Kristin Chenoweth: Petite Oklahoman With Powerful Pipes Scores Star On Hollywood Walk Of Fame

Everyone recognizes Kristin Chenoweth, it seems. She plays Maleficent in Disney’s Descendants, has shown up in Glee, has loaned her voice to one or two cartoon characters, and, of course, there was that role in the Broadway smash Wicked as Glinda the Good Witch that scored her a Tony nod (she later lost to her co-star Idina Menzel). She’s performed at the Tonys, the Oscars, and blows away just about everyone with her good humor and her incredible three-octave range. It seems somehow incredible that this powerhouse from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, had not received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame before July 24, 2015.

Chenoweth may be a Broadway and Hollywood dynamo, but she has not gotten there without a few dings along the way. The actress has struggled with Meniere’s Disease for years, treats headaches that could be debilitating with Botox injections every six months, and in 2012, while working on The Good Wife, Chenoweth was seriously injured when a lighting rig fell, landing the actress with three cracked teeth, a five-inch skull fracture, and issues with her ribs and hips. However, Chenoweth has shown she is not about to let a little thing like a freak, nearly-fatal accident stop her from being her magnificent, multi-tasking self.

Matthew Broderick, her co-star from the television adaptation of The Music Man in 2003, admits to being somewhat smitten with the four-foot, 11-inch star.

“(Chenoweth is) completely hilarious — part Madeline Kahn, part Carole Lombard — and with that beautiful, beautiful voice that breaks your heart. Everyone lucky enough to work with her falls for her,” he said.

So it would seem, and her Walk of Fame ceremony was graced by none other than Carol Burnett, who inducted Chenoweth into the Walk of Fame. For her part, Chenoweth was overwhelmed — particularly since the ceremony occurred on her 47th birthday.

“I thought of all the people before me and the times I’ve seen them, I remember watching Jennifer Lopez’s and older ones like when Joanne Woodward got it, and Carol Burnett, I just can’t quite wrap my head round it,” she admitted of her swirling emotions about the honor.

The star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is not Chenoweth’s only treat this month, however. Chenoweth was also nominated for a Tony award for best performance by an actress in a leading role for a musical for her portrayal of glamorous film star Lily Garland in On the Twentieth Century. Chenoweth is also taking on the iconic role of Maleficent in Disney’s Descendants, set to bow July 31.

Chenoweth also admits to taking a lot of time off from talking when she’s performing because she knows she needs to keep her voice sharp, and says she thought it was “cute” that she tried to meet someone new during one of her extended times of not speaking. Chenoweth has been dating Andrew Pruett for the last three months.

[Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images]