The first actor in history to win an Oscar, Golden Globe, Emmy, and Tony
Everyone has heard of an ‘EGOT’, the looming achievement of an actor winning an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and a Tony, proving their power across both music and acting, but this here is something different.
The idea of an EGOT demands musical ability. At the very least, a performer needs to be a double threat, if not a triple. They often have to master musical theatre, as it’s one of the most common ways to secure both a Tony and a Grammy, with the latter requiring strong vocal ability.
Of the winners in that ranking of rare honorees, there are names like Audrey Hepburn, Barbra Streisand, Elton John and Jennifer Hudson, and while newer faces like Cynthia Erivo are coming close, that’s not what we’re hearing to talk about.
What about the stars that can’t sing? If there’s no hope of them winning a Grammy with any level of musical ability, one wonders what special status they can earn if simply having a good gathering of different acting awards isn’t enough.
How about an EGOT, but different? An Emmy, an Oscar and a Tony still, but a Golden Globe instead of a Grammy, letting them off without the needed hit song or an album. That feels most representative of true acting greatness. Especially with a Tony still included, it still makes sure to include mastery of the stage as another skill honoured for actors who go above and beyond. As so many performers started in theatres, their own version of an EGOT feels right, celebrating actors who have excelled in every possible arena of their craft, but just maybe don’t want to sing a little ditty.
Who was the first actor in history to join the EGOT club?
Whereas the first EGOT was granted in 1977 to Helen Hayes, an actor winning an Oscar, Golden Globe, Emmy and a Tony took a lot longer. That ranking essentially requires them to have won big at each and every acting prize, and as the industry is always reluctant to overindulge a performer, rarely letting one person sweep too many awards in too quick a succession, it took the first actor 35 years to make it happen.
It’s Al Pacino who leads the charge. He won the first in 1969 as he earned a Tony for ‘Best Featured Actor’ in Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie? He then moved into the world of movies, earning the Golden Globe first for his performance in Serpico.
With that ‘Best Actor’ trophy under his belt, it was a sizeably gap until he won ‘Best Actor’ at the Oscars in 1993 for Scent of a Woman. The Emmys were the ones that evaded him for quite some time, only picking up that final honour in 2004 with Angels in America, taking home the trophy for ‘Outstanding Lead Actor’.
Bagging his own kind of EGOT to celebrate his talents and looming legacy from stage to screen, Al Pacino never had to sing a note.
