Catherine Zeta Jones was born on September 25, 1969, in Swansea, West Glamorgan, Wales, UK to father Dai Jones, who formerly worked for a candy factory, and mother Pat Jones. Catherine also has two brothers named David Jones, a development executive born in 1967, and Lyndon Jones, who works at Catherine's production company; born in 1972.

Catherine showed an interest early on in entertainment. She sang and danced her way to local stardom before she was ten years-old, as a part of a Catholic congregation's performing troupe. She later starred on stage in 'Annie', 'Bugsy Malone', and 'The Pajama Game'. At 15, Catherine had the lead in the British revival of 42nd Street. She was originally cast as the second understudy for the lead role in the musical but when the star and first understudy became sick the night the play's producer was in the audience, she was given the lead for the rest of the musical's production.

She first made a name for herself in the early '90s when she starred in the Yorkshire Television comedy/drama series "Darling Buds of May" (1991). The show was a smash hit and made Jones one of the United Kingdom's most popular television actresses.

Catherine subsequently played supporting roles in several films, including Christopher Columbus: The Discovery (1992), the miniseries Katharina die Große (1995) (TV) and a larger part as the seductive Sala in Phantom, The (1996) before landing her breakthrough role playing the fiery Elena opposite Anthony Hopkins and Antonio Banderas in Mask of Zorro, The (1998).

She next starred in many big budget blockbusters like Entrapment (1999), Haunting, The (1999) and Traffic (2000), for which many believed Catherine was robbed of an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

In November 2000, Catherine married actor Michael Douglas. She gave birth to their son, Dylan Michael, in August 2000.