Catherine Zeta Jones

Catherine Zeta-Jones is a Welsh actress, presently based in the United States. She began her career on stage at an early age. After starring in a number of UK and US television films and small roles in films, she came to prominence with roles in Hollywood movies such as The Phantom, The Mask of Zorro, and Entrapment in the late 1990s. She won an Academy Award, BAFTA Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for portraying Velma Kelly in the 2002 film adaptation of Chicago. She is married to actor Michael Douglas. They have two children – Dylan and Carys.

Early life

Zeta-Jones was born Catherine Zeta Jones in Swansea, a maritime city located on the southern coast of Wales. Her mother, Patricia , was an Irish seamstress, and her father, David "Dai" Jones , was a Welsh sweet factory owner. Zeta-Jones has two brothers, David and Lyndon. Her father's cousin is married to singer Bonnie Tyler, who is also from Swansea, Wales. Her uncle owns Swansea's ?koda car dealership as well as Llanelli A.F.C. football club. Her name stems from those of her grandmothers — her maternal grandmother, Catherine Fair, and her paternal grandmother, Zeta Jones .

Zeta-Jones was raised Catholic. After her parents won ?100,000 at bingo in the 1980s, they moved to St. Andrews Drive in Mayals, an upper-class area of Swansea. Zeta-Jones attended Dumbarton House School in Swansea.[citation needed] Zeta-Jones left school early to further her acting ambitions without obtaining O levels and went on to attend The Arts Educational Schools in Chiswick, west London, for a full-time three-year course in musical theatre.

Career

Zeta-Jones' stage career began in childhood. She often performed at friends and family functions when she was younger. She was part of a Catholic congregation's performing troupe before she was 10. Zeta-Jones made her professional acting debut when she played the lead in Annie, a production at Swansea's Grand Theater