What is an EGOT? A guide to the entertainment quadruple crown

Learn more about performers and creators who have won (or almost won) the coveted honor.

While many actors, writers, and directors have egos, only a few have the coveted EGOT: at least one each of an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award. You've probably heard the term EGOT before, maybe from watching 30 Rock, in which Tracy Jordan buys an EGOT necklace and sets out to win all four awards, reigniting the culture's obsession with the trophies.

But what does it mean and which theatre artists have one? Here's a look at what it means to win an EGOT, who has won one, and who almost has.

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What does it mean to win an EGOT?

EGOT is an acronym for Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award. The term was initially coined by Miami Vice star Phillip Michael Thomas in 1984 in an interview, but Richard Rodgers was the first person to achieve the honor in 1962. Thomas specified that an EGOT does not include Daytime Emmy Awards or any other form of Emmy other than the Primetime Emmy.

EGOTs must be in competitive categories. However, if you include special and non-competitive awards (like lifetime achievement awards), six additional people have achieved the honor: Barbra Streisand, Liza Minnelli, James Earl Jones, Alan Menken, Harry Belafonte, and Quincy Jones.

Who has won an EGOT?

Eighteen people have achieved EGOT status. Some have even gotten to PEGOT, which includes a Pulitzer Prize. (Some also interpret the "P" in PEGOT as standing for the Peabody Award.) However, 2 of these people have only won Daytime Emmy Awards and therefore technically are not considered EGOTS.

Richard Rodgers

The celebrated composer has won the awards 13 times, but he got an EGOT in 1962 when he won a Tony and a Grammy for No Strings and an Emmy for Winston Churchill: The Valiant Years. He had previously won an Oscar for the song "It Might As Well Be Spring."

Helen Hayes

The actor doesn't just have a Broadway theatre named for her; she also has seven major awards. She achieved EGOT status in 1977 when she won a Grammy for Best Spoken Word Recording for Great American Documents. She was also the first actor to win what's considered the "triple crown of acting," with an Emmy, Oscar, and Tony Award.

Rita Moreno

Moreno also received her fourth award in 1977 with an Emmy for The Muppet Show. She won an Oscar for West Side Story in 1975, a Grammy for Best Recording for Children for The Electric Company in 1972, and a Tony Award for The Ritz in 1975.

John Gielgud

The actor became the oldest person ever to receive the honor when he won his fourth award, an Emmy for Summer's Lease, in 1991 when he was 87.

Audrey Hepburn

Hepburn won her final award after her death, when she received the Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album for Children in 1994 for Audrey's Enchanted Tales. She has a special Tony Award and a special Oscar, but she also won those awards in the competitive categories for Ondine and Roman Holiday, respectively.

Marvin Hamlisch

The composer has three Oscars (the most of any EGOT-er), four Emmys, four Grammys, and one Tony. His Emmys for Barbra: The Concert in 1995 put him at EGOT status.

Jonathan Tunick

The composer, conductor, and orchestrator won his fourth award, a Tony, for Best Orchestrations for Titanic. He and Hepburn are the first two winners to have only received a single award in each category.

Mel Brooks

Brooks has 11 awards, and he capped off his EGOT with 2001 when he won three Tony Awards for The Producers: Best Book of a Musical, Best Original Score, and Best Musical.

Mike Nichols

Nichols became an EGOT when he won two Emmys in 2001 for directing the made for television version of Margaret Edson's Wit. Nichols also has the longest timespan of winning awards from his Grammy Award for Best Comedy Performance in 1961 to his Tony for directing the revival of Death of a Salesman in 2012.

Whoopi Goldberg

Goldberg is the first winner to receive two awards in the same year: a Tony for producing Thoroughly Modern Millie and an Emmy for hosting Beyond Tara: The Extraordinary Life of Hattie McDaniel.

Scott Rudin

Rudin is the first producer to have won all four awards, and of EGOT-ers, he has the most wins, with 18 awards total. He became an EGOT in 2012 when he won the Grammy for the original cast recording of The Book of Mormon.

Robert Lopez

Lopez is the youngest EGOT winner and the person who achieved the honor the fastest (10 years). He achieved EGOT status when he won the Oscar for Best Song for "Let It Go" from Frozen in 2014.  He's also the first double EGOT, meaning he's won all four awards at least twice — and he's only one Oscar away from a triple EGOT.

John Legend

Legend is the first person to win all four awards in consecutive years, beginning with his Oscar for "Glory" from Selma in 2015 and ending with his Emmy for Jesus Christ Superstar: Live in 2018. He's received 14 total awards so far, including 10 Grammys.

Andrew Lloyd Webber

The composer has received 14 awards, and he became an EGOT, along with Legend and Rice, when they all received the Emmy for Jesus Christ Superstar: Live in 2018.

Tim Rice

The lyricist regularly collaborates with Webber, and the two became EGOTs together in 2018. Rice has won 12 awards.

Jennifer Hudson

Hudson achieved EGOT status in 2022. She's won an Emmy for producing Baby Yaga in 2021, two Grammys for Dreamgirls in 2009 and The Color Purple in 2017, an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in Dreamgirls, and finally, a Tony for producing A Strange Loop.

Viola Davis

Viola Davis started on the path to EGOT status in 2001, when she won a Best Featured Actress Tony for King Hedley II. The stage and screen star followed that up with an Emmy win in 2015 for How to Get Away With Murder, a 2017 Oscar win for starring in the film adaptation of August Wilson's play Fences, and a 2023 Grammy win for narrating the audiobook Finding Me.

She is only one of a few EGOT honorees — including Rita Moreno, Helen Hayes, and John Gielgud — to win all four awards for performing, and only the third person ever to win both the EGOT and the Triple Crown of Acting.

Elton John

The world already knew Sir Elton John was a legend, and his EGOT only proves that further. With his 2024 Emmy Award win — for a livestream of his farewell tour — he adds to a list of accolades that already includes five Grammy Awards, a Tony Award for the score to Aida, and two Oscars, including for "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" from The Lion King.

Who has almost won an EGOT?

Ninety people are one award away from winning the entertainment grand slam, and the list is getting longer every day. Here's a look at some of our Broadway favorites who could get to EGOT status any day.

Lin-Manuel Miranda

The Hamilton scribe and star just needs an Oscar for his Trophy cabinet. His work on the In the Heights, tick, tick... BOOM!, and Encanto films made him a contender in 2022, and although he didn't win, he's all but guaranteed to nab one in his career.

Benj Pasek and Justin Paul

The Dear Evan Hansen, La La Land, and The Greatest Showman writers each need an Emmy award. They were last nominated for one for A Christmas Story Live!

Marc Shaiman

Although he's been nominated for six Oscars, the composer is still missing the golden man from his shelf.

Ben Platt and Rachel Bay Jones

The original Dear Evan Hansen stars each won a Tony, Grammy, and Emmy for their work on the show. Platt and Jones won acting Tonys, a Grammy for performing on the original cast recording, and an Emmy for a live television performance.

Cynthia Erivo

Erivo just needs an Oscar, after winning a Tony, Grammy, and Emmy for her work on The Color Purple on Broadway.

Katrina Lenk and Ari'el Stachel

The Band's Visit stars Lenk and Stachel each won a Tony, Grammy, and Emmy for the musical, so they just need an Oscar.

Cher

The music superstar is just missing a Tony Award for her shelf. Although the musical based on her life was nominated for Best Lead Actress and Costumes in 2019, she wasn't up for an award.

Julie Andrews

The theatre icon is only missing a Tony Award. She was nominated for Camelot in 1961 and My Fair Lady in 1957, and she rejected her nomination for Victor/Victoria in 1996 after the show didn't receive any other nominations.

Audra McDonald

McDonald may have won six competitive Tony awards — more than any other actor — and is the only person to win a statue in all four Tony acting categories, but she still needs an Oscar to reach EGOT status. We're sure a movie adaptation of any of her hit stage roles could do the trick.

Charles Strouse

The composer/lyricist of Bye Bye Birdie and Annie needs an Academy Award to earn all four statues. He last wrote a film score in 1990, but maybe there's another one up his sleeve.

Trey Parker and Matt Stone

The Book of Mormon added a Tony and a Grammy to the South Park writers' resume, but they both need an Oscar to EGOT.

Hugh Jackman

Broadway's greatest showman still needs an Academy Award. He was nominated for his performance in Les Misérables in 2012.

Alan Menken

Menken has a special Emmy Award, but he still needs to win in a competitive category to add the final prize to his other three wins.

Common

Rapper, musician, and writer Common is three-quarters of the way to an EGOT. He earned an Oscar and a Grammy for the song "Glory," which he co-wrote for the film Selma, and earned his Emmy for writing "Letter to the Free" for the documentary 13th.