Catherine Zeta Jones

Catherine Zeta Jones (Catherine Fair and Zeta Jones being the names of her grandmothers) was born in Swansea on the 25th of September, 1969, growing up in the Mumbles area, a beautiful sweep of wooded coastline. Her father, Dai, managed a confectionery factory. Her mother, Pat, was Irish and a seamstress by trade.

Catherine had one older brother, David Jones, and one younger, Lyndon, both of whom now aid her in her work with her production company, Milkwood Films (Swansea also being the former home of Dylan Thomas, author of Under Milk Wood).

When she was 14, she got her first break. A production starring Mickey Dolenz from The Monkees arrived in Swansea, one of its attractions being that, wherever it went, it recruited local children to form the chorus. Catherine auditioned successfully, so successfully that the producers quickly cast her in a touring production of The Pyjama Game. By 15, she had dropped out of school, received her Actor's Guild card, and moved to London.