By Karen Carter | Posted on September 10, 2014 10:58 PM
EGOT's And REGOT's. Who Has Received Them And Who Are On Their Way. A List Of Impending Broadway Stars That May Deserve The EGOT Award
What Does The EGOT Award Mean?
The EGOT is an acronym made up of “Emmy,” “Grammy,” “Oscar,” and “Tony". This title refers to those extraordinary artists who have earned all four awards over the course of their career.
While most of us just dream of winning any award, the talented elite set their sights on something much higher: A made-up award that is just an amalgamation of other awards.
Bobby Lopez Wins An Oscar At The 2014 Academy Awards And Qualifies For An EGOT
At the 2014 Academy Awards on March 2, 2014, Robert “Bobby” Lopez became the youngest person ever to be designated an EGOT, when he received an Oscar. Upon winning the Oscar for Best Original Song for having written “Let It Go” from the Disney film Frozen, Bobby Lopez entered the prestigious circle of EGOT's. He accomplished this in the shortest amount of time in history: only 10 years. Lopez’s first part of the EGOT award was in 2004 with the Tony Award for Best Score.
This was for the raunchy puppet musical Avenue Q. He also received two Tony Awards in 2011 for The Book of Mormon, for Best Book of a Musical as well as Best Score. The Book of Mormon also earned him a Grammy in 2012 for Best Musical Theatre Album. He also earned two Daytime Emmys in 2008 and 2010, both for Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction and Composition for Nick Jr.’s Wonderpets. In addition to Lopez, only eleven other individuals have ever earned all four awards.
Who Received the First EGOT's?
The first recipient of the award was Richard Rodgers (1902 - 1979). He earned one Academy Award, one Emmy Award, two Grammy Awards, and six Tony Awards, as well as three Special (non-competitive) Tony Awards between 1945 and 1979. The second was Helen Hayes, who accomplished the mission between 1932, with her Best Actress Oscar win for The Sin of Madelon Claudet, and 1980, with her Special Tony Award for Distinguished Lifetime Achievement in the American Theatre.
Interestingly, both Rodgers and Hayes have Broadway theatres named in their honor. John Gielgud, who has a West End theatre named after him in London, also won all four awards between 1961 and 1991. Other winners of all four honors include the actors Audrey Hepburn, Rita Moreno, and Whoopi Goldberg, the composers Marvin Hamlisch and Jonathan Tunick, director/screenwriter Mel Brooks, director Mike Nichols, and producer Scott Rudin.
Broadway Stars Earn Prestigious Award
If one takes into account non-competitive awards to determine EGOTs, then three more individuals are added to the list: Barbra Streisand, who only earned a Special Tony Award, Liza Minnelli, who only earned a Special Grammy Award, and James Earl Jones, who only earned a Special Academy Award.
Numerous individuals have also earned the “Triple Crown of Acting,” which refers to earning a Tony, an Emmy, and an Oscar, all in Acting categories. These include Helen Hayes, Rita Moreno, Jack Albertson, Anne Bancroft, Ingrid Bergman, Shirley Booth, Ellen Burstyn, Melvyn Douglas, Jeremy Irons, Thomas Mitchell, Al Pacino, Christopher Plummer, Vanessa Redgrave, Jason Robards, Geoffrey Rush, Paul Scofield, Maggie Smith, Maureen Stapleton, and Jessica Tandy.
The Addition of the 'R" to Make it a REGOT
In 1981, an anti-award ceremony was established: the Golden Raspberry Awards, or Razzies for short, which recognize the worst in film. In jest, certain people have begun referring to REGOTs, for those who have earned all five awards. Of course, the R implies a negative achievement, but with the other four positive awards, this five-award recognition is more for fun than to cause shame.
There Is Only One REGOT Winner
The only person to have earned all five awards is Liza Minnelli, who won a Razzie in 1988 for two movies: Arthur 2: On the Rocks and Rent-a-cop – that is, if you include her Special Grammy Award. Whoopi Goldberg came close to being a REGOT, as she has been nominated for two Razzies, The Telephone in 1988 and Eddie in 1996.
Different individuals reach this level of achievement for different reasons. It helps if the artist has a musical bent, as this may allow them to earn a Grammy as well as a music-related Academy Award. It certainly helps if they are geniuses, and perhaps arrogance and overzealous confidence can also push them along toward this distinction. In any case, an EGOT is nothing to scoff at, for it represents true fan appreciation across multiple platforms of success. The REGOT, not so much.
