Kristin Chenoweth
Chenoweth in 2012, Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com
Place of Birth: Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.
Date of Birth: July 24, 1968
Ethnicity: English, some Scottish and Irish, more distant French, Cherokee Native American, and Welsh
Kristin Chenoweth is an American actress, singer, and author. She is known for her vocal range of 4 octaves. She is known for her stage performances as Sally Brown in You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown and Glinda in Wicked. Her roles also include the films Bewitched (2005), The Pink Panther, RV, Running with Scissors, Stranger than Fiction, Deck the Halls (2006), Space Chimps, Tinker Bell (2008), and its sequels; Four Christmases, Into Temptation, You Again, Hit and Run (2012), Family Weekend, The Opposite Sex, Rio 2, Strange Magic, The Boy Next Door, The Peanuts Movie, Twinsters, Hard Sell, Class Rank, My Little Pony: The Movie, The Star (2017), The Witches (2020), Holidate, National Champions, Bros (2022), Wicked (2024), and Our Little Secret; the made-for-tv movies Annie (1999), The Music Man (2003), Twelve Men of Christmas, Descendants, and A Christmas Love Story; the shows Kristin, The West Wing, Sesame Street, Elmo’s World, Robot Chicken, Pushing Daisies, Sit Down, Shut Up; Glee, GCB, The Good Wife, Kristie, BoJack Horseman, Trial & Error, Schmigadoon!, and Stumble; and the special Hairspray Live! She is 4′ 11½″.
The surname Chenoweth is Cornish, and can be traced to Anthony Chenoweth, who was born, c. 1616, in St. Martin, Cornwall, England.
Kristin was adopted and named Kristin Dawn Chenoweth, by Junie (Smith) and Jerry Morris Chenoweth. Jerry is the son of Roy Morris Chenoweth, who was born in Hinton, Caddo County, Oklahoma, and Mildred Alice Livengood. Junie is the daughter of Doyal Smith and Katherine Hale. Kristin has stated that she is the only person in her adoptive family that is not tall, and the only one who is musically talented.
Kristin’s biological father was musician Billy Eugene Etheridge, who played with rock band The Chessmen, and acted in stage musicals. He was from Dallas, Texas. Kristin’s biological mother was Wanda Lynn Cooper, who was born in Natchez, Mississippi.
Kristin is married to musician Josh Bryant, who is the guitarist for country band Backroad Anthem.
Kristin’s biological paternal grandfather was Billy/Billie Joe Etheridge (the son of Willie Etheridge and Nellie May Story).
Kristin’s biological paternal grandmother was Marie Janice Delbrel (the daughter of William George Delbrel and Myrtle May Galloway). Marie was born in Dallas, Texas. William was born in Dallas, the son of William Francis Delbrel and Josie Parsons. Francis’s father, Pierre “Peter” Delbrel, was born in Bordeaux, France, and moved to Galveston, Texas, where he ran a restaurant and was a lighthouse keeper. Francis’s mother, Theresa Thompson, was said to have been born in Mexico. Kristin’s great-grandmother Myrtle was born in Texas, the daughter of Edward D. Galloway, and of a mother surnamed Finley.
Kristin’s biological maternal grandfather was Charles Eugene “Charlie” Cooper, Jr. (the son of Charles Eugene Cooper and Ruth Lucretia/Lurilla Starnes). Kristin’s grandfather Charles was born in Natchez, Adams County, Mississippi. Kristin’s great-grandfather Charles was born in Mississippi, the son of Charles William Cooper and Carrie A. Henry. Ruth was the daughter of Samuel Scott Starnes, Jr. and Ruth Rebecca Stephens.
Kristin’s biological maternal grandmother was Pauline Marie “Polly” Brown (the daughter of Oscar McKinley Brown and Ola May Blaylock). Pauline was born in Wilburton, Latimer, Oklahoma. Oscar was born in Ola, Yell, Arkansas, the son of Russell Billmore Brown and Nan Pollard/Phillips. Kristin’s great-grandmother Ola was the daughter of James Thomas Blaylock and Bertie Valera Young.
A DNA test whose results were displayed on the show Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (2026) stated that Kristin’s genetic ancestry consists of:
*96% European
——–*38% Scotland
——–*30% England & Northwestern Europe
——–*16% Germanic Europe
——–*11% Ireland
——–*1% Wales
*4% Indigenous American
——–*4% Indigenous Americas – Yucatan Peninsula
Kristin has referred to herself as having one quarter Cherokee ancestry. Her genetic ancestry is somewhere between 1/16th and 1/32 Indigenous.
Genetically, Kristin was found to have a common ancestor with comedian and actress Wanda Sykes, likely through shared European ancestry.
Genealogy of Kristin Chenoweth – https://www.geni.com
Birth record of Kristin’s biological father – https://www.familysearch.org
Her biological paternal grandfather was Raymond Christopher Smith, the son of Willie Edward Smith and Ruby Helen Denton.
It is unknown why her biological father Billy used the surname “Etheridge”.
Willie Edward Smith was born in Millwood, Grayson, Kentucky the son of James Edward Smith and Amanda Jane Odle.
Ruby Helen Denton was born in Texas.
Raymond Christopher Smith on FamilySearch;
Kristin’s biological paternal grandmother was Marie Janice Delbrel, the daughter of William George Delbrel and Myrtle May Galloway.
William George Delbrel was born in Dallas, Texas, the son of William Francis Delbrel and Josie Parsons.
Myrtle May Galloway was born Texas.
Marie Janice Delbrel on FamilySearch;
Francis was the son of Pierre “Peter” Delbrel and Theresa Thompson.
Her biological paternal grandfather is Billy Joe Etheridge (1928-1998). Her step-grandfather is Raymond Clifford Smith (1928-2013).
Kristen’s great-great-great grandmother Theresa (Thompson) Delbrel was born in Mexico. Is it possible the 4% indigenous comes from her line as opposed to Native Americans? I have not found evidence if she was from and Anglo or Spanish background, however she had a son names Carlos Delbrel and most of the family is buried in a Catholic cemetery. Her husband was French.
Hi, I am the granddaughter of Velma Sue Ethridge and James Alfred Ethridge Sr. and niece of Billie Mack Ethridge Who ever gathered information got it wrong. Billie’s lifelong wife’s name was Joyce Gladden Ethridge from Lake Village Arkansas at time of death. Not Lynn .Billie never played musical instruments. In other words they have their information wrong on Kristen Chenoweth
Some evidence of her Cherokee or Choctaw ancestry was found, right? Her “other” ethnicity and I believe was tagged under Cherokee at one point on this site. I hope she didn’t fake her claims like Louis Owens, an author from Miss. who took his own life in 2001 after their family and tribal genealogists proved he wasn’t of Cherokee nor Choctaw ancestry, the Choctaw did originate in Miss. +
What a weird and unsettling thing to say. And constantly with this policing of other people’s indigenous claims.
I will await for word by the Cherokee Nation in OK then, they issued statements for years of a celebrity (i.e. sen. Elizabeth Warren, Cher, Ward Churchill, Johnny Depp, and 100 more) has no Cherokee or any American Indian ancestry. It’s clarification and verification we go by in ethnicelebs, and I don’t decide whether Chenoweth is Cherokee or the like, just wanting evidence of anyone’s celebrity’s ethnic origins from a verified source. +
@Follers, I highly recommend getting rid of Elizabeth Warren’s NA ethnicity in her profile. She has no traceable lineage to an NA ancestor and her percentage was so small it was obviously potential noise. She used that lie to benefit her career her whole life.
Or her DNA test results were from another (a Mexican or South American Indian sample to pass it off like it’s hers). Elizabeth Warren has to be the most controversial person on this site and then there’s another politician in US congress George Santos lied about his grandparents were holocaust survivors fled Poland to Brazil after WW2 but it turned out they weren’t Jewish and came from Belgium. There are mysteries and folklore in many persons family history and then there are lies by some celebrities to promote their careers by pretending to be from ethnic groups which they are not. +
Ethnogenesis I like and respect you a lot but your theory doesn’t make much sense. If her results were s Mexican or indigenous of south America why would her dna results cone up less than 1 percent NA? She is controversial like Santos. Keep up the great work I respect you!
From her father’s obituary:
“Being of Cherokee descent, he was an avid hunter and liked to trophy hunt. He felt that his Cherokee Indian heritage enhanced his ability to hunt and track animals and his proficiency with a bow and rifle.”
We haven’t found any Cherokee ancestry yet though, all her father’s recent ancestors were white.
I am the nice of Billy Mack Ethridge of lake village Arkansas and I can tell you Uncle Bill had 1 wife named Joyce Gladden from Dermott Arkansas and Had 2 still born children. He did not play any musical instruments .