Every actor, producer, director, and composer to ever win an EGOT
In the 65 years that the Emmys, Grammys, Oscars, and Tonys have all existed, only 21 artists have won an award in all four ceremonies. It takes considerable range to be able to excel on television, in music, on the big screen, and on stage, though many of the recipients of the quartet of awards have done so through a single creative outlet. John Legend and Elton John, for example, achieved their hardware by either performing, composing, or producing music. Scott Rudin is the most focused of all the winners, having achieved his EGOT purely through producing.
Meanwhile, other performers have achieved it through immense versatility. Mel Brooks, for example, earned his EGOT by writing a musical, performing in a comedy album, scripting a film, and writing and guest starring in multiple television shows.
Many of the actors who have earned EGOTs have done so by winning spoken-word Grammys rather than by branching out into music. Audrey Hepburn, for example, won her EGOT posthumously when she earned a Grammy for her children’s album, Audrey Hepburn’s Enchanted Tales. Viola Davis earned her Grammy for narrating the audiobook version of her memoir.
Within the list of EGOT winners are several records. Richard Rodgers of Rodgers and Hammerstein was the first to achieve the distinction. John Gielgud was the oldest recipient to achieve the quartet, having won an Emmy in 1991 for starring in the series Summer’s Lease at age 87. Composer Robert Lopez is the youngest, having won an Oscar for the Frozen song ‘Let It Go’ in 2014 at age 39. Interestingly enough, he only achieved youngest status by a matter of months. 39 seems to be a popular EGOT age. Four out of the 21 recipients were that age at the time they achieved the distinction.
Actor Helen Hayes holds the honour of having taken the longest to attain her EGOT, proving her longevity in show business. Having won an Academy Award for ‘Best Actress in a Leading Role’ in The Sin of Madelon Claudet in 1932, it wasn’t until 1977 that she won a Grammy for ‘Best Spoken Word Recording’ for Great American Documents.
There is a tie for the quickest EGOT winners. Composers Justin Paul and Benj Pasek earned theirs in just seven years for their joint efforts on La La Land, Only Murders in the Building, Dear Evan Hansen, and The Greatest Showman.
The full list of EGOT winners:
Here is the full list of EGOT winners who have achieved all of their awards in competitive races.
There are six others who have won an EGOT partly through honorary awards, including Barbra Streisand and the late Quincy Jones.
- Richard Rodgers (completed in 1962)
- Helen Hayes (completed in 1977)
- Rita Moreno (completed in 1977)
- John Gielgud (completed in 1991)
- Audrey Hepburn (completed in 1994)
- Marvin Hamlisch (completed in 1995)
- Jonathan Tunick (completed in 1997)
- Mel Brooks (completed in 2001)
- Mike Nichols (completed in 2001)
- Whoopi Goldberg (completed in 2002)
- Scott Rudin (completed in 2012)
- Robert Lopez (completed in 2014)
- Andrew Lloyd Webber (completed in 2018)
- Tim Rice (completed in 2018)
- John Legen (completed in 2018)
- Alan Menken (completed in 2020)
- Jennifer Hudson (completed in 2022)
- Viola Davis (completed in 2023)
- Elton John (completed in 2024)
- Benj Pasek (completed in 2024)
- Justin Paul (completed in 2024)
