Viola Davis is the newest member of the exclusive EGOT club.
The often-tossed-around acronym is used to describe entertainment artists who’ve earned at least one Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony award. So far, the elite group consists of icons like Audrey Hepburn and Rita Moreno, along with contemporary celebrities such as John Legend and Whoopi Goldberg.
At the 2023 Grammy Awards, Viola Davis joined the ranks of EGOT winners with a win for best audiobook recording, honoring the recording of her memoir “Finding Me,” an Oprah’s Book Club pick.
Whenever one of the four major award shows rolls around, chatter about who might be the next person to achieve an EGOT starts swirling. Many stars are close to earning their EGOT, including Cynthia Erivo, Billy Porter, and Lin-Manuel Miranda, who need that coveted Oscar. From Cher to Helen Mirren to Dick Van Dyke, the list of three-out-of-four goes on.
There’s another distinction on the EGOT list: Competitive vs. honorary awards. Some stars on this list, like Barbra Streisand and Liza Minelli, have EGOTs because they earned special awards (e.g. Lifetime Achievement nods), while others earned all four awards competitively.
Davis won at the 2023 Grammys, making her the third Black woman to win an EGOT.
• Emmy: Lead Actress in a Drama Series,
“How to Get Away with Murder,” 2015
• Grammy: Best Audio Book, Narration, and
Storytelling Recording, “Finding Me,” 2023
• Oscar: Best Supporting Actress,
“Fences”, 2017
• Tonys: Best Performance by an Actress in a
Leading Role in a Play, “Fences,” 2010; Best
Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role
in a play, “King Hedley II,” 2001.
