Michael Douglas could lose his voice: New blow for golden couple as Michael battles throat cancer and Zeta fights to keep family together

And as summer advanced, Douglas looked frailer and more tired while his wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones, showed signs of being under terrific strain, too.

The actors who appeared with Zeta-Jones on Broadway in the production of A Little Night Music observed that, towards the end of the run in July, she was having trouble recalling her lines. At one point, the 40-year-old even seemed to be slurring her words.

At the time, observers put this down to Cameron eventually being sentenced to five years in prison. But now we know the full story of why her husband looked so unwell and why her behaviour was so erratic.

It seems that Douglas discovered some weeks ago that his hoarse voice and the trouble he had in swallowing indicated serious trouble. The actor, who is 65 and was a smoker for decades, has a tumour in his throat. Following investigations, an eight-week course of chemotherapy and radiotherapy has been settled on.

This 'synchronous' therapy is expected to be conducted in New York and reports indicate it is due to start this week. Its aim is to allow doctors to at least try not to conduct surgery on his larynx.

It is, brutally, his best chance of keeping his voice, given that he seems to have a locally advanced cancerous growth.

The alternative would be surgery - and a partial or complete laryngectomy. Obviously the actor would find that course of treatment extremely undesirable as it would leave him with a changed voice, or no voice at all.