Why are the famous? Catherine Zeta Jones

Main Claim: Chubby-cheeked great British hope gone off the boil. Winsome Welsh maidy stunna in ITV's ancient hit The Darling Buds of May turned Hollywood disappearing act. Now, however, our girl Zeta, as the tabloids so carelessly refer to her, has risen from the moribund to kicking- and-screaming starry status in her role in The Mask of Zorro, alongside proper supernova Antonio Banderas. And this week, she has been named Most Outrageously Beautiful Actress, an award which was previously given by Hollywood celebrity writers to Kate Winslet and Gwyneth Paltrow.

Appearance: Posh Spice's prettier sister. James Bond girl meets low budget Hardy heroine. Heroine of Mutiny on the Bounty mini-series. The "sultry" brooding stunner, the "exotic" hot blooded brunette, is in fact a Welsh 29-year-old raised near Swansea. But there you go.

Wild Child: Catherine had a singing, dancing, home-loving childhood in the bosom of a close family, like so many of those little British stage girls - see Letitia Dean, Dani Behr, Bonnie Langford. At four, the poppet stood on her grandmother's table grasping a kettle lead as a microphone in her tiny paw, and "sang her heart out". Bless. Little Cathy-bach. The formidable stage-struck infant won a Butlin's talent contest at 10, and at 11 she was starring in the West End. "From an early age Catherine knew what she wanted," says her mother. She now lives in Malibu, hobnobs with Sir Anthony Hopkins, and has just finished filming the pounds 50m thriller Entrapment alongside Sean Connery.

My Brilliant Career: How many famous/stylish/desirable Welsh superstars can you name? Try to make it to two hands. It's like coming from New Zealand - there's little to lose, so you may as well have a go, eh? "I never doubted myself. I never thought I was wasting my time," says our determined young heroine.

Love's Labours: Our heroine's first love was a film producer with a grey pony tail, one Nick Hamm. She was also engaged to Blue Peter presenter John Leslie. A Blue Peter presenter, eh? Tut tut. She then nearly married Soldier, Soldier's Angus MacFadyen before newspaper reports linked her with actor Paul McGann. She is also said to have had a four-month relationship with that handsome Mick Hucknall. Next one, please? A humble Swansea plumber, perhaps? A provincial relief postal worker?

Fame Prospects: Film director Michael Winner allegedly describes Ms Zeta Jones as "just a former dancer". But grit, steel and contacts as well as a voluptuous way with a smoulder should see our Welsh lovely through any number of ups and downs. Just watch the pouty one triumph.