Kristin Chenoweth - 80th Annual Academy Awards

Kristin Chenoweth Profile

Name: Kristin Chenoweth

Birth Name: Kristi Dawn Chenoweth

Height: 4' 11''

Sex: F

Nationality: American

Birth Date: July 24, 1968

Birth Place: Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, USA

Profession: Actress, Producer, Musician

Education: Broken Arrow High School in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma (graduated in 1986)
Oklahoma City University in Oklahoma (graduated in 1995 with BFA in voice and MFA in opera performance)

Relationship: Marc Kudisch (actor; born September 22, 1966; engaged in 1998; separated in 2001)

Claim to fame: Won Broadway's 1999 Tony Award for her portrayal of Sally in a revival of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown

Kristin Chenoweth Biography

Kristin Chenoweth (born July 24, 1968) is an American singer and Tony Award-winning American musical theatre, film, and television actress.

Chenoweth has a distinctive speaking voice; in FHM's March 2006 issue, she compared her voice to that of Betty Boop. Chenoweth is a lyric coloratura soprano, and ably sings in both the chest and head registers. She can currently be seen on television, portraying Olive Snook on the ABC dramedy Pushing Daisies and is the current face of Jude Frances jewelry.

Chenoweth was born Kristi Dawn Chenoweth (she added an "n" in her first name later because she thought that "Kristin" was a more operatic name than "Kristi") in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma and was adopted at birth. Chenoweth's ancestry includes one-quarter Cherokee lineage. After studying drama at Broken Arrow High School under JoJo Nichols, Chenoweth attended Oklahoma City University, where she was a member of Gamma Phi Beta (Beta Omicron) Sorority. Chenoweth earned a bachelor's degree in musical theater and a master's degree in opera performance, studying under Florence Birdwell who taught Miss America 1981 Susan Powell and two-time Tony nominee Kelli O'Hara. While at OCU, she won the title of "Miss OCU" and went on to win second runner-up in the Miss Oklahoma pageant in 1991. She performed at Opryland USA. She won a "most talented up-and-coming singer" award in the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions, which came with a full scholarship to Philadelphia's Academy of Vocal Arts. Two weeks before school started she went to New York City to help a friend move. While there she auditioned for the Paper Mill Playhouse's production of the musical "Animal Crackers" and got the role of Arabella Rittenhouse. She turned down the scholarship and moved to New York to do the show and pursue a career in musical theater.

Kristin Chenoweth made her Broadway debut in a production of Molière's Scapin starring Bill Irwin, followed in the spring of 1997 by the musical Steel Pier by John Kander and Fred Ebb, for which she won a Theatre World award. The following season, she appeared in the City Center Encores! production of the George and Ira Gershwin musical Strike Up the Band and the Lincoln Center Theater production of William Finn's A New Brain. She has performed several times on the radio program A Prairie Home Companion.

During the 1998–1999 season, she performed the role of Sally in the Broadway revival of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. The production won Chenoweth the Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Awards as the season's Best Featured Actress in a Musical. She then starred in the Broadway comedy Epic Proportions, followed by appearances in ABC's television adaptation of the musical Annie (as Lily St. Regis), and in the leading role of Daisy Gamble in the City Center Encores! production of On a Clear Day You Can See Forever.