Actress Catherine Zeta-Jones has been married to her colleague Michael Douglas since 2000. The couple are raising two children - son Dylan and daughter Caris. This is not to say that the years of family life passed peacefully and smoothly for the two celebrities. The couple have experienced many difficulties associated with Douglas disease, Catherine's mental disorder, accusations of the actor of harassment and problems with the law from his eldest son. They even parted for a short time, but decided to give their relationship a second chance.
From different generations
According to Catherine's recollections, she and Michael met in 1996 at the Deauville Film Festival. The acclaimed actor and Oscar winner presented his new film, Perfect Murder, and the black-haired beauty and rising Hollywood star arrived with The Mask of Zorro. The Zeta-Jones had been warned in advance that Michael Douglas was looking for a meeting with her. Later that evening, at a gala dinner, they were introduced to each other by mutual acquaintances - the acting couple Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas.
After a short conversation, a new acquaintance told Catherine that he would become the father of her children. She was outraged by such impudence and hastened to curtail communication. Realizing his mistake, Douglas sent the girl flowers and a letter of apology. Before the start of a serious relationship, they met for about 9 months, talked on the phone, often dined together. Until, finally, both realized that they wanted something more than simple companionship.
When the press found out about the couple's romance, a huge difference in the actors - 25 years - was under scrutiny. Interestingly, they were both born on the same day - September 25th. As Katherine admitted, in childhood and adolescence, her mother never focused her attention on age restrictions in relationships with men. In addition, Douglas and her parents are from the same generation, so they found a common language surprisingly easily and perfectly accepted their adult son-in-law.
At the end of 1999, Michael proposed to his beloved. A month before that, he confirmed information about Catherine's pregnancy. The couple were vacationing at a ski resort in Aspen, and both actors fell ill with the flu inappropriately when Douglas, in spite of feeling unwell, presented the girl with a stunning 10-carat diamond ring surrounded by 28 smaller diamonds. The cost of the decoration was about $ 1 million. Later, the actor admitted that Zeta-Jones jokingly first answered him “no”.
Family life
In early August 2000, the couple's firstborn son Dylan was born. Michael had another son from his first marriage - Cameron, who was born in 1978. Just three months later, on November 18, the newly minted parents staged a lavish wedding at the legendary Plaza Hotel in New York. The bride shone in a chic dress from designer David Emanuel for 250 thousand dollars. Among the guests were Sean Connery, Russell Crowe, Steven Spielberg, Jack Nicholson, Goldie Hawn, Whoopi Goldberg and many other celebrities. The celebrity audience was entertained by such performers as Gladys Knight, Bonnie Tyler, Jimmy Buffet, Art Garfunkel. The wedding budget was $ 1.5 million.
To hide from the prying attention of the paparazzi, after marriage, the couple settled on a secluded island that is part of the Bermuda archipelago. Douglas's mother was once born here, and now he conceived to arrange a private family settlement and moved his numerous relatives there. Thus, Michael and Catherine gathered around 70 people. Later they were joined by the parents of the actress, who previously lived in Wales.
In April 2003, the couple had a second child, daughter Caris. In 2009, the family returned to the United States and settled in Bedford, New York. The actors' daughter later recalled how she suffered from the increased attention of reporters, which she encountered for the first time after a quiet and secluded stay on the island.
Life difficulties
Since 2010, a long period of difficulties and serious trials began in the life of a married couple. First, Douglas's eldest son was arrested and sentenced to five years for drug dealing. Then, in August 2010, the famous actor was diagnosed with advanced stage laryngeal cancer. Catherine threw all her strength into the struggle for the life of her beloved husband. As a result of exhausting treatment, Michael lost 13 kg, but managed to defeat a serious illness, which he announced to fans in January 2011.
The stress associated with her husband's illness provoked prolonged depression in Catherine. Soon after his recovery, the actress herself needed medical attention, in April 2011 she ended up in a psychiatric clinic. She was diagnosed with type II bipolar disorder, which is characterized by mood swings, prolonged depression, periods of euphoria, and manic episodes. The battle for mental health continued for Zeta-Jones in April 2013 when she again sought qualified help.
Unfortunately, the new test did not have the best effect on the relationship of the actors. Already in August 2013, Douglas announced that their marriage was on pause. According to rumors, he was tired of putting up with the unstable psychological state of his wife. However, the temporary separation did not lead to the final collapse of Katherine and Michael's marriage. A few months later, they reunited to the delight of the fans.
In 2018, the couple were once again at the epicenter of scandalous news when a former employee of Douglas, Susan Browdy, accused him of sexual harassment. The events referred to in her statement took place back in 1989. The actor denied all the accusations, and his beloved wife made a statement in support of the MeToo movement and admitted to reporters that she trusts Michael one hundred percent.
The acting couple has a 20th wedding anniversary just around the corner. Both are still in demand in films, work hard, raise children and after all the difficulties they have experienced, their marriage looks stronger than ever before.
