Divorce of Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones: tired of his wife. Michael Douglas - about Catherine Zeta-Jones: When I met her, I immediately said: I will become the father of your children! Latest news and rumors about divorce

It must be said that, despite both spouses belonging to the acting workshop, they might never have met: their paths did not intersect.

Michael Douglas was born in 1944 in New Jersey. He is the son of actor Kirk Douglas (real name Iseya Danilovich), who will turn 103 in December. He wanted to follow in his father's footsteps, but tried not to use his connections anywhere. He honestly graduated from the acting department of the University of California and only in 1972, at the age of 28, did he play in a movie for the first time - in the television series “Streets of San Francisco”.

In 1975, he convinced his father to give him the film rights to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and became the producer of the film, which won all the film awards, including an Oscar. He received his second statuette in 1988 for his leading role in the film “Wall Street”; he later starred in “Basic Instinct”, “The Game” and many other films.

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Since 1977, Michael Douglas has been married to Diandra Lucker and has a son, Cameron. True, in 1995 the wife filed for divorce, but the parties could not agree.

In general, by 1998 he was a famous, honored actor, and his future second wife was just starting her career in the USA.

Catherine Zeta-Jones (her name was given in honor of one grandmother, the prefix “Zeta” in honor of another) was born in 1969 and grew up in Wales, where she participated in television shows and theater productions. After excellent reviews for the television series “Lovely Buds of May” and a starring role in the film “Catherine the Great,” the 27-year-old actress set off to conquer Hollywood.

Luck smiled at her immediately: after watching, director Martin Campbell offered the young British woman one of the main roles in the film “The Mask of Zorro.” She was to play with Antonio Banderas and Anthony Hopkins - unheard of luck!

This film played a big role in Katherine’s life - and not only because she became famous throughout the world. It was after a closed screening of the film at the Deauville Film Festival in 1998 in France that Danny DeVito brought her to Michael Douglas to meet her...

Love at first sight

Both actors admit that they immediately fell in love. Michael Douglas said that he understood everything when he saw her on the screen. Catherine Zeta-Jones remembered him walking past with golf clubs, and she too disappeared. “I want to be the father of your children!” - Douglas said, despite the fact that he had been married for a long time.

And then events developed according to the classic Hollywood scenario: he looks after her beautifully, she doesn’t give in (he’s married, after all!). But in June 1999, they appeared together at the premiere of the film “The Trap,” and on September 25, on their shared birthday (they learned about this coincidence after they met), Michael Douglas admitted that Katherine meant a lot to him.

The most important thing remained - divorce. Douglas's wife was not too happy about this turn of events: the litigation over the property was not over yet. To end this long divorce, Michael agreed to her terms, paid $45 million and left her mansions in Beverly Hills and Mallorca.

And then the news broke that Zeta-Jones was pregnant with her first child! This turned out to be true, and on New Year's Eve, the already free Michael Douglas asked Catherine to marry him.

Real family

Dylan Michael was born on August 8, 2000. And on November 18, the entire American elite walked at a magnificent wedding in New York, which was remembered for several months. About £1.5 million was spent on the “wedding of the year” - and a million of it was paid for by OK! for exclusive photos. Later it turned out that the photos were also distributed by Hello magazine, which the young people sued - and won. The celebration was attended by relatives of the stars and famous actors: Jack Nicholson, Sean Connery, Danny DeVito and others.

The young people were incredibly happy.

Two years later, Catherine Zeta-Jones found out about her second pregnancy... and just at that moment she was cast in the film adaptation of the musical Chicago. Who would refuse this? She didn’t refuse - and a month before giving birth she received an Oscar for her acting. Daughter Caris Zeta was born on April 20, 2003. The family moved to Bermuda, leaving only for filming, and lived there until 2009.

Love is stronger than problems

It would seem that live and be happy, since both have found their happiness. But from some point on, troubles began to overtake them constantly.

In 2007, Michael's son from his first marriage was almost sent to prison for drugs. The stepmother bravely defended Cameron in court, and managed to prove his innocence.

In 2010, Michael Douglas was diagnosed with laryngeal cancer. At this time, he completed his move with his family back to New York and starred in the sequel to the film Wall Street, and went for treatment in between filming. In January 2011, the actor announced that the disease had been defeated.

Catherine Zeta-Jones, who read with horror the journalists' speculations about her husband's illness, soon ended up in a clinic with an affective disorder. Since then, she stopped paying attention to what they said about their family.

When a dark streak began in their lives, Michael was convinced that Katherine was sent to him by fate. Tears, hysterics, depression - everything from her was anything but indifference. But before, Douglas was told that Catherine married him only for money...

They were introduced by Danny DeVito, an old friend of Michael's. It was at the American Film Festival in Deauville, where Catherine presented her first Hollywood victory - the film “The Mask of Zorro” with Antonio Banderas, where she starred in the leading female role.

Until now, she had only played in theaters in London's West End (starting at the age of 11), and shone in several popular TV series, but Katherine had no high-profile film roles. By and large, her career needed a serious boost by the age of 30, so she headed to Hollywood to try her luck. Danny knew Michael from his youth, they shared an apartment with him for many years, and much more. Both are still womanizers. And Danny, being aware of Douglas’s relationship with his wife Diandra (their marriage was falling apart at the seams), just wanted his friend to take his mind off his dark thoughts. DeVito managed to know everything about everyone. And then they whispered in his ear that Catherine, who was nicknamed “the man eater” in London theater circles, would come to the festival. Yes, most of the fans of the luxurious Zeta-Jones were older than her; she did not hide the fact that she was attracted to such men.

Well-established, with money and connections. The 54-year-old representative of the Douglas clan fit this description perfectly. Moreover, he was born on the same day as her, September 25... As a result (DeVito sat down comically and spread his arms) - for several months now Michael has been pining for the beauty from Wales and at the same time swears that they have never even kissed! Both were not free, and Danny decided that a miracle would not happen. During this time, Michael will pick up a dozen girlfriends who are ready to fall into his arms. But he was wrong. After six months of short meetings (to which Douglas rushed, hiring private planes and helicopters), his friend, with fear and confusion (this is what Danny did not expect from him), decided to propose to Catherine. Romantically, on New Year's Eve 2000, at his estate in Aspen...

Photo: Splash News/All Over Press

60 million for divorce

At that time, Diandra, Michael’s still legal wife - although they did not live together - did her best to slow down attempts to start divorce proceedings. Douglas was partly sorry for her - after all, he remembered young Dee, the diplomat’s daughter, who looked like a fairy, with wavy hair to her waist, violet eyes and long eyelashes. She was damn good, and Douglas, fed up with sexual victories in Hollywood (he was then about the same age as Catherine at the time of their meeting), decided that fate had finally sent him real love. Two weeks after they met, he proposed to Diandra. And six months later they got married. The girl fell madly in love with Michael. A year later, she gave birth to a son, Cameron, the heir to their “royal” acting dynasty.

Do you still think that the main love story in Hollywood today happened between Pitt and Jolie? You are wrong. The office romance of Brangelina, which grew into a fantastic PR production, has nothing in common in terms of intensity of passions and sincerity with this love story in the spirit of old Hollywood. On the birthday of both participants in the star tandem, we remember why the novel by Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones is called “a great love story.”

Both heroes of our article were born on the same day - September 25, but with a difference of 25 years. A representative of the famous Hollywood dynasty and two-time Oscar winner, Michael Douglas, at the time of the fateful meeting, was experiencing certain psychological difficulties associated with fatigue from success, wealth and a 23-year marriage. And this despite the fact that in life, as in the movies, he was a brilliant hero-lover - even his on-screen partner in Basic Instinct, Sharon Stone, fell victim to his charm.

So, he was 56, she was 30. Before meeting Douglas, British beauty Catherine Zeta-Jones was considered neither a serious actress, nor a popular star, nor a socialite A-list heroine. She was already at such an age when it was not very honorable for her to be considered promising, and all the beauty’s prospects were connected with the released film “The Mask of Zorro.” There were rumors that the sultry brunette almost had an affair with her partner Antonio Banderas, but the vigilant wife of the Spanish macho Melanie Griffith nipped the affair in the bud. In a word, the period in Catherine’s life was such that she had every reason to be accused of self-interest when the mature womanizer Douglas lost his head when he met her on the red carpet of the film festival in French Deauville.

They say they have never seen him so funny and absurd. Witty and charismatic, Douglas joked clumsily and was embarrassed. No one believed that he fell in love seriously - not even himself. But the feelings that flared up instantly became a real obsession for him. The overwhelming passion overwhelmed the actor so much that he did not even try to offer Catherine the humiliating role of a mistress or hide his emotions from the public - his whole life for a long six months after that meeting was subordinated to one single goal: to win her. He courted beautifully, old-fashioned and sincerely - no paparazzi “accidentally” came to the meeting place with surprises that he was preparing for his beloved.

Of course, he did not hide anything from his wife. A long, grueling lawsuit began, in which Michael spared nothing - he was ready to lose millions just to be able to officially enter into a new relationship. And no PR - it seemed blasphemous to both of them to benefit from this love story. However, the resulting hype gave Zethe-Jones such PR that she overnight turned into a world-class star.

The whole world suspected Katherine of being calculating, and about Douglas, blinded by love, they only said that “a demon in the rib” drove him to the point of insanity. The 25-year age difference and the colossal difference in status made this misalliance a favorite topic of the tabloids. Interest was also fueled by a huge scandal during the divorce proceedings - Michael Dinara's wife refused to give an official divorce until her unfaithful husband paid her $60 million from his 225 million fortune. Incredible, but true: the actor, dying of desire to marry Katherine, paid a gigantic compensation. Further - more. Douglas gives the bride a 10-carat diamond ring surrounded by 28 more diamonds. The world thinks he's crazy when, among other things, he agrees to a prenuptial agreement, according to which he agrees to pay Catherine $3.2 million for every year of their marriage in the event of a divorce.

On November 18, 2000, a wedding took place - the most luxurious one Hollywood has ever seen. Douglas did not skimp here either. Catherine wanted classic luxury without conceptual frills - and he gave her this multi-million-dollar fairy tale. The setting was the New York Plaza Hotel. OK magazine paid $1.6 million for the right to film the celebration. Among the guests were the whole world of Hollywood, from Jack Nicholson, Anthony Hopkins and Sean Connery to Sharon Stone, Brad Pitt and Steven Spielberg. The bride wore miles of the finest Christian Lacroix chiffon and lace, adorned with real diamonds.

Douglas seemed to be rejuvenated by love, but, despite the euphoria that the newly-made husband experienced, the whole world was waiting for the end of this story. However, for 14 years now, this marriage with 2 common children has been considered one of the strongest in Hollywood. Last year's irreconcilable differences, which nearly broke the marriage, don't count - the couple got over it. And it was the family that helped Michael overcome the terrible disease - the diagnosis of cancer did not become a death sentence for him. Today, even skeptics who predicted a high-profile divorce for the couple admit that this couple is the only illustration in Hollywood on the topic of traditional family values.

60 million for divorce

Douglas.

But the men in this dynasty were distinguished by unpleasant characteristics - a craving for everything excessive in terms of entertainment. Excessive alcohol consumption, smoking, drugs and, of course, intemperance in relationships with the weaker sex. Michael's father Kirk Douglas, a living legend of American cinema, did not hide his amorous adventures - he rarely left the set without another girlfriend-partner. Kirk divorced Michael's mother, but did not remain single for long. The new wife turned out to be a wise lady. She turned a blind eye to her husband’s tricks and gradually, towards old age, Kirk became almost an exemplary family man.

Things quickly went south for Diandra and Michael. Nobody wanted to give in. Douglas believed that he gave his wife enough to moderate her jealous ardor.

I realized that he was building a career and was exhausted to the limit, so much so that only alcohol helped him relax. Well, and something else... Isn't there enough other worries for a wife? For example, about their many houses - in Aspen, California, Mallorca, New York? Another charitable foundation, their son, finally... Cameron always demanded special attention, only recently Douglas realized what a bad father he was, counting on his mother's care to save his son from disastrous tendencies...

As a result, Douglas's divorce went down in the history of the most high-profile and expensive divorces in Hollywood. Diandra received $60 million and an estate in Santa Barbara. The divorce mechanism was launched by two teams of highly qualified lawyers on both sides. Katherine openly told Michael that although she fell in love with him at first sight, she was afraid of his reputation.

Everyone knows that he cheated on his wife left and right. In vain Michael tried to convince Kat that she was not in danger. He won't be able to change her even at gunpoint. Zeta-Jones, a grated kalach, agreed to become his wife only after the divorce was officially completed - and with the signing of a prenuptial agreement. Contrary to the desperate advice of friends and lawyers, Michael agreed to her conditions ($2.8 million for each year they lived together - in the event of his betrayal. Plus five and a half million on top). Douglas combined seemingly obvious promiscuity with the high class of a real man, rich, successful, but not petty and not greedy. For the first time, he was not tormented by doubts and fears - Michael felt truly happy on his wedding day with Katherine.

He didn’t just pronounce the words of an oath - Douglas really felt what he was talking about. The wedding looked as it should - an old fashionable hotel, 18 thousand roses, the bride's engagement ring for 2 million dollars, a choir from Wales, guests from the "A list", 110 relatives out of 350 guests. At the same time, the bride noted: “Despite all this solemn pomp, the celebration was a family and very intimate event. Only for our own. For our family members - Kirk's family, Diana's, Michael's mother and mine."

Few doubted that the marriage was doomed. The age difference (25 years) and Michael's reputation are a guarantee of this. As is the difficult character of Katherine, known for her no less stormy love life, and even eager to conquer Hollywood. But as time passed, Katherine, as Michael wanted, bore him two children. After the birth of their son, they moved to Bermuda.

The ancestors of Douglas's future mother settled there a long time ago. And now their great-great-great-great-grandson has completely reconstructed the old 19th-century house for his new wife. There are golf courses nearby - Katherine and Michael's passion for this game greatly contributed to their happy marriage. She knitted, tinkered with plants in the garden - in a word, she happily led a rustic lifestyle, which in the eyes of society did not fit in with her image of a luxurious glamorous diva. Moreover, Katherine and Michael agreed to take turns working. When she was in it (and Zeta-Jones probably did it more often than Douglas), Michael did a great job as the nanny. And he was even proud of it: “I began to truly understand what real fatherhood is. My priorities have changed. Previously, the main thing was career, now it’s family and children.”

They looked like a very happy family. Meanwhile, Katherine's professional dream also came true. In 2004, she cried with happiness, tightly clutching a gold figurine to her chest. The actress was awarded an Oscar for her role as Velma in the musical Chicago. Who knows if she would have been able to make her dream come true if not for Michael. Even before their wedding, the producer of "Chicago" heard Douglas's new girlfriend playing the piano and singing. And he found her unusually sexy and charismatic. Later, when the studio could not decide for a long time who to approve for the role (Madonna was also considered), perhaps it was Douglas’s position in the system of “Hollywood values” that played a decisive role. And director Rob Marshall managed to convince everyone how good Katherine, a professional dancer and singer who began her career on stage, would be in this role.

Pay

All families - both happy and unhappy - are tested for strength by anything but joyful events.

Troubles, illnesses, issues of life and death - this is when the characters and true attitude of husbands and wives towards each other appear. Often unhappy spouses, putting aside their grievances, are capable of support and love in a difficult situation. Happy families either confirm their status as such - or, on the contrary, suddenly unexpectedly break up, as if this cloudless happiness never happened...

When a dark streak began in their lives, Michael became convinced that Katherine was sent to him by fate itself. She never remained indifferent to his troubles, taking them as close to her heart as possible.

Tears, hysterics, depression - anything but indifference. Willingness to fight for every inch of their common life, even if retribution comes later. It all started with a nightmare, which, however, did not surprise Michael deep down. He had a presentiment that his eldest son Cameron's search for himself, with his passion for drugs and dubious friends, would not end well. But Michael did not expect his son to become a drug dealer. After all, Cameron didn't need the money. He had everything he wanted! A talented guy could become a director or producer of some projects close to his heart. And this passion leaves no time for nonsense. Douglas even persuaded his father to play with him and his beloved grandson in a melodrama with the appropriate title “Family Values”, in order to give him the opportunity to feel like a member of a real acting dynasty and get carried away by this business.

But alas... When the police found a kilogram of cocaine in the hotel room of his son and his girlfriend, Michael, Kirk and Catherine rallied in the face of a common misfortune. But what's the point? The letters they wrote to the judge (completely personal) were leaked to the press. An avalanche of humiliating reproaches fell on the Douglass' heads. Then Katherine’s ability to walk with her head held high helped a lot. She attended all the hearings with Michael and helped him cope with his emotions when Cameron was sentenced to five years in prison and five years after release under the supervision of a special unit for monitoring persons who have served time for using and selling drugs.

Katherine knew that Michael blamed himself for what happened to his son, and she supported him as best she could. But getting used to the fact that your child is locked in prison is very difficult. The only thing Katherine could do was visit Cameron with her husband. This story undermined Michael's health. To distract himself, he worked a lot. Oliver Stone's long-awaited film "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps", the sequel to the famous film, has been released. Catherine persuaded her husband to go to Cannes, to the festival, to unwind a little...

Trouble doesn't come alone

In August 2010, Michael underwent another medical examination and heard a terrible and unexpected verdict - throat cancer in the fourth stage. Katherine canceled everything and after the first emotional reaction - she threatened to take revenge on the doctors who could not make a diagnosis for an unforgivably long time - she pulled herself together.

Michael knew how much effort it took her not to show her fears. I heard Kat instill in the children that everything will be fine, you just need to be patient and not bother dad, but at the same time spend as much time with him as possible, even if he can’t play with them. Only after making sure that her husband did not see her, Catherine could cry, smoke a pack of cigarettes and drink a glass of whiskey, or even a bottle... But Michael was flattered by her suffering, damn it. If she didn’t love him, why would she, a rich, successful and young woman, kill herself like that? If he dies, she will become even richer, but who knows. His own mother Diana married for the third time (Catherine then organized a wonderful ceremony in Bermuda) at the age of 79. But Michael had no doubt: his wife loved him and was mortally afraid of losing him.

Katherine pulled herself together and accompanied her husband to all the painful procedures. This added strength to Michael - simply because he had to remain strong in her eyes, he had no choice.

The stress was not in vain for Katherine. What Michael feared happened. Long ago, even after the first birth (Dylan was not born easily), Katherine showed signs of depression. Mood swings, the desire to find and solemnly open his eyes to the negative side of the situation, even the most trivial one. Michael had only one weapon - love, care, tenderness. It worked, but still Katherine periodically lost control of herself, she was carried somewhere, activity was replaced by apathy. Several times, unfortunately, this happened in public. In 2010, she received the prestigious Tony Awards for her role in the musical “A Little Serenade” and could not finish her speech on stage.

It was as if I had fallen out of reality. The orchestra had to introduce the music in order to protect her from embarrassment in front of the public. And once in Cardiff they even had to cancel a concert with her participation... Well, God knows, Michael did everything to make Catherine happy. He fully followed the advice of Kirk Douglas's father on his wedding day to Catherine: “The wife must come first. Everything else is a minor matter.”

Damned but alive

In January 2011, they celebrated a wonderful event - Michael, according to the firm belief of the doctors (and Katherine kept them under control so tightly that they were madly afraid of this tigress), managed to completely overcome the fatal disease.

They vacationed in the Bahamas, went to visit their beloved home in Mallorca, and Michael started working again. Everything seemed to be going well. Compared to what they had to go through. But in April 2011, Katherine announced to her husband that she wanted to go to a special clinic where they were treated for manic-depressive psychosis - that was exactly the diagnosis given to his wife by doctors. Of course, in many ways she was prompted to take such a step by another unpleasant news. It’s as if someone has cursed their family and doesn’t want to get them out of their dark streak. The fact is that experts found some developmental problems in their son Dylan. Possibly age related. At first, Katherine wanted to keep her problems a secret, despite the rumors and gossip that had been circulating for a long time. But Michael advised me to do it easier. Don’t wait for revelations, but tell everything publicly yourself.

Wasn’t that what he himself did when he found out he was sick? Now she is proud that she listened to her husband.

Life began to get better. Katherine has two films released. Michael works with one of his favorite directors, Steven Soderbergh (he directed the film Traffic, where Douglas and Zeta-Jones starred together in 2000). The couple are confident that difficulties have only brought their marriage closer together. But they will still need a lot of strength and love. The black stripe only lightened slightly, just a little. At a new appeal hearing, the judge added another four and a half years to Michael's son Cameron. Including because drugs were found in his cell. And recently Cameron was severely beaten in prison, and you should have seen Michael’s face when he saw his son on a date... The lawsuit with his ex-wife, who wants to sue Douglas for part of the proceeds from the film “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps,” is still going on. .

Diandra started the process because her financial situation had deteriorated. Four children (including an adopted girl from Kazakhstan), a breakup with her fiancé (the father of her twins) on the eve of the wedding, a short marriage that ended in divorce, a young lover and unsuccessful investments in Bernie Madoff's financial pyramid... She claims that she did not know about Douglas's illness, Otherwise I wouldn’t have filed a claim. But she didn’t withdraw the case when she found out.

It is unknown what Katherine and Michael still have to endure. One thing is clear - they will be together in sorrow and in joy, sacredly observing the vows that they made to each other on that cold day of November 18, 2000.