Douglas-Jones marriage outlasts the cynics

While the latest fad amongst Hollywood actresses seems to be adopting a baby, one star is going against the grain by having one of her own. Catherine Zeta Jones and husband Michael Douglas have announced they are expecting their second child.

The couple, who already have a two-year-old son Dylan, are clearly delighted about the latest addition to their family, saying in the announcement on Douglas’s official website: "Michael and Catherine are extremely pleased to announce that they’re expecting their second child in the spring of 2003.

"Apparently, with the upcoming release of Michael’s next film, A Few Good Years, which stars three generations of Douglases, Michael and Catherine felt there was room for some more!"

The new baby will be the icing on the cake for what seems to be one of the most secure and happy relationships in showbusiness. Despite much cynicism in the media about the relationship, due to the 25 year age gap and Zeta Jones’s meteoric rise to the Hollywood A-list, their marriage has endured and, with a second child on the way, seems to be happier than ever.

"This news will definitely silence any doubters," says Jay Bowers, entertainment editor at Now magazine. "They have got a strong marriage and there aren’t any holes in it. Cynics would like to see their marriage fall apart or have problems but I think there’s a genuine attraction there.

"They’ve showed this in the way they’ve announced the pregnancy. By announcing it on his website and not releasing it separately by her publicist, shows that they’re very much together."

Andy Evans, a showbiz psychologist and author of Fame: The Psychology Of Stardom, agrees: "The cynical reasons given for it not to last - B-list actress marries A-list Hollywood star to get into Hollywood - don’t seem relevant any more.

"She’s done well in her own right and she’ll probably outlast him as well. This baby will certainly silence the critics particularly when you consider how many stars have adopted babies recently, this is very much sending out the right signals."

The couple’s story is a modern fairytale romance. Back in September 1998 Zeta Jones was a British TV star from Swansea who was as well known for her failed romances with Blue Peter’s John Leslie, Braveheart actor Angus McFadyen and Mick Hucknall as for her TV roles. She had taken her first steps into Hollywood with a leading role in flop comic book hero flick The Phantom and was making a name for herself as the leading lady in The Mask Of Zorro.

Douglas was the Prince to Zeta Jones’s Cinderella. Born into a Hollywood dynasty as the son of screen legend Kirk Douglas, he had gone on to achieve his own fame and fortune with roles in Romancing The Stone and Basic Instinct, winning an Oscar for his searing performance as Gordon Gekko in Wall Street.

They met at the Deauville French film festival when Douglas reportedly charmed Zeta Jones with the line "I want to be the father of your children." They swapped numbers and Douglas invited her out to dinner in Los Angeles where she was based.

The relationship took off in June of 1999 and public interest soon caught up with them when the couple were photographed frolicking on a boat on holiday in Majorca together.

Since then they have become one of the most photographed showbiz couples in the world, with gossip about them filling many column inches. And, despite neither couple having had a big film out recently, their popularity hasn’t dwindled.

"It’s the fascination isn’t it?" says Bowers. "How can she bear to go out with a much older man? But she does and he is absolutely charming. Everyone who’s ever met him has said what a charmer he is.

"He is Mr Hollywood, he’s grown up in it and his dad was a big star. He knows how it works and what you have to do to get on and he schmoozes the right people. He’s got a lot of fans and he’s been doing some good movies recently, like Wonder Boys which was a big critical hit.

"So he’s the old school of Hollywood and she adds the glamour. They’re the ultimate showbiz couple, age is irrelevant."

That 25-year age gap has been the talk of many who doubted the relationship would last. But Douglas himself says that it doesn’t make any difference to his relationship.

"The age difference disappeared very fast in our relationship," he says. "Catherine and I don’t even think about it any more."

Marrying into the Douglas dynasty undoubtedly helped Zeta Jones, says Bowers. "The marriage has definitely helped Catherine’s career. Standing on her own merit got her to a certain level but his influence in Hollywood helped propel her. She did well on her own in the first place and got herself to a position where she could meet him, but the relationship put her on the A-list."

With new films from both of them forthcoming - Zeta Jones in the big screen adaptation of the musical Chicago and Douglas in A Few Good Years - they should remain one of the most high profile couples in Hollywood for a while yet.

"What they both share is the same ambition to make it and be successful," says Bowers. "That’s probably what keeps them together."