woman to the villainous Drax (Treat Williams) in the superhero film The Phantom (1996), starring Billy Zane in the titular role.[33] A reviewer for Variety considered Zeta-Jones to be a standout in her part, but the film received a negative critical reception and earned little at the box office.[33][34] The CBS television miniseries Titanic (1996), however, was better received.[32] Starring opposite Peter Gallagher and George C. Scott, she portrayed the lead role of Isabella Paradine, a young mother engaged in an extramarital affair on the RMS Titanic.[35]

1998–2000: Hollywood breakthrough and success

Zeta-Jones at the premiere of Entrapment at the 52nd Cannes Film Festival in 1999

Steven Spielberg took notice of Zeta-Jones in Titanic and recommended her to director Martin Campbell, who was directing The Mask of Zorro (1998) for his production company. Campbell eventually hired her as the leading lady over Izabella Scorupco, who was his original choice for the part.[36] Co-starring Anthony Hopkins and Antonio Banderas, the film tells the story of Zorro (Hopkins), a Latin warrior who sets out to avenge the death of his wife and find his lost daughter Eléna (Zeta-Jones). She found similarities between her "volatile" Celtic personality and the temperament of the Latin warrior she played, and in preparation she studied dancing, riding, sword-fighting and took diction lessons in Spanish.[37][38] Filming the action and dance sequences wearing heavy corsets in the humid Mexican desert proved to be a challenge for Zeta-Jones, but she found the experience "worth suffering for".[36] The Mask of Zorro was positively received by the critics and earned over US$250 million worldwide.[39][40] Writing for Rolling Stone, critic Peter Travers commented that "Zeta-Jones needs no lessons in being gorgeous" and commended her for turning "the battle into a delicious game of strip-fencing".[41] The role proved to be a breakthrough for Zeta-Jones and she was nominated for the MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance.[42][43]

Zeta-Jones' first release of 1999 was the caper film Entrapment, in which she starred opposite Sean Connery as a seductive insurance agent on the lookout for an art thief. Despite a negative critical reception, the film was a commercial success;[44][45] Janet Maslin of The New York Times thought that the film provided Zeta-Jones a platform to "show off her slithery skills" and Desson Howe of The Washington Post called on viewers to appreciate the sex appeal she brought to the role.[46][47] Later that year, Zeta-Jones appeared alongside Liam Neeson and Lili Taylor in The Haunting, a remake of the 1963 movie of the same name about a team of paranormal experts who look into strange occurrences in an ill-fated mansion. The horror feature was generally panned by critics but found a significant worldwide audience.[48][49]

After taking the supporting part of star John Cusack's romantic interest in the comedy-drama High Fidelity (2000), Zeta-Jones starred in Steven Soderbergh's Traffic (2000).[50] In the ensemble thriller on drug abuse starring Michael Douglas and Benicio del Toro, she played Helena Ayala, the pregnant wife of a drug lord who takes over the business when her husband is arrested. Initially written by Soderbergh as a mother of two, he changed the part to that of a pregnant woman on Zeta-Jones' suggestion, to accommodate her own pregnancy.[51] Highly profitable at the box office and critically acclaimed,[52][53] Traffic was described by the Dallas Observer as "a remarkable achievement in filmmaking, a beautiful and brutal work".[54] Edward Guthman of the San Francisco Chronicle found Zeta-Jones to be a standout among the ensemble and labelled her "sensational" in a scene in which she confronts a Tijuana dealer, adding that "through sheer conviction, she electrifies a moment that could have been absurd".[55] The ensemble of Traffic won the SAG Award for Outstanding Cast and Zeta-Jones was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress.[56][57]

2001–04: Chicago and other roles

The romantic comedy America's Sweethearts was Zeta-Jones' sole film project of 2001. She starred as a shrewd movie star, opposite Julia Roberts who featured as her character's under-confident sibling. Critic Roger Ebert compared the film unfavorably to the musical Singin' in the Rain (1952), but thought that Zeta-Jones was aptly "chilly and manipulative" in her part.[58] The following year, Zeta-Jones starred alongside Renée Zellweger as the murderous nightclub singer Velma Kelly in Chicago (2002), a film adaptation of the Broadway musical of the same name from director Rob Marshall. She based her character's look and mannerisms on actress Louise Brooks, and as the script did not provide a backstory to Kelly, she worked to convey her character's "flamboyance" and "desperation" through "little looks and nuances".[59] The film and her performance garnered critical acclaim.[60] William Arnold of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer felt that the actress made "a wonderfully statuesque and bitchy saloon goddess", and David Edelstein of Slate magazine wrote 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" and particularly praised her rendition of the song "All That Jazz".[61][62] Chicago earned US$306 million worldwide, and was the recipient of the Academy Award for Best Picture.[63] For her performance, Zeta-Jones won the Academy Award, SAG Award, and the BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress, among other awards and nominations.[64]

Following the success of Chicago, Zeta-Jones voiced the part of princess Marina in Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003), an animated film featuring Brad Pitt as the voice of Sinbad the Sailor. She was drawn to the project to give her young children an opportunity to "hear [her] and get a sense of [her] on film".[65] However, the film proved to be a box office bomb.[66][67] Also in 2003, Zeta-Jones starred alongside George Clooney in the Coen Brothers' black comedy Intolerable Cruelty. A box office success, the film saw her play the role of a serial divorcée who is drawn towards a divorce attorney (Clooney).[68] Writing for Empire magazine, critic Damon Wise labelled the film a "dazzling screwball comedy" and felt that Zeta-Jones showed an "an admirable facility for old-school quickfire patter".[69] Other reviewers praised her onscreen chemistry with Clooney.[70]

In 2004, Steven Spielberg approached her to play an insecure air hostess in his comedy The Terminal, a film about a man (Tom Hanks) who is trapped at the JFK International Airport when he is denied entry into the United States. Spielberg was intent on her playing against type as a strong-willed women, with a vulnerability in her character,[12] but critic A. O. Scott felt that it came across as using her for "her looks rather than for the arch, self-mocking wit that is her secret weapon as a comic actress".[71] Commercially, The Terminal performed well.[72] She next reteamed with Soderbergh to film Ocean's Twelve, a sequel to the caper film Ocean's Eleven (2001), which also reunited her with stars Clooney, Pitt, and Roberts. The production, which was filmed in several countries across Europe, saw Zeta-Jones play Isabel Lahiri, a Europol agent, and the love-interest of Pitt's character.[73][74] Paul Clinton of CNN noted that her sex appeal benefited the film.[75] Conversely, Ken Tucker of New York magazine argued that her character was redundant to the film's plot.[76] Despite dividing critics, the sequel earned over US$360 million globally.[77][78]

2005–10: Decrease in workload and return to stage

Zeta-Jones in 2005

The Legend of Zorro (2005), a sequel The Mask of Zorro, saw Zeta-Jones reprise her role of Eléna opposite Antonio Banderas. Set 10 years after the first film, the sequel follows Eléna struggling with her married life.[42] Unlike the original, the film was panned by critics, and underperformed at the box office.[79][80] She did not have any film releases in 2006. A biopic of Harry Houdini, entitled Death Defying Acts (2007), starring Guy Pearce as the eponymous escapologist, featured Zeta-Jones as a Scottish con-artist. The unremarkable production was only given a limited theatrical release.[81][82]

In 2007, Zeta-Jones starred alongside Aaron Eckhart and Abigail Breslin in the romantic comedy No Reservations, a remake of the German film Mostly Martha (2001). No Reservations tells the story of an ambitious chef (Zeta-Jones) whose life changes for the better when she takes in her young niece (Breslin) after her sister's death. In preparation for her part, she cut vegetables and waited tables at the Fiamma Osteria restaurant in New York.[17][83] Claudia Puig of USA Today thought that Zeta-Jones "shines as a character that finely balances off-putting reserve with sympathetic appeal", and Roger Ebert, despite disliking the film, found her to be "convincing" in her role.[84][85] With a global gross of US$92 million, the film marked Zeta-Jones' final commercial success of the decade.[86]

Following No Reservations, Zeta-Jones' career trajectory became less noteworthy, as she significantly decreased her workload in the next five years. She instead chose to focus on her family and health, and her infrequent acting appearances were in smaller-scale and less successful productions.[87][88] She took on the role of a 40-year-old mother attracted to a younger man (Justin Bartha) in the romantic comedy The Rebound. The production was released theatrically in markets outside of the United States from 2009–10, but due to financial troubles of its distributor, The Film Development, the film failed to release theatrically in America.[89][90]

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

Zeta-Jones returned to stage in 2009 with a revival of the musical A Little Night Music, which marked her Broadway debut. Set in Sweden during the early twentieth century, the musical follows the relationship between three people (Zeta-Jones, Angela Lansbury and Alexander Hanson) during the course of an evening. She played Desirée Armfeldt, an ageing actress, and was particularly drawn to the complexities of the play: "There’s no jazzy hands, no high kicks, no fishnet stockings, [...] It’s not one of those shows where you can dig about three inches and come out the other end. You can keep digging and digging and digging".[13] She did not listen to past recordings of the songs in the play so she could bring her own interpretation to them.[13] Critic Claire Prentice of The Daily Telegraph wrote that Zeta-Jones brought in a "quiet, reflective poignancy" in her rendition of the song "Send in the Clowns", but Emma Brocks of The Guardian was more critical, remarking that "with her pretty voice, head wresting this way and that, [she] seems to be auditioning for stage school".[64][91] For her performance, Zeta-Jones won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical and the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical.[92][93]

2012–present: Return to film

Following a three-year sabbatical from acting, Zeta-Jones made her screen comeback in Lay the Favorite (2012), a comedy co-starring Bruce Willis and Rebecca Hall, in which she played the jealous wife of a gambler (Willis).[94][95] Reviews for the film were negative, and critic Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times found Zeta-Jones to be "far too shrill to amuse".[96][97] In the Tom Cruise-starring musical comedy Rock of Ages, Zeta-Jones played the part of a religiously conservative wife of a mayor. She was attracted to the idea of playing a "nightmare of a woman" in it and based the role on the politician Michele Bachmann.[87] However, the film received mixed reviews and failed commercially.[98][99] Her final release of 2012 was Playing for Keeps, a romantic comedy with Gerard Butler, which proved to be her third unremarkable production of the year.[100]

The year 2013 saw her take on a leading role in the crime thriller Broken City, co-starring Mark Wahlberg and Russell Crowe. The film tells the story of a private detective (Wahlberg) who is hired by the mayor of New York (Crowe) to spy on his wife (Zeta-Jones). Todd McCarthy of the The Hollywood Reporter thought that Zeta-Jones "looks like class itself and nicely underplays", and Liam Lacey of The Globe and Mail observed that the actress "does a fair, if incongruous, impersonation of a forties vamp".[101][102] However, as with Zeta-Jones' previous few projects, the film was not widely seen, and garnered poor reviews.[103][104] This changed when Zeta-Jones collaborated with Soderbergh for the third time to film the critically acclaimed thriller Side Effects (2013).[105] Co-starring with Channing Tatum, Jude Law and Rooney Mara, the film saw her play a mysterious psychiatrist who recommends an antidepressant drug with serious side effects. Peter Travers found the film to be a "hell of a thriller, twisty, terrific and packed with surprises" and considered Zeta-Jones to be "dynamite" in it.[106]

In the action-comedy film Red 2 (2013), which served as a sequel to the 2010 film Red, Zeta-Jones played a seductive Russian double agent, alongside Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, and Mary-Louise Parker. She was drawn to the project, which follows the comic adventures of retired spies, for "the action, the humour, [and] the tongue-in-cheek quality of it".[107] Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Justin Lowe remarked that Zeta-Jones "nicely pulls off Russian spy Katja’s mix of allure and menace", and with a worldwide gross of US$148 million, the film emerged as her biggest box office success since No Reservations.[108][109]

Following Red 2, Zeta-Jones took another sabbatical from acting, saying: "If I’m going to leave my family for any length of time it had better be for a role that I haven’t played before, [otherwise] I would prefer to stay at home".[107] She found the role opposite Bill Nighy and Toby Jones in the British war comedy film Dad's Army (2016), based on the television sitcom of the same name. She was cast as a glamorous journalist reporting on the Walmington-on-Sea British platoon in it.[110] Catherine Bray of Variety found the film to be an "amiable but creaky resurrection" of the popular sitcom, and thought that while Zeta-Jones "hits the required single note with some spirit" she was "generally underused" in it.[111] As of April 2016, Zeta-Jones is scheduled to portray the Colombian drug lord Griselda Blanco in the biopic The Godmother.[112]

Other work

Zeta-Jones in 2006

In addition to her acting career, Zeta-Jones supports various charities and causes. She is a patron of Swansea’s Longfields Day Centre for the disabled, and has made sizeable donations to the centre.[113] In 2001, she auctioned an outfit she wore in The Mask of Zorro (1998) to raise funds for AIDS patients in Africa.[114] She became the ambassador of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children charity in 2005, and launched the Full Stop appeal in Wales to raise awareness on child abuse.[115] In addition, she has given her support to other charitable organisations for children such as the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children and the Noah's Ark Appeal, among others.[116][117] Zeta-Jones is also the founding host for A Fine Romance, an annual charitable program that helps raise funds for the Motion Picture & Television Fund, and is one of the members of the Cinema for Peace Foundation.[118][119]

Zeta-Jones briefly dabbled with a singing career in the early 1990s. She provided her voice to the character of Jean Simmons in Jeff Wayne's musical retelling of Spartacus (1960), entitled Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of Spartacus, in 1992.[120] In 1995, she released her first single, "In The Arms Of Love", on Wayne’s Wow! Records.[121] She later sang "True Love Ways", a duet with David Essex in 1994.[122] More notably, Zeta-Jones has featured as an advertising spokeswoman for several brands and products. She was named the global ambassador for the cosmetics company Elizabeth Arden, Inc. in 2002.[123] Also that year, she was signed on by the phone company T-Mobile for an estimated US$10 million per year, making her the highest-paid celebrity endorser at the time.[124][125]

Personal life

Zeta-Jones with husband Michael Douglas at the Vanity Fair party for the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival

The success of the television series The Darling Buds of May (199193) made Zeta-Jones a popular celebrity in Britain, and her personal life has since been chronicled by the media.[6] Her relationships in the early 1990s with the television personality John Leslie, the film producer Jon Peters, and the pop star Mick Hucknall were widely reported by the British press.[126] From 1995 to 1996, she was briefly engaged to the Scottish actor Angus Macfadyen.[126] In an interview with the Daily Mirror in 1995, she described her lifestyle: "I drink, I swear, I like sex".[6]

Zeta-Jones met actor Michael Douglas, with whom she shares a birthday and who is 25 years her senior, at the Deauville Film Festival in France in August 1998, after being introduced by Danny DeVito.[127][128] They initially dated in secret as Douglas, even though separated, was then legally married to his ex-wife.[129] They became engaged on 31 December 1999, and were married at the Plaza Hotel in New York on 18 November 2000 after Douglas' divorce was finalised.[126][130] The high-profile ceremony, which cost an estimated £1.5 million, was labelled as the "wedding of the year" by the BBC.[131] The couple signed a £1 million deal with OK! magazine to release pictures of the event, and the rest of the press was not permitted to enter.[131] Despite this, journalists of the Hello! magazine surreptitiously took pictures of the ceremony, and the couple successfully sued the magazine for invasion of privacy.[131]

Douglas and Zeta-Jones have two children, a son Dylan Michael (born 8 August 2000) and a daughter Carys Zeta (born 20 April 2003).[132] The family lived in Bermuda until 2009, and as of 2016, live in Bedford Hills in New York.[107][133] In 2010, Douglas was diagnosed with tongue cancer, and Zeta-Jones faced an emotionally turbulent time; she said, "When you get sideswiped like that [with the illness] it’s an obvious trigger for your balance to be a little bit off – not sleeping, worry, stress."[107] The trigger led to Zeta-Jones struggling with depression, and despite initial apprehension, she spoke publicly about suffering from bipolar II disorder.[107][134][135] She sought treatment for the condition by checking herself into the hospital in 2011, and later in 2013.[107][136] Due to the stress from both their illnesses, the couple decided to live separately in 2013, though without taking legal action towards separation or divorce.[137][138] They reconciled later in 2014, with Douglas stating that they were "stronger than ever".[139]

In the media

Zeta-Jones at a Drama League Benefit Gala in 2010

Zeta-Jones' beauty and sex appeal has been picked up by several sources, including People magazine, who ranked her first in their listing of the "Most Beautiful People" in 1998.[140] She continued to feature in the list from 200004.[140] In 2002, she was placed eighth in a listing of the world's sexiest women by Heat magazine, and the following year she was ranked tenth.[141][142] In 2003, the magazine Esquire labelled her the most beautiful woman on the planet.[143] The online portal AskMen listed Zeta-Jones at number five on their "50 Most Beautiful Women" list of 2001, writing that "more than any other actress in a long time, [she] has entraped what it means to be a glamorous movie star".[144] In 2011, she was named the most beautiful British woman by a poll conducted by the television network QVC.[145]

In the early 2000s, Zeta-Jones was among the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood, and the highest-paid British actress in America, earning an estimated £6 million per film.[146] The journalist Sheila Johnston of The Daily Telegraph, in 2010, described Zeta-Jones as "the ultimate self-made success" who "constantly made bold decisions, and scrubbed up very nicely into a luscious star who radiates a classic [...] brand of big-screen glamour."[3] Guy Adams of The Independent considers her personality to be "self-effacing and energetic" but takes note of her "steely core" in her off-screen persona.[6] Zeta-Jones' success in her early Hollywood films The Mask of Zorro (1998) and Enlightenment (1999) relied predominantly on her sex appeal, but Geoffrey Macnab, the editor of the Sight & Sound magazine believes that she went on to establish herself as an actress by defying "skepticism from people who doubted she would succeed".[13][18][38]

Zeta-Jones' career graph and marriage to Douglas has been a subject of satire, with comedians such as Dawn French parodying her as a "glamorous, opportunistic trophy wife".[17] A 2006 episode of the satirical British television show Star Stories (2006–2008) was entitled Catherine Zeta-Jones — Her Quest To Prove Herself... And Also Find Love, about a fictitious life story of Zeta-Jones.[147] Addressing her perceived media image, Zeta-Jones remarked in a 2004 interview to USA Weekend: "The biggest misconception of me is that I'm some die-hard, ambitious, do-anything-to-get-anything kind of person, I'm not. I'm very shy socially."[12] In 2003, the celebrity biographer Cliff Goodwin wrote an unauthorised biography of the actress, entitled Catherine Zeta Jones: The Biography, but the publication was indefinitely postponed when she issued a legal notice prohibiting its release.[148]

Filmography and awards

Selected filmography

Zeta-Jones' films that have earned the most at the box office, as of 2016, include:[149]

Accolades

For her role in Chicago (2002), Zeta-Jones was awarded the Academy Award, SAG Award, and the BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress.[64] She has received two Golden Globe Award nominations: Best Supporting Actress for Traffic (2000) and Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical for Chicago (2002).[57] She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by the Monarchy of the United Kingdom in 2010 for her film and charity work.[150]

Notes

<div class="reflist columns references-column-width" style="-moz-column-width: [lower-alpha 1]; list-style-type: lower-alpha;">

  1. 1 2 3 She was born Catherine Zeta Jones, without the hyphen.[3]</ref> <ref name='B' group='lower-alpha'> Certain sources claim that Zeta-Jones was raised in Treboeth.[22]
  2. 1 2 Certain sources claim that Zeta-Jones was raised in Treboeth.[22]</ref>; -webkit-column-width: [lower-alpha 1]; column-width: <ref name='A' group='lower-alpha'> She was born Catherine Zeta Jones, without the hyphen.[3]

References

  1. Paulmer, Alun (3 September 2004). "Interview: I'm Catherine, Fly Me; Catherine Zeta Jones' Ruthless Ambition to Become a Superstar". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 5 April 2016 via HighBeam Research. (subscription required (help)).
  2. "Catherine Zeta Jones: a profile". The Daily Telegraph. 13 April 2011. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Johnston, Sheila (12 June 2010). "Catherine Zeta-Jones: the evergreen girl of the valleys". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
  4. "Catherine Zeta-Jones". People. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
  5. "Who Knew? 10 Surprise Irish Celebs". Fox News Channel. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Adams, Guy (16 April 2011). "Catherine Zeta-Jones: Darling bud with a steely core". The Independent. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  7. 1 2 Schneider, Karen S. (24 January 2000). "Glamor to Spare". People. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  8. 1 2 Ralston, Gary (18 November 2000). "She'll Always Be a Girl from Mumbles; Why Superstar Catherine Will Never Forget Her Roots". Daily Record. Retrieved 5 April 2016 via HighBeam Research. (subscription required (help)).
  9. Pearce, Garth (17 October 2011). "'Let your kids follow their dreams... and give them support'". The Sun. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Fulton, Rick (1 July 1999). "The Frog Princess". Daily Record. Retrieved 5 April 2016 via HighBeam Research. (subscription required (help)).
  11. Costello, John (16 June 2010). "The rise and rise of the irrepressible Ms Jones". Irish Independent. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 Kennedy, Dana (13 June 2004). "Catherine Zeta Jones has arrived, but don't make a big deal about it". USA Weekend. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 McGrath, Charles (6 December 2009). "Send in the Song-and-Dance Gal". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  14. Mansworth, Sasha (26 June 2004). "Catherine Zeta Jones Would Love the Chance to Return to the Stage". Daily Record. Retrieved 5 April 2016 via HighBeam Research. (subscription required (help)).
  15. 1 2 "Catherine Zeta Jones biography". BBC. 14 June 2010. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  16. 1 2 Strejcek, Ginger. "Catherine the great". Season. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  17. 1 2 3 Cortez, April (20 August 2007). "Catherine Zeta-Jones, the last showgirl". Herald Sun. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  18. 1 2 Dougharty, Margot (August 1998). Exposure. Los Angeles Magazine. p. 42. ISSN 1522-9149.
  19. Hischak, Thomas S. (2 June 2008). The Oxford Companion to the American Musical: Theatre, Film, and Television. Oxford University Press. p. 892. ISBN 978-0-19-533533-0.
  20. Zipes, Jack; Greenhill, Pauline (16 September 2015). Fairy-Tale Films Beyond Disney: International Perspectives. Routledge. p. 73. ISBN 978-1-134-62813-1.
  21. "Philippe de Broca". The Daily Telegraph. 29 November 2004. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
  22. 1 2 3 4 "Face of the Day: Catherine Zeta Jones". The Herald. 20 June 2000. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  23. Butzel, Marsha; Ana Lopez (January 1994). Mediating the National. Taylor & Francis. p. 33. ISBN 978-3-7186-0570-5.
  24. Mendelson, Scott (13 October 2014). "When Christopher Columbus Flopped At The Box Office... Twice". Forbes. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  25. "Catherine Zeta-Jones: Her Style Timeline". Allure. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  26. "Splitting Heirs (1993)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  27. Canby, Vincent (1 May 1993). "Review/Film; Trying to Kill One's Way To a Title". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  28. Tucker, Ken (2 December 1994). "The Return of the Native". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  29. Goble, Alan (1 January 1999). The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film. Walter de Gruyter. p. 93. ISBN 978-3-11-095194-3.
  30. Nesselson, Lisa (26 February 1995). "Review: Catherine The Great". Variety. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  31. Maltin, Leonard (2 September 2014). Leonard Maltin's 2015 Movie Guide. Penguin Group. p. 275. ISBN 978-0-698-18361-2.
  32. 1 2 3 "Catherine Zeta Jones Interview: I Used to Be Just a Pretty Face with a Big Bust Now I Fight for Roles with Nicole Kidman". Daily Mirror. 12 December 1998. Retrieved 5 April 2016 via HighBeam Research. (subscription required (help)).
  33. 1 2 Muir, John Kenneth (13 February 2004). The Encyclopedia of Superheroes on Film and Television, 2d ed. McFarland. p. 434. ISBN 978-0-7864-3755-9.
  34. "Review: The Phantom". Variety. 31 December 1995. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  35. Anderson, D. Brian (22 March 2005). The Titanic in Print and on Screen: An Annotated Guide to Books, Films, Television Shows and Other Media. McFarland. pp. 106–108. ISBN 978-0-7864-1786-5.
  36. 1 2 Strauss, Bob (24 July 1998). "`Zorro' Star Rose From `Titanic'". The Philadephia Inquirer. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  37. Marin, Rick (2 May 1999). "Zorro's Girl Outgrows Her Petticoats". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  38. 1 2 Lee, Adrian (14 June 2010). "Catherine Zeta-Jones: The harder I work, the luckier I get". Daily Express. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  39. "The Mask of Zorro (1998)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  40. "The Mask of Zorro (1998)". Box Office Mojo. 31 December 1998. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  41. Travers, Peter (17 July 1998). "The Mask of Zorro". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 31 October 2005. Retrieved 26 October 2010.
  42. 1 2 Otto, Jeff (26 October 2005). "Interview: Catherine Zeta-Jones". IGN. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  43. "1999 MTV Movie Awards". MTV. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  44. "Entrapment (1999)". Box Office Mojo. 8 August 1999. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  45. "Entrapment (1999)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  46. "'Entrapment': They're a Devilish Match, but Who's Conning Who?". The New York Times. 30 April 1999. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  47. "'Entrapment' (PG-13)". The Washington Post. 30 April 1999. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  48. "The Haunting (1999)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  49. "The Haunting (1999)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  50. French, Philip (23 July 2000). "This one's a hit...". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 December 2008.
  51. King, Larry (21 July 2001). "Movie Star Catherine Zeta-Jones Discusses Her Life and Career". CNN. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  52. "Traffic (2000)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  53. "Traffic (2000)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  54. Wilonsky, Robert (4 January 2001). "Dallas - Movies - American High". Dallas Observer. Retrieved 17 October 2009.
  55. Guthman, Edward (5 January 2001). "Moving 'Traffic' / Soderbergh's riveting thriller lays open America's anti-drug campaign". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  56. "7th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards". Screen Actors Guild. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  57. 1 2 "Golden Globe Awards for 'Catherine Zeta-Jones'". Hollywood Foreign Press. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  58. Ebert, Roger (20 July 2001). "America's Sweethearts". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  59. Gans, Andrew (20 December 2002). "Diva Talk: A Chat with "Chicago" Film's Velma Kelly, Catherine Zeta-Jones". Playbill. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  60. "Chicago". Metacritic. Retrieved 9 December 2010.
  61. Arnold, William (27 December 2002). "Chichi 'Chicago': The musical makes a movie comeback". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved 17 October 2009.
  62. Edelstein, David (27 December 2002). "Cell Block Tango". Slate. Retrieved 9 December 2010.
  63. "Chicago". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 9 December 2010.
  64. 1 2 3 Brocks, Emma (14 December 2009). "Singing and acting, but not at the same time – Zeta-Jones falters on Broadway". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  65. "Wales — Arts — Catherine Zeta Jones — Catherine Zeta Jones interview: Sinbad: Legend Of The Seven Seas". BBC. 28 November 2008. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  66. "Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  67. Holson, Laura M. (21 July 2003). "Animated Film Is Latest Title To Run Aground At DreamWorks". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  68. "Intolerable Cruelty (2003)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  69. Wise, Damon (1 January 2011). "Empire's Intolerable Cruelty Movie Review". Empire. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  70. "Intolerable Cruelty — Movie Reviews". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  71. Scott, A. O. (18 June 2004). "An American's Paradise Lost and Found". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  72. "The Terminal (2004)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  73. Carter, Kelly (27 June 2004). "No escaping fascination with 'Ocean's Twelve'". USA Today. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  74. Susman, Gary (11 February 2004). "Zeta-Jones completes the cast of Ocean's Twelve". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  75. Clinton, Paul (10 December 2004). "Review: 'Ocean's Twelve' high-spirited fun". CNN. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  76. Tucker, Ken. "Half-Baked Dozen". New York Magazine. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  77. "Ocean's Twelve (2004)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  78. "Ocean's Twelve (2004)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  79. "The Legend of Zorro". Metacritic. Retrieved 9 December 2010.
  80. "The Legend of Zorro (2005)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  81. "Death Defying Acts (2008)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  82. Goldstein, Gregg (17 July 2008). "Harvey and Bob hone their act". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  83. Freydkin, Donna (18 July 2007). "Catherine Zeta-Jones makes 'No Reservations'". USA Today. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  84. Puig, Claudia (26 July 2007). "'No Reservations': Go ahead, bite". USA Today. Retrieved 9 December 2010.
  85. Ebert, Roger (25 July 2007). "No Reservations Movie Review & Film Summary (2007)". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  86. "No Reservations". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 9 December 2010.
  87. 1 2 McQuoid, Debbie. "Just call me Cath". Stylist. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  88. Jagernauth, Kevin. "Catherine Zeta-Jones Takes Up Residence In 'Broken City'". Indiewire. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  89. "The Rebound (2009)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  90. "Catherine Zeta-Jones movie could go direct-to-video". Los Angeles Times. 5 May 2011. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  91. Prentice, Claire (14 December 2009). "A Little Night Music at the Walter Kerr Theatre, review". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  92. "Catherine Zeta Jones wins Tony Award". BBC. 14 June 2010. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
  93. "Zeta-Jones wins Drama Desk top honours". Daily Express. 24 May 2010. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  94. Pearce, Garth (9 June 2012). "Catherine Zeta-Jones's comeback". Daily Express. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  95. Smith, Kyle (7 December 2012). "‘Lay the Favorite’ review". New York Post. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  96. "Lay the Favourite (2012)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  97. Sharkey, Betsy (6 December 2012). "'Lay the Favorite' a contrived mess: movie review". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  98. "Rock of Ages (2012)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  99. "Rock of Ages (2012)". Box Office Mojo. 16 August 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  100. "Playing for Keeps (2012)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  101. McCarthy, Todd (16 January 2013). "Broken City Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  102. Lacey, Liam (18 January 2013). "Broken City: Flick starring Wahlberg, Crowe and Zeta-Jones starts off strong ...". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  103. "How Broken is Mark Wahlberg's Box-Office Bomb 'Broken City'?". The Atlantic. 22 January 2013. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  104. "Broken City (2013)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  105. "Side Effects (2013)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  106. "Side Effects". Rolling Stone. 6 February 2013. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  107. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Marriott, Hannah (21 July 2013). "Catherine Zeta Jones: 'I torture my husband'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  108. Lowe, Justin (15 July 2013). "Red 2: Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  109. "Red 2 (2013)". Box Office Mojo. 17 October 2013. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  110. Child, Ben (8 October 2014). "She's in the army now: Catherine Zeta-Jones joins cast of Dad's Army film". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  111. Bray, Catherine (27 January 2016). "Film Review: ‘Dad’s Army’". Variety. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  112. Yamato, Jen (1 October 2014). "Catherine Zeta-Jones To Play ‘Cocaine Godmother’ Griselda Blanco". Deadline.com. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  113. "Actress Pools Her Cash to Help Disabled Win Grant". Western Mail. 13 January 2003. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  114. "Aids charity auctions Zeta Jones costume". BBC. 8 January 2001. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  115. "Zeta Jones is charity's ambassador". London Evening Standard. 14 October 2005. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  116. "Jones and Douglas back children's charity". BBC. 5 October 2000. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  117. "Catherine Zeta-Jones renames Children's Hospital for Wales". ITV. 9 November 2012. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  118. "A Fine Romance: Hollywood Loves Broadway". Motion Picture and Television Fund Foundation. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  119. "About Cinema for Peace Foundation". Cinema for Peace Foundation. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  120. Patterson, John (22 October 2005). "Nip it in the bud". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  121. "Catherine Zeta-Jones biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  122. "David Essex & Catherine Zeta Jones – True Love Ways". Amazon.com. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  123. "Zeta Jones signs make-up deal". BBC. 4 February 2002. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  124. Schiller, Gail (24 April 2006). "Top 10 Ad Deals". Ad Week. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  125. "Catherine Zeta-Jones + T-Mobile = $20 M". CBS. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  126. 1 2 3 Littlejohn, Georgiana (29 August 2013). "From "idiots" to a Hollywood icon: How Catherine Zeta Jones worked her way up the romantic ladder". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  127. "In pictures: Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas". The Daily Telegraph. 28 August 2013. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  128. "Celebrity couples with large age gaps". The Daily Telegraph. 17 July 2015. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  129. "Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones: A look back at their lasting love story". Hello!. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  130. "Zeta Jones: Chorus girl to Hollywood player". BBC. 17 November 2000. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  131. 1 2 3 "2000: Hollywood meets Wales in 'wedding of year'". BBC. 18 November 2000. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  132. "Catherine Zeta-Jones Biography". People. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  133. Corner, Natalie (2 November 2014). "See inside Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas' new £7m mansion as they patch up marital problems". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  134. Cotliar, Sharon. "Her Private Struggle". People. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  135. Singh, Anita (14 November 2012). "Catherine Zeta-Jones speaks out about her battle with manic depression". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  136. Green, Mary; Cotliar, Sharon (29 April 2013). "Catherine Zeta-Jones Returns to Treatment for Bipolar II Disorder Again". People. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  137. "Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones Separate". People. 28 August 2013. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  138. Takeda, Allison (28 August 2013). "Catherine Zeta-Jones, Michael Douglas "Taking Some Time Apart"". Us Weekly. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  139. Johnson, Zach (17 April 2015). "Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones Have Officially Reconciled: "We're Back, Stronger Than Ever"". E!. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  140. 1 2 Wang, Julia. "Catherine Zeta-Jones Biography". People. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  141. "Zeta Jones in sexiest woman poll". BBC. 8 January 2002. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  142. Dermondy, Nick (18 February 2013). "Welsh beauty is in the genes". BBC. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  143. Hiscock, John (21 October 2005). "'I owe it all to Zorro'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  144. "AskMen 50 Most Beautiful Women". AskMen. Archived from the original on 31 March 2001. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  145. "Catherine Zeta-Jones named most beautiful British woman". Daily News and Analysis. 1 July 2011. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  146. Simpson, Richard (16 January 2002). "Hollywood's most wanted". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  147. "Star Stories — Catherine Zeta-Jones". Channel 4. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  148. "Zeta biography plans shelved". BBC. 26 December 2003. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  149. "Catherine Zeta-Jones". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  150. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 59446. p. 7. 12 June 2010.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, May 06, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.