Catherine Zeta-Jones is back in the spotlight, again, after topless photos of the A-list star surfaced on the Internet from a 1992 vacation. She’s pictured frolicking on a yacht in the arms of a sandy-haired man who may be British actor Phillip Franks.
The scene took place more than six years before she met and eventually married actor Michael Douglas, who is 25 years her senior.
Back then Jones was an established star in England but not widely known outside of the British Isles.
Although the Welsh native, the child of a seamstress and a candy factory owner, started acting as a child most of her professional work up until then was limited to British theater.
Check out Catherine’s photos; click to enlarge.
In 1986, at 17, she had a part in the chorus of The Pajama Game at the Haymarket Theatre, Leicester starring Paul Jones and Fiona Hendley, according to one popular biography.
A year later she starred in 42nd Street as Peggy Sawyer at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.
She eventually segued into commercials and scored a small role in the 1992 film “Christopher Columbus: The Discovery.”
The film had a high-power, although curious mix of stars, including Marlon Brando as Tomas de Torquemada, Tom Selleck as King Ferdinand and Georges Corraface as Columbus.
Also of note among the lesser roles was a young Benicio Del Toro.
Zeta-Jones big breakout role came in 1998 when she starred in “The Mark of Zorro,” with Anthony Hopkins and Antonio Banderas.
Franks, 54, was also a noted British stage actor at the time. They appeared together in UK television series “The Darling Buds of May” which ran from 1991 to 1993.
She was introduced to Douglas in 1998 by Danny DeVito. Although Douglas was married at the time, he was smitten by her. Less than two years later, they were married and became Hollywood royalty.
Zeta-Jones has always had a relaxed attitude about nudity.
She posed nude for photographer Michael Thompson for the May 2010 issue of Allure magazine.
She also had a major wardrobe malfunction while performing on Broadway in A Little Night Music and momentarily flashed a male actor.
“I’ve got to keep it interesting for the boy. We’ve got a long run,” she joked afterward.