EGOT: Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony – Will Robert Lopez Join that Elite Group?

The EGOT. The wholly quartet of artistic awards achievement for television, music, film and stage. Less than a dozen people have earned competitive awards with these four and one has the chance to join that group this year; Robert Lopez, the co-

songwriter on the Oscar-nominated Best Original Song “Let It Go,” from Frozen. The song, and he, are largely considered the frontrunner in the Original Song category. His previous awards have been Daytime Emmys in 2008 and 2008 for his musical direction of The Wonder Pets, three Tonys (one for Best Original Score for Avenue Q and two for The Book of Mormon, Best Original Score and Best Book of a Musical) and a Grammy for The Book of Mormon for Best Musical Theater Album. But Pharrell’s recent Grammy success and the huge success his nominated song “Happy” (from Despicable Me 2) have proven this to be a close race and could put Pharrell on his own track to EGOT.

Often the possession of a Daytime Emmy, even though it’s competitive, is not considered by some as enough to warrant EGOT status and is constantly a point of contention. Whoopi Goldberg, the only EGOTer with a Daytime Emmy win, has rebuffed this many times. Honorary awards are often included for the sake of lists but as they are not competitive they are not be considered a true EGOT.

Here’s the list of those who have achieved EGOT status, in chronological order:

01. Richard Rodgers (1962)
02. Helen Hayes (1977)
03. Rita Moreno (1977, who also holds the record of shortest time to EGOT, 16 years)
04. John Gielgud (1991)
05. Audrey Hepburn (1994)
06. Marvin Hamlisch (1995)
07. Jonathan Tunick (1997)
08. Mel Brooks (2001)
09. Mike Nichols (2001)
10. Whoopi Goldberg* (2002) (Daytime Emmy)
11. Scott Rudin (2012)

EGOTs with Honorary Awards
Barbra Streisand (honorary Tony)
Liza Minnelli (honorary Grammy)
James Earl Jones (honorary Oscar)

There are dozens of folks that are always on the cusp of this achievement. Here are the triple-crown winners with who are one away from EGOT-ing. Who’s the closest? Who can pull it off?

Kate Winslet seems the most likely from this group to snag a Tony and getting her EGOT. She’s certainly the most desperate and that could take her all the way. Does Scorsese have it in him to direct a play? If Glengarry Glenn Ross hadn’t already been done he might have been a good choice. Maybe someone will turn The Wolf of Wall Street into a musical.

E_OT
01. Ellen Burstyn
02. Jeremy Irons
03. Al Pacino
04. Christopher Plummer
05. Vanessa Redgrave
06. Geoffrey Rush
07. Maggie Smith
08. Tony Walton

The spoken word Grammy, sometimes the clincher for EGOT status, is not as easy as it used to be and it’s hard to see anyone from this group, save maybe Jeremy Irons or Geoffrey Rush, securing it. Although Al Pacino ‘hoo-ha!’ing his way through a children’s book could be worth a Grammy

_GOT
01. Elton John
02. Andrew Lloyd Webber
03. Alan Menken
04. Tim Rice
05. Stephen Sondheim

This quintet of songwriters should have an easy track to an Emmy in the form of an original song but that category is even more elusive and strange in terms of nominations than the Oscars sometimes. In the previous days when performances in variety specials had their own nomination, that would have given John a leg up. But since that is no more, he’ll have to find a way to get a song in a series or television movie.

With Cyndi Lauper’s recent Tony wins she’s just a Best Original Song Oscar away from the EGOT. Same goes for South Park and Book of Mormon creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. With The Book of Mormon the most likely to make the jump from Broadway to the silver screen (Lauper’s Kinky Boots actually went in the opposite direction) it seems the pair, already previous Oscar nominees, have the best chance of scoring. Same goes for Marc Shaiman, Stone and Parker’s musical arranger.