Catherine Zeta-Jones - 50: The Other Side of the Glory of One of Hollywood's First Beauties

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

September 25 marks the 50th anniversary of the famous British and American actress Catherine Zeta-Jones. It would seem that her life has everything one can dream of: a successful film career, world popularity, a happy marriage with Hollywood star Michael Douglas. However, her success came at a high price. In recent years, she and her husband have gone through so many trials that it affected the mental health of the actress …

Catherine Zeta-Jones was born and raised in the UK. Her artistic talent manifested itself in her childhood: at the age of 4 she performed in front of the parishioners of the church, performing religious songs, at the age of 10 she participated in the performances of the city theater, and after graduation she moved to London, where she starred in television projects. At the age of 17 she played her debut role in the musical "42nd Street", at the age of 20 she already got the main roles in films and TV shows, and at the age of 24 she left to work in Hollywood. When she was later asked about how she, a girl from a simple family, managed to achieve such impressive results so quickly, she replied that from her youth she was a fan of self-discipline: from the age of 11 she was used to planning her day so as to have time to study both vocals and choreography, and stage plastics. But there was no time left for her personal life - her first boyfriend appeared only at the age of 20!

In 1996, Catherine Zeta-Jones starred in the miniseries "Titanic", and this work so impressed Steven Spielberg that he invited the actress to play in his film "The Mask of Zorro" without audition. When it came out, Katherine was hit by incredible popularity, and she turned into a Hollywood star of the first magnitude. Since then, she herself has chosen the scripts and directors, and her fees have amounted to millions of dollars.

The films Trap, The Ghost of the Hill House, and Traffic cemented her success, and she won an Oscar for her role as Velma in the musical Chicago. Since then, 2-3 new films with the participation of the actress have been released annually. She did not interrupt her career even after the birth of children - a few months later, Catherine Zeta-Jones was already on the set.

The film "The Mask of Zorro" became fateful for her not only professionally, but also in her personal life. At his private screening, she met Hollywood star Michael Douglas, who at the first meeting jokingly told her that he would like to become the father of her children. At first, she did not take his words seriously - the actor was married, and besides, he had a reputation as a womanizer. But six months later, Catherine gave up, and in 2000 they got married. In the same year, the couple had a son, Dylan Michael, and 3 years later their daughter Caris was born.

Later, Katherine admitted that she fell in love with her husband at first sight, and that their meeting was predetermined by fate - after all, they were even born on the same day, September 25, with a difference of 25 years. After meeting Katherine, Michael Douglas, known for his whirlwind romances, seemed to have lost interest in other women and turned into an exemplary family man. For 10 years, their happiness was cloudless, and then trouble came to the family: the actor was diagnosed with throat cancer in the fourth stage. A black streak has come in the life of the spouses. During the same period, Michael's eldest son was arrested and received a prison sentence for possession and distribution of drugs.

Catherine Zeta-Jones made every effort to help her husband overcome the disease. She was constantly next to him and took care of him during the courses of chemotherapy and radiation. In 2011, Michael Douglas announced in the media that he had been able to defeat cancer and began acting again. The disease receded, but due to nervous overstrain, health problems began for Catherine herself - she developed bipolar disorder. Depressive states and psychoses tormented the actress for a long time, and during this period all the long-standing problems worsened. She had to undergo several courses of therapy in a psychiatric clinic. The Hollywood star was not afraid of publicity and did not hide these facts - her husband convinced her that she could help many people suffering from the same disease if she spoke frankly about herself, her problems and ways to overcome them.

Due to health problems, Catherine Zeta-Jones stopped acting in films and even thought about ending her acting career - for the first time in a long time, she felt doubts, fear and self-doubt. But when she was offered to play the role of the most famous drug lord Griselda Blanco in The Godmother of Cocaine, the actress could not refuse and returned to the screens. In 2017, in an interview, the actress admitted: "".

In order not to lose peace of mind, Katherine and her husband are trying to spend more time together with her husband in their house in Spain, where she is engaged in "phototherapy" - the actress loves to photograph sunsets, and then look at the photos for a long time. She believes that this helps to forget about star status and live in accordance with ordinary human values.

They managed to survive all the hardships together, and the grief only brought them closer and rallied. This marriage was tested for strength, although for some time the couple lived separately. Recently, the actress said: ""

They say that such marriages are predetermined by fate: Celebrity couples who were born on the same day.