Kristin Chenoweth - VEntertainmentOnline.com

If Kristin Chenoweth had not gone to New York City to help a friend move her life would have taken a very different turn.

The actress who won a Tony Award for her performance as Sally Brown in "You're a Good Man Charlie Brown" studied opera before she decided to pursue a career in musical theatre.

Adopted at birth she grew up in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma a suburb of Tulsa, she says she is quarter Cherokee. She started singing gospel songs in local churches and at the age of 12-years-old she gave a solo performance at the Southern Baptist Convention National Conference singing "I'm 4ft 11" and I'm going to Heaven."

She decided to study opera and was named the "Most Promising up-and-coming singer in the Metropolitan Council auditions. It came with a full scholarship to Philadelphia's Academy of Vocal Arts.

Two weeks before she was due to start she agreed to help her friend move home in New York City. While she was there she auditioned for the Paper Mill Playhouse Production of "Musical Crackers" and she got the role of Arabella Rittenhouse.

She decided to turn down the scholarship and move to New York to do the show and concentrate on Musical Theatre. In 2003 she created the role of Glinda in the musical "Wicked" and on television she played Annabeth Schott in "The West Wing." As Olive Snook in the ABC Comedy Drama "Pushing Daisies" in 2009 she won and Emmy Award.

Kristin Chenoweth has written her autobiography "A Little Bit Wicked, Life, Love and Faith in Stages". She talks about her adoption, her time in "Wicked" and her experiences in Hollywood. She said it is not a "tell all" book but focuses on how she has got where she is so far. Published on April 14th 2009 it spent two weeks on the New York Best Seller List.

Her religious faith is very important to her and she describes herself as a non-judgemental, liberal Christian. She was raised as a Southern Baptist but, she has chosen to follow a personal faith that has no particular denomination.

When she is in California she attends a non-denominational church in Malibu and in New York she goes to the United Methodist Church.

She fights battles to promote gay rights and she has a large gay fan base and this has outraged her Christian connections. She was part of a religious tour known as "Woman of Faith" and when the promoters heard she publicly supported the gay community they asked her to withdraw but she refused.

She told them if they were unhappy with her they should sack her, so they did saying "She publicized heartfelt beliefs that God is accepting all people on earth, including homosexuals."

Kristin Chenoweth suffers from a disease that at present has no cure, she has Meniere's Disease which is a disorder of the inner ear. It can cause vertigo, headaches and nausea among other symptoms. During some performances she has had to lean on her co-stars to keep her balance and when it gets really bad she has had to miss some shows.