Gratuitous Brunette: Catherine Zeta-Jones

Birthday girl Catherine Zeta-Jones burst into the North American collective consciousness with her appearance in 1998's The Mask of Zorro, in which she costarred with Antonio Banderas and Sir Anthony Hopkins. The UK, on the other hand, had known about her since she appeared in The Darling Buds of May from 1991 to 1993.

The real accolades, however, came from her appearance in Chicago (2002) in which she sang and danced, in addition to acting and looking fabulous; she won an Academy Award for her portrayal of Velma Kelly, the murderous vamp undone by Renée Zellweger's squinty, stick-thin Roxie Hart. Even more impressive was her performance at that year's Oscars while so great with child the fetus was practically eligible for an appearance credit.

Although her 2000 marriage to Michael Douglas (coincidentally also born this day, albeit a quarter of a century earlier) enlivened many a late-night monologue, here it is already at the ten-year mark with nary an itch in sight. Maybe all those comedians were wrong and she was right...
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