Every major award show brings its own level of stress and excitement for presenters, recipients, and nominees – and sometimes even the audience members. The Emmy Awards, Grammy Awards, Oscars and Tony Awards are the biggest night in television for those in the film, television, music, and performance art industry. Most people in these fields want to win at least one of these major awards. And a select few want to win at least one of each of these awards. Achieving the ultimate display of talent, the EGOT, is the dream for many.
Many performers have come close to achieving the EGOT and some are just one award away from it. It’s a prestigious club that includes less than 20 performers. Let’s look at these talented few and the work that got them their Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony (EGOT).
Richard Rodgers (Achieved EGOT: 1962)
Richard Rodgers became the first EGOT winner in 1962. Richard Rodgers is the famous Rodgers of the Rodgers and Hammerstein duo. His most well-known work includes composing music for The Sound of Music, Oklahoma!, South Pacific, The King and I, and many other musicals. Richard Rodgers won five Tony awards and two Grammy awards for his work on South Pacific, No Strings, and The Sound of Music. He also received multiple special lifetime achievement awards at the Tony Awards.
Richard Rodgers won an Academy Award in 1946 for Best Original Song for “It Might As Well Be Spring” from State Fair. His Emmy award completed his EGOT. He received it for his work on Winston Churchill-The Valiant Years and in the category Outstanding Achievement in Composing Original Music for Television.
Helen Hayes (Achieved EGOT: 1977)
Helen Hayes’s acting career spanned eight decades. She gained her EGOT in 1977 with a Grammy win. Helen Hayes is best known for her roles in Caesar and Cleopatra, Mary of Scotland, A Farewell to Arms, and Airport. Hayes received nine Emmy award nominations and won one in 1953 for Best Actress for her role in Schlitz Playhouse of Stars.
Helen Hayes won two Academy Awards in 1932 and 1971 for supporting and lead roles in Airport and The Sin of Madelon Claudet. She won a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Recording for Great American Documents. Hayes shared this award with several famous artists. She won two Tony Awards for Time Remembered and Happy Birthday. She also received a Tony lifetime achievement award in 1980.
Rita Moreno (Achieved EGOT: 1977)
Rita Moreno won an Emmy in 1977 to complete her EGOT. She won her first Emmy for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program in The Muppet Show. Moreno is best known for her role as Anita in West Side Story and as Lydia in One Day at a Time, a shortlived reboot but beloved revival.
Moreno won the Academy Award for Best Supporting actress for her role in West Side Story. She has won two Emmys for appearances in The Muppet Show (1977) and the Rockford Files (1978). She secured a Grammy win for Best Recording for Children in 1972 for The Electric Company. And she got her Tony for The Ritz. Rita Moreno has been acting since the 1950s, and she shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon.
John Gielgud (Achieved EGOT: 1991)
John Gielgud is an English actor and director. He achieved most of his fame from his performances in theater and movies. He received an Emmy in 1991 for Summer’s Lease to complete his EGOT. His long list of acting credits include The Importance of Being Earnest, Hamlet, Julius Caesar, and Arthur.
John Gielgud won Tony awards for The Importance Of Being Earnest and Big Fish, Little Fish. He won one Grammy for Spoken Word Album for Ages of Man. He won his Oscar in 1981 for supporting role in Arthur.
Audrey Hepburn (Achieved EGOT: 1994)
Audrey Hepburn is one of the most famous actresses of all time. Her most known works are My Fair Lady, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Sabrina, and Roman Holiday. She completed her EGOT when she received a Grammy in 1994 for Best Spoken Word Album for Children for Audrey Hepburn’s Enchanted Tales.
The year prior, Audrey Hepburn won her first and only Emmy in 1993 for Gardens of the World with Audrey Hepburn. She won her first Tony for Best Actress in a Play for Ondine in 1954, and she later received a special Tony in 1968. Hepburn won her only competitive Oscar in 1954 for Best Actress in Roman Holiday. She received a humanitarian Oscar in 1993.
Marvin Hamlisch (Achieved EGOT: 1995)
Marvin Hamlisch is an American composer. He’s best known for his work in the movies The Sting, The Way We Were, Sophie’s Choice, and The Spy Who Loved Me. His last award to complete his EGOT was an Emmy in 1995 for Barbra: The Concert.
He then won another Emmy in 2001 for another Barbra Streisand live concert album. He also won an Emmy for his work on AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies. Marvin Hamlisch won four Grammy awards in 1975, including one for Best Song for “The Way We Were.” In 1976, he won a Tony Award for Best Original Score for A Chorus Line. As for his Oscars, 1974 was a big year, as Marvin Hamlisch won three Academy Awards for his work on The Way We Were and The Sting.
Jonathan Tunick (Achieved EGOT: 1997)
Jonathan Tunick is a composer and conductor whose most famous works include A Chorus Line, Sweeney Todd, Into the Woods, Oklahoma! and Carousel. He completed his EGOT in 1997 with a Tony Award for his work on the Broadway production, Titanic.
Jonathan Tunick has won one Grammy (in 1989 for “No one is Alone”), one Oscar, one Emmy, and one Tony award. His most recent award nomination was in 2018 for the Carousel revival, and his first win for the EGOT categories was an Academy Award in 1978 for A Little Night Music.
Mel Brooks (Achieved EGOT: 2001)
Mel Brooks is a famous writer, actor, producer, and director. Some of his most known works are Young Frankenstein, which was set to become a live broadcast in 2020, Blazing Saddles, High Anxiety, and The Producers. It’s The Producers that rounded out his EGOT status, as he won the Oscar for writing the film, and decades later, would go on to win multiple Tony Awards for the stage production. He completed his EGOT in 2001 when he took home three Tony awards that night for Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, and Best Original Score.
Mel Brooks has won three Grammy awards (two of which were for The Producers), four Emmy awards (three for guest starring on Mad About You between 1997 and 1999), and the mentioned Academy Award in 1969 for his writing on The Producers.
Mike Nichols (Achieved EGOT: 2001)
Before his death in 2014, Mike Nichols completed his EGOT. He completed it in 2001 with two Emmy awards for Wit. Mike Nichols is best known for his directing work in the theater and on the silver screen. He has directed Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Graduate, Catch-22, The Birdcage, and Charlie Wilson’s War.
Mike Nichols has one Academy Award for Best Director for The Graduate. He won one Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album for An Evening with Mike Nichols and Elaine May. He has won nine Tony awards. His first for Best Direction of A Play for Barefoot in the Park in 1964, and his last Tony for Best Direction of a Play for Death of a Salesman in 2012. He has won four Emmy awards in total. He won two Emmy Awards for his work on Wit and the other two for his work on Angels in America.
Whoopi Goldberg (Achieved EGOT: 2002)
Whoopi Goldberg is an actress, writer, and television host. She currently co-hosts The View, but many of her fans know her from her roles in The Color Purple, Ghost, Sister Act, and Girl, Interrupted. The Tony award was the last one she needed to complete the EGOT. Whoopi Goldberg received it in 2002 for Thoroughly Modern Millie, which she produced and it won the Tony for Best Musical.
Goldberg has won two Daytime Emmys, one in 2002 (for hosting Beyond Tara: The Extraordinary Life of Hattie McDaniel) and another in 2009 (The View). She won her Academy Award in 1991 for Best Supporting Actress in Ghost. She won her Grammy in 1986 for Best Comedy Recording.
Scott Rudin (Achieved EGOT: 2012)
Scott Rudin is best known for producing No Country for Old Men, Lady Bird, Fences, and The Social Network. He completed his EGOT in 2012 with a Grammy award win for The Book of Mormon.
He won one Academy Award for No Country for Old Men, and one Emmy award for He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin’. He has won 17 Tony Awards, his first in 1994 for the Passion musical.
Robert Lopez (Achieved EGOT: 2014)
Robert Lopez is the youngest and quickest person to earn EGOT status. He co-created The Book of Mormon and Avenue Q, as well as composed music for Frozen, Frozen II, and Coco. He completed his EGOT in 2014 with his Oscar win for Best Original song with “Let it Go” from Frozen. Robert Lopez is also the only double EGOT winner, meaning he has won at least two awards in each category.
Robert Lopez is on his way to a triple EGOT. He has three Grammys, three Tony Awards, and three Emmy awards. He only needs another Academy Award to become a triple EGOT. He would have achieved this if he won the Academy Award for “Into the Unknown” from Frozen II, which was nominated for Best Original Song in 2020.
John Legend (Achieved EGOT: 2018)
John Legend is a singer, composer, and producer. He has also been a coach on The Voice for several seasons. He gained his EGOT status in 2018 when he won a Primetime Emmy for producing Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert. In 2019, he also won a Daytime Emmy for producing Crow: The Legend.
Legend won a Tony in 2017 for co-producing the Jitney revival. As for the Grammys, naturally, he has a lot. Legend won 11 Grammy Awards. The most recent win was in 2019 and the first was in 2006, when he won for Best New Artist. John Legend won an Academy Award in 2015 for Best Original Song for “Glory” from Selma.
Andrew Lloyd Webber (Achieved EGOT: 2018)
Andrew Lloyd Webber is one of the most famous musical theatre composers and producers. He composed Jesus Christ Superstar, The Phantom of the Opera, Evita, Cats, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. He gained his EGOT rank in 2018 with an Emmy award for producing Jesus Christ Superstar in Concert.
Andrew Lloyd Webber has won one Oscar for Best Original Song for Evita, and he has won three Grammy awards (for Evita, Cats and Requiem). Andrew Lloyd Webber won six competition Tony awards and one lifetime achievement Tony in 2018.
Tim Rice (Achieved EGOT: 2018)
Tim Rice is a lyricist and author who often collaborates with Andrew Lloyd Webber. He has contributed lyrics to Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Evita, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King. He wrote lyrics for both the animated and live action versions of The Lion King, Aladdin, and Beauty and the Beast. He completed his EGOT alongside Andrew Lloyd Webber and John Legend in 2018 for producing Jesus Christ Superstar in Concert.
Tim Rice has won three Academy Awards for Best Original Song (for Aladdin, The Lion King, and Evita). It was his work on the Broadway musical Evita that earned him his first Tony Award in 1980, and then his first Grammy in 1981.
Alan Menken (Achieved EGOT: 2020)
Alan Menken is a world renowned composer who is best known for his work on Walt Disney animated films. Menken’s scores and songs can be heard in The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Hercules, and many others.
His lifetime achievements include eight Academy Awards. All these Oscars are from his music in Disney animated films. Menken received his first Emmy in 1990 for a special Emmy award for Outstanding contribution to the success of the Academy’s anti-drug special for children.
He received a Daytime Emmy in 2020 for Outstanding Original Song in a Children’s, Young Adult, or Animated Program for his song “Waiting in the Wings” from Tangled: The Series. Menken received multiple Grammy Awards, including ones for The Little Mermaid: Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack and Aladdin: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. He won a Tony Award in 2012 for Newsies.
Jennifer Hudson (Achieved EGOT: 2022)
Jennifer Hudson started her career as a contestant on American Idol. She didn’t win the Idol crown but soon shot to stardom in the film world. She received her first part of the EGOT in 2007 with her breakout role in Dreamgirls. Hudson won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar. She won a Grammy the following year for her album Jennifer Hudson. It received the award for Best R&B Album.
Hudson also won a Grammy in 2017 for her work on The Color Purple album. She won her Daytime Emmy Award for producing Baba Yaga in 2021. She also won a Tony award in 2022 for producing A Strange Loop.
With so many of Hollywood’s elite only one or two awards away from achieving an EGOT, we’re sure that many more will join this list soon.