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Catherine Zeta-Jones , in a working class area of Swansea, Wales, she was one of three children born to Patrick Jones, a Welsh factory worker and Dia Fair, who was of Irish Catholic extraction; Catherine was raised a Catholic. She went to the local state schools, where she was an average student. Her name stems from those of her grandmothers; one named Catherine, and the other Zeta, named after a ship which her great-grandfather had sailed on. As a child, she had a tracheotomy which left a scar.

Zeta-Jones' stage career began in childhood. She was a part of a Catholic congregation's performing troupe before she was 10, and by 1987 she was starring in as Peggy Saywer in the West End. Once the show closed, Zeta-Jones travelled to France, where she received the lead role in French director Phillippe De Broca's (a.k.a. Sheherazade), her feature film debut.

Her exotic beauty, along with her singing and dancing ability, suggested a promising future, but it was in a straight acting role, as Mariette in the successful television adaptation of H. E. Bates' (1991), that she made her name. She briefly flirted with a musical career, having a part in Jeff Wayne's 1992 Spartacus. A single, "The Appian Way" featuring her was released but failed to chart. She became famous outside Britain after leading roles in two movies, (1999) with Sean Connery. It is said that she gained the role in Zorro after Steven Spielberg saw her performance in the Lifetime Television event of , also starring Tim Curry and Peter Gallagher.

Controversially, she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the movie dancing, suggesting in song that, no matter how bad she might be that night, "They Can't Take My Oscar Away."

Apart from her acting career, Zeta-Jones is also an advertising spokeswoman for the mobile phone company T-Mobile. She is currently the global spokeswoman for cosmetics giant, Elizabeth Arden.

Zeta-Jones is married to actor Michael Douglas, with whom she has two children. They were married at the Plaza Hotel in New York City on November 18, 2000.

Their son, Dylan Michael Douglas, was born August 8, 2000. (Her American admirers like to think that he is named after Bob Dylan - a favourite of Douglas - while her British admirers like to think that Dylan Thomas, also born in Swansea, was the inspiration). Their daughter, Carys Zeta Douglas, was born April 20, 2003. Zeta-Jones has decided that her children will grow up aware of their Welsh heritage and has built a seaside home in her hometown of Swansea.

short bob haircut, so her face could be seen and fans wouldn't doubt she did all her dancing herself.