EGOTs Talent: When Your Shelf is Too Crowded with Trophies and Everyone Secretly Loves to Hate You
My crossword solving game was on fire this week. I had some vacation time and I grabbed it by the horns and shook the life out of it. I saw friends, ate with family, went to Medieval Times (which was not restful but was very fun), and pulled out my paper book of Monday NYT crossword puzzles.
God bless America and #2 pencils.
I love solving on soft newspaper. There is something so aesthetically pleasing about inky boxes and Saturday morning coffee splatters.
I’ve been rattling over my extended list of post ideas this week too. I am very late to the game, but I do want to put together a fun Christmas gift guide for the crossword puzzle lovers in your life. (A list of presents for you, really. Let’s just be honest.)
If you solve and have something fun to contribute, please let me know. So far everything on my list is either coffee or writing utensil related. My mother did gift me an Advent crossword calendar which has already been bonkers fun so more on that later.
For now, I want to visit the oldest topic I have on my Notes app. Can we have a separate post for how personal the Notes app on everyone’s phone is? There are things on my device that should never see the light of day.
If you didn’t click on this post because of the title, let me give you some crossword clues:
- Achievement for a versatile artist
- Coveted quartet of awards
- Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony, collectively
- Exclusive entertainment honor roll
- Showbiz grand slam
I personally like the clue “Entertainment Honor Roll.” It should be a bumper sticker.
We are talking about EGOT-ing folks- the term for the overachievers in Hollywood that have won all four of the major American entertainment awards: an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony.
Let’s do a roll call.
The Emmy Awards, simply known as the Emmys, are the annual awards that recognize excellence in television. The Emmys cover various genres including dramas, comedies, and documentaries. They are divided into two main ceremonies, the Primetime Emmy Awards and the Daytime Emmy Awards. (A weird fact I did not know until today.)
The “G” in EGOT stands for The Grammy Awards which are awarded by the Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievements in the music industry. The Grammys cover a wide range of categories, honoring various genres and aspects of music, including pop, rock, rap, country, classical, and more. There are also awards given out for achievements in performance, production, and songwriting. Some of the major Grammy categories include Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best New Artist, and awards specific to genres such as Best Pop Vocal Album, Best Rap Album, and Best Country Album.
Up next in the acronym is the Oscar, also known as the Academy Award. It is an accoldate presented on an annual basis by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence in film and movies. The awards are given in various categories, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Actress.
Last, but certainly not least because it is my favorite, is the Tony Awards! They are presented once a year for excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards were named after Antoinette Perry, an actress, director, and co-founder of the American Theatre Wing, one of the organizations that presents the awards.
The Tony Awards recognize outstanding achievements in various categories including Best Play, Best Musical, Best Revival of a Play, Best Revival of a Musical, Best Actor and Actress in leading and featured roles, and Best Direction. The awards ceremony celebrates the best performances and productions on Broadway each season.
Winning all four of these… is a feat. But a few extremely talented individuals have their name on the entertainment honor roll list. In total, 18 people have achieved a competitive EGOT status and 6 others have done so with honorary or special awards.
The competitive winners include:
Richard Rodgers
Emmy: Outstanding achievement in original music composed for television, Winston Churchill: The Valiant Years (1962)
Grammy: Best show album (original cast), The Sound of Music (1961)
Oscar: Best song, “It Might as Well Be Spring” from State Fair (1946)
Tony: Best producer (musical), best original music score, and best musical, South Pacific (1950)
Helen Hayes
Emmy: Best actress, Schlitz Playhouse of Stars: Not a Chance (1953)
Grammy: Best spoken word recording, Great American Documents (1977)
Oscar: Best actress, The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1932)
Tony: Best actress (play), Happy Birthday (1947)
Rita Moreno
Emmy: Outstanding continuing or single performance by a supporting actress in a variety or musical program, The Muppet Show (1977)
Grammy: Best recording for children, The Electric Company (1973)
Oscar: Best supporting actress, West Side Story (1962)
Tony: Best actress (featured role, play), The Ritz (1975)
John Gielgud
Emmy: Outstanding lead actor in a miniseries or special, Summer’s Lease (1991)
Grammy: Best album for children, The Emperor’s New Clothes (1980)
Oscar: Best supporting actor, Arthur (1982)
Tony: Best director (play), Big Fish, Little Fish (1961)
Audrey Hepburn
Emmy: Outstanding individual achievement — informational programming, Gardens of the World (1993)
Grammy: Best spoken word album for children, Audrey Hepburn’s Enchanted Tales (1994)
Oscar: Best actress, Roman Holiday (1954)
Tony: Best actress (play), Ondine (1954)
Marvin Hamlisch
Emmy: Outstanding individual achievement in music direction and outstanding individual achievement in music and lyrics, Barbra: The Concert (1995)
Grammy: Song of the year (“The Way We Were”), best new artist of the year, best pop instrumental performance (“The Entertainer”), and album of best original score written for a motion picture or a television special (The Way We Were) (1975)
Oscar: Best original dramatic score and best song (“The Way We Were” from The Way We Were) and best original song score and adaptation or scoring: adaptation (The Sting) (1974)
Tony: Best original musical score, A Chorus Line (1976)
Jonathan Tunick
Emmy: Outstanding achievement in music direction, Night of 100 Stars (1982)
Grammy: Best instrumental arrangement accompanying vocal(s), “No One Is Alone” (1989)
Oscar: Best original score and its adaptation or adaptation score, “A Little Night Music” from A Little Night Music (1978)
Tony: Best orchestrations, Titanic (1997)
Mel Brooks
Emmy: Outstanding writing achievement in a variety program, The Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Carl Reiner, Howard Morris Special (1967)
Grammy: Best spoken comedy album, The 2000 Year Old Man in the Year 2000 (1999)
Oscar: Best story and screenplay (written directly for the screen), The Producers (1969)
Tony: Best musical (Brooks was a producer), original musical score, book (musical) for The Producers (2001)
Mike Nichols
Emmy: Outstanding made-for-television movie, Wit (2001)
Grammy: Best comedy performance, An Evening with Mike Nichols and Elaine May (1962)
Oscar: Best director, The Graduate (1968)
Tony: Best director (play), Barefoot in the Park (1964)
Whoopi Goldberg
Emmy: Outstanding special class special, Beyond Tara: The Extraordinary Life of Hattie McDaniel (2002)
Grammy: Best comedy recording, Whoopi Goldberg — Original Broadway Show Recording (1986)
Oscar: Best supporting actress, Ghost (1991)
Tony: Best musical (Goldberg was a producer), Thoroughly Modern Millie (2002)
Scott Rudin
Emmy: Outstanding children’s program, He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin’ (1984)
Grammy: Best musical theatre album, The Book of Mormon (2012)
Oscar: Best picture (Rudin was a producer), No Country for Old Men (2008)
Tony: Best musical (Rudin was a producer), Passion (1994)
Robert Lopez
Emmy*: Outstanding achievement in music direction and composition, Wonder Pets! (2008)
Grammy: Best musical theatre album, The Book of Mormon (2012)
Oscar: Best original song, “Let It Go” from Frozen (2014)
Tony: Best original musical score, Avenue Q (2004)
*Daytime Emmy Award; in 2021 Lopez won a Primetime Emmy.
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Emmy: Outstanding variety special (live), Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert (2018)
Grammy: Best cast show album, Evita: Premiere American Recording (1981)
Oscar: Best original song, “You Must Love Me” from Evita (1997)
Tony: Best original musical score, Evita (1980)
Tim Rice
Emmy: Outstanding variety special (live), Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert (2018)
Grammy: Best cast show album, Evita: Premiere American Recording (1981)
Oscar: Best original song, “A Whole New World” from Aladdin (1993)
Tony: Best original musical score, Evita (1980)
John Legend
Emmy: Outstanding variety special (live), Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert (2018)
Grammy: Best new artist, best male R&B vocal performance (“Ordinary People”), and best R&B album (Get Lifted) (2006)
Oscar: Best original song, “Glory” from Selma (2015)
Tony: Best revival (play; Legend was a producer), August Wilson’s Jitney (2017)
Alan Menken
Emmy: Outstanding original song in a children’s, young adult, or animated program, “Waiting in the Wings” from Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure (2020)
Grammy: Best recording for children (The Little Mermaid) and best song written specifically for a motion picture or for television (“Under the Sea”) (1991)
Oscar: Best original score (The Little Mermaid) and original song (“Under the Sea”) (1991)
Tony: Best original musical score, Newsies (2012)
Jennifer Hudson
Emmy: Outstanding interactive media for a daytime program (Hudson was a producer), Baba Yaga (2021)
Grammy: Best R&B album, Jennifer Hudson (2009)
Oscar: Best supporting actress, Dreamgirls (2007)
Tony: Best musical (Hudson was a producer), A Strange Loop (2022)
Viola Davis
Emmy: Outstanding lead actress in a drama series, How to Get Away with Murder (2015)
Grammy: Best audio book, narration, and storytelling recording, Finding Me (2023)
Oscar: Best supporting actress, Fences (2017)
Tony: Best actress (featured role, play), King Hedley II (2001)
Non-competitve winners include: Barbra Streisand has no competitive Tony, Liza Minnelli has no competitive Grammy, and Harry Belafonte, James Earl Jones, Quincy Jones, and Frank Marshall have no competitive Oscar.
I just want to end by saying that the man who tortured all parents across the globe with “Let It Go” is on this list.
I mean, the song slaps but I was about to let life go and cold definately bothers me every day.
Cheers everyone, I hope the start of the holiday season is treating you well.
Keep your pencils sharp and your pens at the ready,
Kasey
