Over the years, she has become somewhat of a household name.

After all, not many performers have been nominated for three Tony Awards, an Emmy Award and two Grammy Awards.

But all of that was achieved only after Eartha Kitt learned how to overcome poverty, prejudice and even blacklisting by the wife of an American president.

"My whole start in show business happened just by chance," said Kitt, who will star as the Fairy Godmother in Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella, which opens at the Merriam Theater on Jan. 22.

"A friend dared me to audition for a place as a featured dancer and vocalist with the Katherine Dunham Dance Troupe," Kitt continued.

"I got the part, and before I was twenty, I had toured all over Europe."

But it was the late Orson Welles, her own personal sort of "fairy godmother," who saw the potential in Kitt for a whole lot more.

Dubbing her "the most exciting woman in the world," Wells signed Kitt to star with him as Helen of Troy in his acclaimed European stage production of Dr. Faust.

Fame eventually led Kitt, who was born on a cotton plantation in South Carolina, back to America where she began playing all over the country, even appearing on Broadway.

Her legendary renditions of Santa Baby and C'est Si Bon made her a national star and led to a Hollywood film and recording contract.

Over the years, she also branched out into television. Her work included guest appearances on several series such as Mission: Impossible, I Spy and Batman, in which she was the original infamous Catwoman.

All seemed well until January l968, when Kitt, attending a White House luncheon hosted by then-first lady Lady Bird Johnson, spoke out against the Vietnam War.

"The topic turned to juvenile delinquency, and I said perhaps young men felt it was more worthwhile to commit a crime and earn a jail sentence, considering that their 'reward' for maintaining a clean record was an all-expense paid trip to Vietnam," Kitt recalled.

Within days, Kitt's shows were being canceled across the country. But it was not until l974 that she learned that her problems dated to that fateful luncheon.

The following years were rough on Kitt.

She lost her Catwoman role, and although she says she's never watched any of her replacements (including Julie Newmar and Lee Meriwether), her friends and fans still insist that she was the best.

She eventually left the country, and it wasn't until the late columnist Jack Anderson broke the story of Kitt's harassment and the files that were kept on her by both the FBI and CIA that she was welcomed back home.

Today, she's put all of that behind her and simply enjoys the many facets of her career.

"Every role that I play everything that I do is a highlight for me," she insisted. "Playing this role is especially fun for me. I think a lot of people still think of me as the Wicked Witch of the West or that naughty Catwoman, so it's fun to be the good guy for a change.

"However, I do admit that my nature is to be a bit naughty because I am a mischievous sort of a person and like to play parts sort of tongue-in-cheek.

"That's how I play the Fairy Godmother," Kitt continued. "She pulls at Cinderella. She teases Cinderella into realizing that the magic is in her, no one else. And that's the way that I feel about life in general. The magic is in each of us, not in somebody else.

"Oh, others can give you a helping hand, and fortunately for me, others have, but it's up to each of us to bring out the magic we have inside."

Cinderella runs Jan. 22 through Jan. 27 at the Merriam Theater. Tickets range from $39.50 to $69.50. For more information call 2l5-732-5446.