Born and raised in Swansea , Zeta-Jones aspired to be an actress from a young age. She studied musical theatre at the Arts Educational Schools, London , and made her stage breakthrough with a leading role in a production of 42nd Street.
Her screen debut came in the unsuccessful French-Italian film Nights , and went on to find greater success as a regular in the British television series The Darling Buds of May β Dismayed at being typecast as the token pretty girl in British films, Zeta-Jones relocated to Los Angeles. She established herself in Hollywood with roles that highlighted her sex appeal, such as in the action film The Mask of Zorro and the heist film Entrapment Zeta-Jones received critical acclaim for her performances as a vengeful pregnant woman in Traffic and Velma Kelly in the musical Chicago , winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the latter.
She starred in high-profile films for much of the decade, including the black comedy Intolerable Cruelty , the heist film Ocean's Twelve , the comedy The Terminal , and the romantic comedy No Reservations Parts in smaller-scale features were followed by a decrease in workload, during which she returned to the stage and played an aging actress in a Broadway production of A Little Night Music , winning a Tony Award.
Zeta-Jones worked intermittently in the subsequent decades, starring in the films Side Effects , Red 2 and Dad's Army Aside from acting, Zeta-Jones is a brand endorser and supports various charitable causes. Her struggle with depression and bipolar II disorder has been well documented by the media.
She is married to actor Michael Douglas , with whom she has two children. Zeta-Jones participated in school stage shows from a young age and gained local media attention when her rendition of a Shirley Bassey song won a Junior Star Trail talent competition. It might take me two tries, but I always got the job. I figured out what they wanted". In , a seventeen-year-old Zeta-Jones was picked as the second understudy for the lead actress in a West End production of 42nd Street.
