Not all actors may admit it, but almost anyone in the entertainment industry aspires to win an acting award. Making it in Hollywood is no small feat, let alone being singled out for giving an exceptional performance in the film, television, theater, or music industry. However, there is a small and exclusive group called EGOT that consists of individuals who managed to snag the four most prestigious awards in Hollywood: the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony.
To date, there are only 12 members in the EGOT club. Acclaimed composer and one half of the duo Rodgers and Hammerstein, Richard Rodgers, was the first to complete all four awards in 1962. Aside from composing nearly a thousand songs for numerous Broadway musicals, Rodgers also wrote songs for film and television. He is also one of two EGOT members who received a Pulitzer Prize for the musical score of the 1949 film South Pacific. Rodgers has a total of 13 awards under his belt.
Actress Helen Hayes became an EGOT member in 1976 when she won a Grammy for her spoken word album entitled Great American Documents. The first female to get the coveted EGOT slot, she received her first major award in 1932 and waited 45 years to complete the collection. Hayes has 7 awards that consist of three Tonys, two Oscars, one Emmy, and one Grammy.
The third member is another actress – Rita Moreno. She managed to accomplish a number of “firsts” in the EGOT club, the first of which is being the first Hispanic actor to be admitted to it. She is also the first to win a Grammy award for a song performance as opposed to a music composition.
Actor Sir John Gielgud is the oldest winner to become an EGOT. He has a total of six awards that include three Tonys, two Grammys, one Emmy, and one Oscar. The theatrical actor was also the first EGOT member to win a non-Oscar as his first major award.
Audrey Hepburn was the first actor to make the EGOT club through a posthumous award. Her last distinct award was granted in 1993 for her work in the television documentary Gardens of the World with Audrey Hepburn.
Composer Marvin Hamlisch was the second EGOT member to receive a Pulitzer award. He has three Oscars, the most number received by a Grand Slam winner. He took home the Grammys for Best Artist and Song of the Year in 1974, as well as a Grammy and Oscar for the title song, “The Way We Were”
Composer and musical director Jonathan Tunick received one of each award, while comedian Mel Brooks received 11 awards. The Graduate director Mike Nichols has a total of 15 awards and has the most number of Tonys of any Grand Slam winner.
The View co-host Whoopi Goldberg officially joined the EGOT club in 2002 when she won a Tony for co-producing the musical Thoroughly Modern Millie. Her inclusion in the list has been quite controversial as she received a Daytime Emmy as opposed to a Primetime Emmy. Producer Scott Rudin won his fourth award in 2012 for the children’s TV program He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin’.
The most recent and youngest member of the EGOT club is Filipino-American songwriter Robert Lopez. Along with his wife, Lopez won Best Original Song at the Oscars for the song, Let It Go, which is part of the official soundtrack of the Disney animated film, Frozen.
EGOT! A Photo Recap of Disney Moments at Last Night’s Oscars Ceremony: http://t.co/5mHFMX3Z5c pic.twitter.com/mZbgEUIfKs
— Disney D23 (@DisneyD23) March 3, 2014
Image via Twitter