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Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas first met in the late 1990s and have been together ever since. The Oscar-winning couple married at New York City’s Plaza Hotel in 2000, surrounded by celebrity guests including Whoopi Goldberg, Goldie Hawn, and Tom Hanks. Zeta-Jones and Douglas have two children together, Dylan Michael and Caris Zeta.
Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas’ relationship is a real-life Hollywood fairy tale. The Oscar-winning actors (she for the 2002 musical Chicago, he for the 1987 crime thriller Wall Street) first met at a French film festival in the late ’90s and have since gone on to have two children together, Dylan Michael and Caris Zeta. In addition to being Hollywood royalty, their chemistry extends to stars. Both are Libras and have birthdays on September 25th, making Douglas 81 and Zeta-Jones 56.
Here’s everything publicly known about the history of their relationship.
August 1998
In August 1998, Zeta-Jones and Douglas reportedly met at the Deauville American Film Festival in France. Years later, in 2024, Douglas recalled that first encounter.
“I had just seen this movie[starring Zeta-Jones]Zorro, three weeks before I came to the film festival,” he told Variety. “I think it was ‘The Perfect Murder’ when we arrived to support our film. I looked at the catalog and saw that Zorro was coming the next day, so I asked my assistant, ‘Can you find out if Catherine Zeta-Jones is coming?’ So she’s coming alone, can I have a drink with her?” ”The rest is history. ”
August 2000
Zeta-Jones and Douglas gave birth to a son, Dylan Michael Douglas, on August 8, 2000. According to People magazine, Dylan weighed 7 pounds, 7 ounces. Dylan is Zeta-Jones’ first child and Douglas’ second after welcoming son Cameron with his late first wife Deandra Rooker in 2000.
November 2000
The couple got married on November 18th at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. According to People magazine, celebrities in attendance included Whoopi Goldberg, Goldie Hawn, Tom Hanks, Anthony Hopkins, and Brad Pitt.
April 2003
On April 20th, Zeta-Jones and Douglas welcomed a baby girl, Carys Zeta Douglas. According to People, Carey’s means “love” in Welsh and is a sweet ode to Zeta-Jones’ homeland of Wales. When the baby arrived on Easter Sunday, it weighed 6 pounds, 12 ounces.
August 2013
Although they kept their relationship relatively secret after welcoming their child, they announced their breakup on August 28, 2013.
After months of spending separate family vacations and walking red carpets alone, a source revealed to People magazine that Zeta-Jones and Douglas are “taking a vacation.” Although they separated, neither party formally filed for divorce or took any legal action.
A source told People magazine that their breakout was the result of the stress of Douglas’ throat cancer diagnosis and Zeta-Jones’ diagnosis of bipolar disorder II.
April 2014
By the following year, Zeta-Jones and Douglas appeared to have reconciled. On April 15, they attended an event at New York’s Public Theater.
Later that month, they attended the Prix Monte Cristo. A source told People at the time, “Things seem to be going really well for them. I knew they were going to be fully committed to their marriage, especially for their kids. That’s a good thing.”
April 2015
Douglas appeared on an episode of The Ellen Show and spoke about the current state of his relationship with Zeta-Jones. He stressed that both sides must be willing to resolve the issue.
“It shouldn’t be a one-way street,” he said. “But I’m crazy about her. I think every couple has difficult times. The only problem is, you know, we’re all in the public eye and we tend to be a little more exposed than others. But we’ve come back stronger than ever.” He also thanked DeGeneres’ production team for celebrating their 15th wedding anniversary.
July 2015
Douglas, Zeta-Jones and their two children attended the European premiere of Ant-Man.
November 2018
Douglas was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on November 6th. Zeta-Jones, her son Cameron, and her father Kirk were also in attendance at the ceremony.
January 2019
At the 76th Golden Globe Awards, where Douglas won an award for The Kominsky Method, he gave an interview about Zeta-Jones and their children.
“We recently celebrated our 18th anniversary and the pure love continues to grow deeper and deeper, but I think the fact that we’re in the same industry really helps us understand what’s going on,” he told the press after the win.
“The joy of my marriage to Catherine and the birth of my children at a time in my life when my career was not yet developing has given me much more time to enjoy my family. The fact that they all want to be actors, and they are all good actors, makes everything enjoyable. They understand the whole system and principles.”
November 2022
At Wednesday’s Los Angeles premiere, Zeta-Jones walked the carpet with her son Dylan and gave a rare interview about her family.
“First of all,[my]husband Michael is thrilled that this is a date with me,” she told People. “The collaboration between the two of us, it’s the gift that keeps on giving. Both my daughter and Dylan have been incredibly supportive of me, not just as actors, but just for me.”
Dylan added, “It’s just fun to watch them do what they do for a living. I mean, you see them on screen, but of course it’s just a colorized and edited version.”
May 2025
Zeta-Jones and Douglas celebrated their daughter Carys’ graduation with an Instagram post. They were both photographed kissing Callies on the cheek. Zeta-Jones wrote, “On the eve of graduation!!!! We are both really proud parents now!! It’s just the beginning!! @carys.douglas 👩🎓🎓👩🎓.”
September 2025
On September 25, Zeta-Jones celebrated Douglas’ 81st birthday. She posted several photos of the two of them and wrote, “Happy Birthday Michael! It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to share this special day with you! 😘.”
Douglas also paid tribute to Douglas on his Instagram account, writing, “Happy birthday to my sister – I’m so happy to celebrate another year with you! Congratulations on a great match at the Celebrity Ryder Cup. Happy Birthday to the love of my life, @CatherineZetaJones ❤️ 🎂 🎉.” ♥️”
