Top 5 Must-Know Facts About the EGOT
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VOICE OVER: EB
Script written by Michael Wynands
What is an EGOT you ask? Emmy. Grammy. Tony. Oscar. Put those four illustrious awards together and you get an EGOT. You've probably heard this word thrown around a lot but what is it, who has it and what is the story behind it?! Find out in our facts about EGOT!
What is an EGOT you ask? Emmy. Grammy. Tony. Oscar. Put those four illustrious awards together and you get an EGOT. You've probably heard this word thrown around a lot but what is it, who has it and what is the story behind it?! Find out in our facts about EGOT!
#5: What it Stands For and Where it Came From Emmy. Grammy. Oscar. Tony. Put those four illustrious awards together and you get an EGOT. Most people in the entertainment industry would be honored to receive any one of these awards, but there are those, like fictional comedian Tracy Jordan, of “30 Rock”’s TGS, who make it their ambition to achieve this somewhat obscure acronym. The EGOT isn’t an actual award, but more of a pop culture concept. Ironically the man who coined the term, Philip Michael Thomas, of Miami Vice fame, never managed to get ANY of the awards, despite wearing an EGOT necklace and telling an interviewer in 1984 that he hoped to win all four over the next five years.
#4: Robert Lopez: The Most Recent and Youngest While Thomas has yet to achieve his dream, American musical songwriter Robert Lopez joined this elite club in 2014 when he won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. You may have heard of the tune... it’s called “Let It Go”, it was written for the Disney film “Frozen”, and has been described as “musical crack”. The other awards were earned through his work on the children’s series “Wonder Pets!”, the music for “The Book of Mormon” and his own musical, Avenue Q. Earned over a 10 year period starting in 2004, this makes him not only the youngest winner but also the person to do it in the least amount of time.
#3: Few Winners are Household Names So… while you probably know Lopez’ music, unless you’re big into musicals, you may very well have never heard of him. He’s not alone among EGOT winners in this regard. Think about the four awards they need to win. Household names from the entertainment world may cross over into other parts of the industry, but few are likely to succeed at an award-winning level outside their area of expertise. As a result, members of this small group tend to be incredibly creative, but more often than not, are the people working behind the scenes and not the stars, as their skills are more likely to translate across various types of media.
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#2: Its Importance is Debated If you were previously unfamiliar with the EGOT, you may be thinking to yourself… “this is awesome,why am I only hearing about it now?!” Well, there are many people out there who agree, and feel that this achievement deserves more recognition as a rare feat within the entertainment industry. Some however, disagree with bolstering its importance. The issue is that not all EGOTs are created equal, nor are all awards within the EGOT earned with equal merit - and this sort of discrepancy weakens the significance of the EGOT as a whole. For example, a Grammy earned for a spoken word performance doesn’t necessarily make an EGOT winner the “quadruple threat” one might imagine.
#1: It’s a Small Group Regardless of how that EGOT was earned… if someone manages to score all four of these awards, they join a very elite club. In fact, Robert Lopez is only the 12th member. Composer Richard Rodgers was the first individual to EGOT in 1962, more than 20 years before the term even existed. He would be alone in this achievement until actresses Helen Hayes and Rita Moreno both joined him in 1977. The most recognizable names on the list include Audrey Hepburn, Mel Brooks and Whoopi Goldberg. It might be a small group, but it’s a talented one!
