Whoopi Goldberg, Rita Moreno, Audrey Hepburn, Marvin Hamlisch... What do these and only eight other artists have in common? They’ve each racked up an Emmy, Oscar, Grammy and Tony Award (in competitve categories) over the course of their creative careers. It's the grand slam, the quadruple threat: the EGOT! In honor of the 90th Academy Awards ceremony on March 4, we take stock of the Broadway stars and creatives who only need a certain little gold man to round out their EGOTS.
Lin-Manuel Miranda
Miranda was *this* close to snagging his EGOT at last year’s Oscars. The Hamilton creator and star was nominated for “How Far I’ll Go” from the movie Moana, but was thwarted by Justin Hurwitz’s “City of Stars” from La La Land. “How Far I’ll Go” did win a Grammy, though, so did the cast recordings of Hamilton and In the Heights. The two musicals have won him three Tonys.
Cynthia Erivo
Erivo managed to sweep three of the major prizes with her performance as Celie in the revival of The Color Purple, a unique feat and the only person on this list to do so. She won the Best Actress in a Musical Tony, a Daytime Emmy (yes, it counts!) for the cast’s performance on The Today Show, and a Grammy for the original cast recording. Her performance as Harriet Tubman in an upcoming biopic of the abolitionist smells like Oscar bait: the kind of prestige, tranformational part that is catnip to Academy voters.
Cynthia Nixon
Last year, Nixon added a second Tony to her awards collection. (She also won in 2006 for Rabbit Hole.) She took home the Best Featured Actress in a Play trophy for her stint with Laura Linney in The Little Foxes. The actress has two Emmys, one for her memorable role as Miranda on Sex and the City and the other for guesting on Law & Order: SVU, and a Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album for her narration An Inconvenient Truth. We're sure she'll EGOT someday, we just know it won't be for Sex and the City 3!
John Kander
The legendary Broadway musical composer has three Tonys (for Cabaret, Kiss of the Spiderwoman and Woman of the Year) and two Emmys for, appropriately enough, Liza Minnelli broadcast specials. Cabaret’s original cast recording won him a Grammy. It’s never too late for the 90-year-old to snag that Oscar and complete the grand slam.
Bette Midler
Midler already had a special 1974 Tony Award, but last year she said “Hello!” to her first competitive award for headlining the revival of Hello, Dolly! Her two hit singles, “Wind Beneath my Wings” and “The Rose” both won her Grammys, and she won Best New Artist in 1973. She has three Emmys for various broadcast specials. We still think she was robbed for Hocus Pocus!
Dick Van Dyke
The movie musical legend has three Emmys for The Dick Van Dyke Show, a Tony Award for playing Albert Peterson in the original 1960 Bye Bye Birdie and a Grammy for Mary Poppins in the Best Recording for Children category. The 92-year-old hoofer is still working (he'll appear in the upcoming Mary Poppins Returns), and we assume there is still room in his trophy case.
Marc Shaiman
The Hairspray composer won a Grammy for the show’s cast recording as well as a Tony for Best Original Score in 2003. He also garnered an Emmy for his writing on the 1992 Academy Awards telecast. (Important side note: his song “Let Me Be Your Star” from the NBC musical drama SMASH was nominated for a Grammy in 2013. We knew you'd want to know.)
Audra McDonald
The most awarded theater performer ever, Audra McDonald has racked up six (6!) Tonys for her work in Ragtime, A Raisin in the Sun, Porgy and Bess, Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill, Master Class and Carousel. She earned her Emmy by hosting the broadcast of Lincoln Center’s production of Sweeney Todd, and won two Grammys: for the recording of the 2007 production of Weill: Rise and Fall of The City of Mahagonny, which won in two categories.
John McDaniel
The Annie Get Your Gun producer won both a Grammy and a Tony Award for his work on the 2000 musical revival. He also nabbed two Daytime Emmys as a composer and producer on The Rosie O’Donnell Show.
Cyndi Lauper
Singer-songwriter Lauper’s two Grammy wins include Best New Artist in 1984, and the Best Musical Theater Album for the original cast recording of Kinky Boots. She also has an Emmy for her guest role on NBC’s Mad About You and a 2013 Best Original Score Tony Award for Kinky Boots, her Broadway writing debut.
James Earl Jones
Although the acting legend has an honorary Oscar, he has yet to secure a competitive one. Jones has a Best Spoken Word Album Grammy, and two Emmys (for Gabriel’s Fire and Heat Wave). He won his two competitive Tony Awards for Best Actor in both Fences and The Great White Hope. Returning to the role of Mufasa in Disney's live-action The Lion King could possibly put him in contention for an Oscar since voice-only performances are eligible, but one has never been nominated.
SPECIAL MENTION:
Carol Burnett
Carol Burnett won the Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album in 2017, inching herself one step closer to EGOT glory. The comedy queen has won six Emmys, most notably for her wildly popular series The Carol Burnett Show. She was presented with a special Tony Award in 1969, but hasn’t secured a competitive one despite two nominations for Moon over Buffalo and Once Upon a Mattress.