Yes, celebrities play bingo. Not all of them, and those that do, not all the time, but there are some Celebs who like nothing better than to unwind from a day’s shooting schedule or red carpet shenanigans, by having a relaxing and fun game of Bingo. It’s pretty well documented that Catherine Zeta-Jones, our Welsh Wowser, likes to play. It’s reported that she hosts Bingo parties for her friends.
Because she spends most of her time in the United States, she prefers 75 ball Bingo. But that’s ok with us! It’s just nice to have some British-born celebrities who don’t get all snobby about Bingo, and help shed its lumpen reputation in some unenlightened areas.
Catherine was into Bingo from a very early age. She helped her parents organise Bingo parties at the family home in Swansea, making the numbered Ping-Pong balls and the cards. Organising the prizes and sometimes calling out the numbers.
When in her early teens, her father won an incredible £100,000 playing Bingo- which surely must have made even the most die-hard anti-Bingo critic sit up and take notice!
Friends have claimed that even her husband, grizzled Michael Douglas, has finally warmed to the gentle charms of Bingo. I wonder if that might be a theme for his next Hollywood blockbuster? With him playing a tough, corrupt Bingo-caller in Manhattan, who owes money to the Mafia and decides to set a sting for the local Governor and his party to swindle half a million dollars out of them...
How did Catherine start out on the Hollywood trail? Humbly! Her stage career began in childhood. She often performed at friends and family functions when she was younger. She was a part of a Catholic congregation's performing troupe before she was 10. During this time Zeta-Jones made her professional acting debut when she played the lead in Annie, a production at Swansea's Grand Theatre.
At 14, Mickey Dolenz of "The Monkees" fame was visiting Wales and stopped by the Grand Theatre to audition her for The Pyjama Game. He was so impressed with her performance that she was offered the opportunity to join his show for the rest of the tour! Her illustrious film career took off not long after, and her films include Scherezade, Intolerable Cruelty, the Legend of Zorro, and Oceans Twelve.
Catherine, our Swansea Swooner, has also given her time and effort to charity events and has been happy to be a caller as well as helping sell the cards.
It’s good that Bingo has an ambassador in someone as influential and talented as Catherine, and we all wish her well in the rest of her career! Good luck to her and good luck to you!