Sorrows Catherine Zeta-Jones Has Faced Through Her Life

Jan 05, 2021 by apost team

On the surface, actress Catherine Zeta-Jones seems to have lived the charmed life, starting with the years she spent growing up in charming Swansea, Wales. Nestled away from tragedies that befall many burgeoning Hollywood starlets, Zeta-Jones has gone on record to describe how her father, a candy factory owner named David Jones, and her mother, seamstress Patricia Jones, supported her creative ambitions and endeavors. Zeta-Jones might be an Oscar-winning actress now, but she still likes to reflect on her humble upbringing when she has her own family right by her side.

As charmed as her childhood was, Zeta-Jones' adult life has been besieged by problems, ranging from difficult court cases to complicated relationships to issues with mental health conditions. Since she rose to fame in 1998's blockbuster hit film The Mask of Zorro, Zeta-Jones has been a top tabloid topic of discussion. This stunning Tony Award-winning, critically acclaimed actress, and even briefly popular pop star is now in her early 50s and has lived quite an intense adult life. Here's a look at 11 tragic details you might not have known about Zeta-Jones' highly publicized and criticized adult life.

Catherine Zeta-Jones might not have been widely known within the United States before her sword-wielding starring role (which required massive skills) in The Mask of Zorro. However, in the early 1990s, she had soared to fame in the United Kingdom in The Darling Buds of May, a period drama in which she played the Larkin family's eldest daughter, Mariette Charlton.

Being broadcast to millions of viewers each Sunday evening might've seemed wonderful at first, but Zeta-Jones quickly found herself at the mercy of the tabloids, her private life being horribly scrutinized when she was just a young woman in her early 20s. In 2012, while promoting Rock of Ages, Zeta-Jones sat down for an interview with Express and recounted how the experience two decades before left her feeling lost. Zeta-Jones stated in that interview: "I lost faith in myself for a bit after that series finished. I was known more for being in the newspapers than anything else and I needed time away."

From there, she moved to Los Angeles, where she only knew two people - her agent and one friend. When she stepped off the plane, she called her friend and got that friend's voice machine, which said: "I am going to be in Europe for four months, so please leave a message." Zeta-Jones was truly adrift in LA.

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In 1991, Zeta-Jones' life became tabloid fodder when she began dating John Leslie, who served as a presenter for the BBC's longest-running kid's magazine show, Blue Peter. Young and in love, Zeta-Jones' first serious relationship seemed to be going well, but unfortunately did not end very happily.

Reports surfaced after 18 months into the relationship that Leslie was terrified of commitment. Years later, in 2000, Hello! asked Leslie if he had truly been at fault. His reply? "You'd have to ask her if I broke her heart, but I always draw a line at talking about things like that. When two people are personally involved I think it should never be discussed. I truly believe that trust between two people is sacred."

Neither of these two have ever really opened up publicly about the breakup, but in 2003, Leslie did tell the Daily Mail just what Zeta-Jones had meant to him. Aside from being his "one true love" (but stopping short of admitting that they had split over disagreements about marriage and children), Leslie had this to say: "It was the real thing alright. I was in love with her and she was in love with me, no question. She was lovely, we were together for 18 months, but in the end, it didn't work out."

Zeta-Jones moved on from Leslie and eventually found love with Braveheart star Angus Macfadyen in 1995. Quite naturally, their relationship gained the attention of the tabloids, and Zeta-Jones was back to making headlines with her love life. 

Shortly before she announced her engagement to the actor (who hails from Glasgow, Scotland), Zeta-Jones had been caught kissing Paul McGann, her married co-star from Catherine the Great. As The Guardian cites, Zeta-Jones and McGann later claimed the kiss was nothing but an innocent exchange between two old friends. Still, many were left in doubt, and Macfadyen was reportedly "humiliated" by it reports the Daily Mail. A happy Zeta-Jones might've jinxed herself though by gushing to the Mirror: "I'm so happy with Angus. I think this time I've found the love of my life."

Despite being together for 15 months, the pair split in 1996 when Macfadyen ended the relationship. He later recounted to WENN as per IMDb, "I haven't met a woman I really liked since being with Catherine. There hasn't been anyone with the same good sense of humor I could have fallen in love with. I find now that I can only feel romantically attached for about a month and can't take anything seriously any more. But when I was with Catherine I loved doing romantic things for her."

Zeta-Jones became the height of tabloid obsession when she married actor Michael Douglas in November 2000. BBC News covered the event, which was held at the super-ritzy New York Plaza Hotel. And boy, was it an event!  As the New York Times reports, the British magazine OK! had reached an exclusive million-pound deal to cover the couple's wedding. Needless to say, the duo were left "devastated, shocked and appalled" per reports from The Guardian when photos were leaked to rival Hello!. Did someone from OK! betray their trust? 

Nope. As it turns out, a sneaky paparazzo had made their way into the event and snapped the pics, then sold them to the unsuspecting Hello!. A massive lawsuit was filed citing everything from stress to invasion of privacy. As per The Hollywood Reporter, Zeta-Jones found the photos "sleazy and unflattering" and felt they damaged her and Douglas' acting careers. 

In the end, after a costly $5 million court battle that spanned the course of six weeks in London's High Court, the court ruled in the couple's favor. The couple released a statement via People expressing their gratitude toward the court.

In 2005, CBS News made the report that Zeta-Jones was being stalked by a woman besieged by jealousy over her marriage to Michael Douglas. The messages Zeta-Jones received from Dawnette Knight were nothing short of horrific: "We are going to slice her up like meat on a bone and feed her to the dogs."

Knight was convicted in 2005 and sentenced to three years in state prison after she pled no contest to stalking and threatening Zeta-Jones. The 35-year-old Knight expressed some remorse during her trial, saying, "I hope one day the victim will forgive me. I am sorry. I think about it all the time."

Zeta-Jones wasn't buying it and offered Knight little sympathy in return. "You have profoundly affected me in how I conduct my life...Your actions will be with me the rest of my life — how I will be constantly observing, looking over my shoulder. You will never be famous, you will never be infamous, you are just a criminal." Less than a year after the verdict was issued and after just 600 days in lockup, Knight was released from prison.

During the mid-2000s, the naturally slender Entrapment star started making tabloid headlines, but not for her love-life. This time, it was for her figure. Rumors began to swirl that Zeta-Jones was battling anorexia after photos surfaced of her looking slimmer than she did in her earlier acting days. Zeta-Jones immediately went on record to set the matter straight and has continued to talk about it ever since.

In a People interview from 2007, Zeta-Jones recalls how she first learned about these false allegations of anorexia: "Michael was laughing at me. He told me what [people had] said — that stories say I'm anorexic. Do I look anorexic? How could I ever, ever be anorexic?" Zeta-Jones has continuously remarked that she had instead slimmed down due to making healthier diet and lifestyle decisions for herself, stating that "I'm just working out and not chomping down what I usually chomp down."

Zeta-Jones recently used this experience to build her character - a beauty pageant coach with bulimia - in the 2018 show Queen America. That same year, the Oscar Award-winning actress told Forbes in an interview that she knows all too well the seriousness of eating disorders: "Oh my God, it was really hard for me because I've been around it for so many years, you know? I was in 42nd Street: I was 17-years-old, I was a dancer; and so I'd been brought up with the image of a woman looking at herself in the mirror. I have seen it. I have been there. And I have helped other people go through a very serious issue."

Zeta-Jones' world was rocked in 2010 when her husband Michael Douglas received a diagnosis of stage four tongue cancer, as reported by CNN. This forced Douglas to have to cancel several big events, including the filming of Behind the Candelabra and promotional events for Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. Within 12 months and after rounds of chemotherapy, Douglas was given the "all-clear," as he revealed with his usual dignity and grace on the 2011 Golden Globes red carpet.

While speaking with Stella as per The Telegraph in 2013, Zeta-Jones spoke about how Douglas handled his diagnosis: "He's a very matter-of-fact person. Once he was diagnosed he was like, 'Okay, what do I do?' He basically wanted that thing out of his body so he just blitzed the [sucker]. It was very intensive...but he still retained his sense of humor."

Per the advice of his surgeon, Douglas had decided to tell the world he had been diagnosed with throat cancer instead of tongue cancer. However, as Zeta-Jones revealed, he hid nothing at all from his family. He was open with her and the children, and, as she stated, he had "[n]o secrets — they went and saw him having treatment. Together we all coped with everything. It did make us closer. But I wouldn't wish it on anybody."

Not too long after Douglas received his cancer diagnosis, Zeta-Jones found herself needing to seek treatment too. But her ailments were of a different nature. After a particularly stressful year, Zeta-Jones decided to check herself into rehab in 2011. This broke the news of her bipolar diagnosis to the world.

Zeta-Jones completed her treatment, and after having done so, told People: "This is a disorder that affects millions of people, and I am one of them. If my revelation of having bipolar II has encouraged one person to seek help, then it is worth it. There is no need to suffer silently and there is no shame in seeking help."

In 2013, Zeta-Jones' representative reported via Reuters that she had returned to treatment in order to "manage her health in an optimum manner." Later on that year, she explained to Stella via The Telegraph that her first stay in the facility had been brought on by Douglas' cancer diagnosis and how it triggered her symptoms. "...When you get sideswiped like that, it's an obvious trigger for your balance to be a little bit off — not sleeping, worry, stress. It's a classic trigger."

After having been together for over a decade, Zeta-Jones and Douglas needed some time apart in 2013, which was truly a chaotic year for the couple. Between the stress brought on by each of their health issues and Douglas' revealing interview with The Guardian, it's safe to say the couple had multiple reasons to call it quits.

Zeta-Jones' rep later confirmed to CBS News in a statement that the couple was taking some time apart. Douglas seemed certain that this was a small hurdle in their relationship while promoting Behind the Candelabra. He replied to one question by the Daily Mail regarding his marriage to Zeta-Jones: "I have a crisis at home? No, I think the press has a crisis. We, we are fine. My wife and I are, are fine. We take a temporary separation, but the press, it gives you stuff to write about." By that April, the couple was back together, gracing the red carpet once again. So, yes, it seems that Douglas knew they would be able to overcome that obstacle.

By January of 2018, the #MeToo Movement had been steamrolling through Hollywood and beyond, and Michael Douglas was not exempt from accusations. As reported by the Hollywood Reporter, a former employee of Douglas' named Susan Braudy claimed that the actor was guilty of sexual misconduct. Douglas denied any wrongdoing in an interview given with Deadline, saying: "I'd confess to anything I thought I was responsible for...This reeks."

Later that same year, Zeta-Jones told The Times that she was "profoundly devastated" over the accusations made against her husband and felt like it has put her in a difficult spot. She and their two children, Carys and Dylan, confronted Douglas and outright asked him if what Braudy was claiming about him was true. Douglas insisted that there was "no story here, and that time will tell."

No other allegations have emerged against Douglas since this, and Zeta-Jones feels confident in her husband. She also had this to say: "There was nothing to back it up at all. For any accusation that comes out that isn't backed up, that knocks the movement back 20 years." The Intolerable Cruelty actress told Today that she was proud of how her entire family handled the situation. "I'm a big European kind of family girl, and so everything is shared around the table...I think you clear the air and everyone knows what's going on, there's no big surprises."

2020 was a hard year for many of us, and Zeta-Jones' family was not exempt. First, Kirk Douglas - screen icon and her father-in-law - passed away at age 103 in his home in Beverly Hills, as reported by People. The actress later captioned in a black-and-white Instagram photo with Kirk Douglas: "To my darling Kirk, I shall love you for the rest of my life. I miss you already. Sleep tight..."

Kirk Douglas was one of the last surviving actors of Hollywood's Golden Age. He and Zeta-Jones had always enjoyed a close relationship and were often photographed together, smiling and apparently quite happy as a father- and daughter-in-law. To her, Kirk Douglas was affectionately known as "Pappy."

Per the New York Times, shortly after Kirk's death, Zeta-Jones lost her cousin (and famous sculptor) Seward Johnson Jr. at the age of 89 after his battle with cancer. In a Facebook post, Zeta-Jones paid homage to her late cousin: "RIP our cousin Seward Johnson Jr., sculptor, and great human being. Like his iconic sculpture 'Double Check' that survived 9/11, [his] work, love and inspiration will live on."

Catherine Zeta-Jones might've lived the charmed life growing up in Wales, but her adult life has been fraught with difficulties. Still, Zeta-Jones carries herself with an undeniable grace and delivers honesty in her interviews. We just hope 2021 has a lot of good things in store for her and her family.

Are you surprised by anything that's on this list? Let us know in the comments, and don't forget to tell your friends what you've just learned about the usually quite private Catherine Zeta-Jones.