A native of Wales, Catherine Zeta-Jones debuted on the British stage, starring in the musical 42nd Street, but made a name for herself in the early '90s, when she starred in the Yorkshire Television comedy-drama series The Darling Buds of May. Based on a series of novels by H.E. Bates, the show was a smash hit and made Zeta-Jones one of the United Kingdom's most popular television actresses.

Dark-haired and brown eyed, Zeta-Jones has an exotic look that enables her to play a wide variety of interesting roles. Following the demise of her first series, she returned to the stage and then starred in the miniseries Catherine the Great. She had made her film debut in Philip de Broca's Scheherazade (1990). It was de Broca who discovered Zeta-Jones while she was performing on stage. She subsequently played supporting roles in several films, including Christopher Columbus: The Discovery (1992) and a larger part as the seductive Sala in The Phantom (1996), before landing her first co-starring stint playing the fiery Elena opposite Anthony Hopkins and Antonio Banderas in The Mask of Zorro (1998). A talented singer, Zeta-Jones has occasionally performed with the English National Opera. Gaining increasing prominance through the 1990s with roles in such films as Entrapment (1999), The Haunting (1999) and Traffic (2000), Jones stunned audiences with an Oscar winning performance in the long-awaited Broadway adaptation Chicago. Married to actor Michael Douglas in November of 2000, the couple gave birth to a baby boy in August of the following year. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide