Oscars: Twelve People Most Likely to Win an EGOT
At this point, nobody remembers Philip Michael Thomas for his time on Miami Vice. His enduring contribution to society is his declaration that he intended to end up with an EGOT: that was his acronym for nabbing an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony. Thomas even sported a gold medallion engraved with the letters EGOT, but as of 2014, has not been nominated for any of the big four awards in the show-biz grand slam.
There are just eleven members of the ultra-exclusive EGOT club: actors Helen Hayes, Rita Moreno, John Gielgud, Audrey Hepburn, and Whoopi Goldberg; composers Richard Rodgers, Marvin Hamlisch, and Jonathan Tunick; producer Scott Rudin; and hyphenates Mel Brooks and Mike Nichols. If you count honorary Oscars and other special awards, then Barbra Streisand, Liza Minnelli, and James Earl Jones also get past the velvet EGOT rope.
Public awareness of the EGOT was revived on a 2009 episode of 30 Rock, when Tracy Jordan bought Philip Michael Thomas's old medallion and decided to strive for the grand slam, declaring, "That's a good goal for a talented crazy person." So who are the leading nonfictional contenders to achieve the EGOT today?—Gavin Edwards
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1. Robert Lopez
Lopez's previous wins include a Tony for Avenue Q, a Grammy for the Book of Mormon cast album, and an Emmy for The Wonder Pets. (By general consensus, Daytime Emmys qualify for EGOT status: as Whoopi Goldberg said on 30 Rock, defending her own Daytime Emmy, "It still counts–girl's got to eat.") Lopez needs only an Oscar, and fortunately for him, is nominated in the Best Song category as cowriter of the popular "Let It Go" (from Frozen). That means that come March 2, Lopez stands an excellent chance of being the twelfth person to be EGOTified.
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2. Kate Winslet
On her mantelpiece: an Oscar for The Reader, an Emmy for Mildred Pierce, a Grammy for Listen to the Storyteller. Winslet's chances at the Tony looked better a few years ago, when she lived in New York City and was married to theater/film director Sam Mendes. (She now resides in the U.K. with Ned Rocknroll, an executive at Virgin Galactic and nephew of Richard Branson.) But she still has to be considered a leading EGOT contender if she ever makes the Broadway debut that is the subject of periodic rumors.
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3 & 4. Trey Parker and Matt Stone
The creators of Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo, have a substantial trophy collection: multiple South Park Emmys, plus the Tony and the Grammy for The Book of Mormon and its cast album. They now need only an Oscar to achieve EGOTosity. (We're setting aside Parker's Student Academy Award back in 1993.) They seem like strong contenders for some future screenplay or song (a category they've already been nominated in, for "Blame Canada" from South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut).
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5. Elton John
Sir Elton has a Tony for Aida, an Oscar for "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" from The Lion King, and fistfuls of Grammys (if you have extra-big fists). How will he get his Emmy? By writing the music for a beloved Christmas special? By producing a revered cable series? By making a guest appearance as Zooey Deschanel's curmudgeonly boss on New Girl?
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6. Robin Williams
Williams has an Oscar for Good Will Hunting, two Emmys for late-80s variety programs (one with Carol Burnett, one a command performance for Prince Charles and Princess Di), and, remarkably, six Grammys for his comedy albums). He's done his share of New York theater, including a one-man show and a stretch opposite Steve Martin in Waiting for Godot, but so far, the Tony has remained as far away as Ork.
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7. Cyndi Lauper
Girls just want to have awards: Lauper won the Emmy for her guest appearance on Mad About You, a Tony for writing the music of Kinky Boots, and two Grammys, 29 years apart, for Best New Artist and the Kinky Boots cast album. Not that long ago, Lauper would have seemed as unlikely an EGOT candidate as Marge Simpson. But with the current Broadway success of Kinky Boots, she's now just one successful movie adaptation with an Oscar-bait song added to the soundtrack away from immortality!
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8. Stephen Sondheim
Being a (brilliant, acclaimed) composer is a fast track to EGOT, and there's never been anybody better on Broadway than Sondheim, who can use lyrics like glitter bombs or stilettos. He lacks only an Emmy, which seems not hard to achieve if he does the right TV project. Other theatre-based songwriters with the same status include Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice, and Alan Menken. Attend the tale of Sondheim: seven competitive Tonys, eight Grammys, and the Oscar for "Sooner or Later," sung by Madonna in Dick Tracy. Plus a Pulitzer.
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9. Lily Tomlin
Tomlin has a Tony for The Search of Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe, a Grammy for her comedy album This Is a Recording, and a half-dozen Emmys, including one for her work on 1978's The Paul Simon Special.) Her only Oscar nomination was in 1975, for Nashville–but at age 74, she might have one final great film performance in her. She can be heartbreaking and hilarious on-screen, even in movies where she gets screamed at by David O. Russell off-camera.
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10. Randy Newman
Singer-songwriter Randy Newman should win awards at every opportunity, both because he's awesome and because he reliably delivers droll acceptance speeches. His life is good: two Emmys for Monk and one for Cop Rock (really!), six Grammys (all for his film work), and two Oscars (out of twenty nominations) for "We Belong Together" from Toy Story 3 and "If I Didn't Have You" from Monsters, Inc. Unfortunately, he lacks a Tony: his one effort at an original stage musical, Randy Newman's Faust, never made it to Broadway. Try again, Randy!
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11. Al Pacino
Justice for Al: an Oscar for Scent of a Woman (after seven prior nominations), Emmys for Angels in America and You Don't Know Jack, and Tonys for Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie? and The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel. Sure, the easy way for Pacino to get a Grammy, and thereby achieve EGOTtiude, would be to do a classy spoken-word album: maybe something Shakespearean or a dramatic reading of the correspondence of Thomas Jefferson. But why not shoot the moon? Let's put Pacino in the studio with Kanye and see what happens!
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12. Cher
Cher's home furnishings include a Grammy for "Believe," an Oscar for Moonstruck, and an Emmy for Cher: The Farewell Tour. She launched her acting career in 1982 with Robert Altman's stage production of Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, and has been absent from Broadway since then. But two years ago, she announced that she was working on a musical about her own life–which she would also star in. If she doesn't win the Tony for that, then something is wrong with America.