Despite the limited number of EGOT winners, countless individuals are just one award away from achieving this prestigious milestone. Notable actors like Jeremy Irons, Al Pacino, and Jessica Lange have come tantalizingly close to completing their Triple Crown of Acting, missing only a Grammy in their EGOT collection. Similarly, talented performers Cynthia Erivo and Ben Platt achieved the coveted Triple Crown of the Arts in less than a year, leaving only an Oscar to complete their EGOT journey.
Even though there are only 19 EGOT winners in total, a significant number of individuals are one step away from achieving this prestigious status, primarily through their involvement in the entertainment industry. Many of these individuals are actors, highlighting the interconnectedness of various creative pursuits within the show business landscape.
Before his 2024 Emmy win for Outstanding Variety Special, Elton John was among the many talented individuals who competed for the award, including many acclaimed actors. While plenty of actors are one award away from an EGOT, all ten actors on this list have achieved a level of success that is unmatched by any other category.
10 People Who Need an Oscar to EGOT:
- Bette Midler, a screen and stage performer as well as a recording artist, won all three of her awards in only four years, though one of these awards was non-competitive.
- The same year she won her first Grammy for Best New Artist in 1974, Midler also won her first Tony, a Special Award for her contributions to the Broadway season with her musical Clams on the Half Shell Revue.
- Midler wouldn't win a competitive Tony until 2017, when she won Best Actress in a Musical for playing the eponymous role in Hello, Dolly!
- In 1978, Midler won her first Emmy for Outstanding Comedy-Variety or Music Special for Bette Midler: Ol' Red Hair is Back.
- Midler was nominated twice for Best Actress, the first for The Rose in 1980 and the second for For the Boys in 1992.
- Midler won all three awards in only four years, though one of these awards was non-competitive.
- Though she hasn't been nominated in over 30 years, Midler was nominated twice for Best Actress.
Jeremy Irons has become an industry milestone in the pursuit of completing his EGOT collection. Achieving this coveted accolade requires more than just an Oscar; it signifies mastery across various artistic domains.
In 1997, Irons won his first Emmy for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance for voicing Siegfried Sassoon in the PBS docuseries The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century about World War I. Irons was nominated for three more Emmys, winning for Elizabeth I in 2006 and Game of Lions in 2014. Irons is only missing a Grammy from his EGOT lineup for which he was nominated once in 1985.
Like Irons, Vanessa Redgrave also has the Triple Crown of Acting, but her Triple Crown took a lot longer to achieve. After three prior nominations for Best Actress, Redgrave finally won her first and only Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for Julia in 1978. A few years later, she won her first Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie in 1991 for the TV movie Playing for Time. She has since been nominated for five more Emmys, winning Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie for If These Walls Could Talk 2 in 2000.
Al Pacino received three Tony Awards, first for Best Featured Actor in a Play for Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie? in 1969. He then went on to receive two more nominations, winning for Best Leading Actor in a Play for The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel in 1977.
Then, after seven nominations over the course of 20 years, Pacino finally won his first Oscar in 1993 for Best Actor in Scent of a Woman. He went on to win Best Actor for Glengarry Glen Ross that same year, but he was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role in that film. These dual nominations made him one of the few actors to ever be nominated in two different acting categories at the same Oscars ceremony. Since then, he's only been nominated once more in 2020 for The Irishman, further solidifying his status as one of the most Oscar-nominated actors of all time.
10 Famous Film Actors Who Won the Tonys on the Stage
From Jason Alexander to Sir Ian McKellen, these actors not only conquered the screen but were also able to win Tonys for their stage work as well.
Cynthia Nixon needs an Oscar.
Cynthia Nixon reached almost-EGOT status in 2009, winning three awards in five consecutive years. Notably, she won her first Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role on Sex and the City, followed by a second Emmy nomination for the same category in 2010. In 2004, she finally won the award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, solidifying her status as an EGOT recipient. Two years later, in 2006, she won her first Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Play for Rabbit Hole, further cementing her talent in the theater world.
Three years after her first Tony win, Nixon won her first and only Grammy in 2009 for Best Spoken Word Album. She went on to win the award for Best Spoken Word Album along with the other narrators of the audiobook for Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, but she has never received a nomination for an Academy Award.
Jessica Lange has also achieved the Triple Crown of Acting, though, unlike the other Triple Crown holders on this list, she only has one of each of the three acting awards under her belt. Lange's first and only Academy Award win was in 2006 for Best Supporting Actress in Mamma Mia! She went on to be nominated again for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button in 2008, but lost. In 2010, she won her first and only Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress in Silver Linings Play, but lost the award to Sandra Bullock. In 2015, she won her first and only BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress in Black Mirror, but lost the award to Emma Stone.
Jessica Lange is the most recent actor on this list to reach the milestone of the Triple Crown of Acting, which she achieved in 2016. Ten years before Pacino's win in 1993, Lange was also nominated in two different acting categories at the 1983 Academy Awards. She won Best Supporting Actress for Tootsie and was nominated for Best Actress four more times, the most recent of which was in 1995 for Blue Sky.
26 years after her first Oscar win, Cynthia Erivo finally won her first Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for Grey Gardens. She was nominated for seven more Emmys, two of which she won for American Horror Story. In 2016, Erivo won her first and only Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Play for playing Mary in Long Day's Journey into Night, the same role for which Redgrave won her first Tony. Like Redgrave and Rush, Erivo has never been nominated for a Grammy, which is the last award she needs for an EGOT.
Multitalented singer-songwriter and actor Cynthia Erivo achieved remarkable success in the entertainment industry within a year of the 2015 Broadway revival of The Color Purple. Notably, she first won the prestigious Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical for her captivating portrayal of Celie. Eight months later, she graced the Grammy stage with an award for Best Musical Theater Album for her exceptional work on the acclaimed production. And two and a half months after that, Cynthia added her Emmy Award to her impressive collection, winning for Outstanding Musical Performance in a Daytime Program for her electrifying performance on The Today Show. If her 2020 Oscar nominations for Harriet were to be honored, she would become the first EGOT winner in history within a mere four years.
10 Musicians & Singers Who Could Win an EGOT This Decade
Following the drama-packed Grammys and Oscars this past month, it's time to look forward to some possible EGOT winners this decade. Ben Platt is among those who could earn an EGOT this decade, and his ongoing journey towards an EGOT parallels Erivo's path almost exactly.
Billy Porter won his first Tony on June 11, 2017, for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for playing the titular role in Dear Evan Hansen, which he later reprised in the 2021 film adaptation of the stage musical. Three months later, Platt won his first Grammy just under eight months later, on January 28, 2018, for his Best Musical Theater Album. He and the cast of Parade are nominees for the same award at the 2024 Grammy Awards, airing February 4, 2024, at 8:00pm EST.
Billy Porter has won three awards in six years, becoming the most recent actor to achieve this accomplishment. His first Tony Award in 2013 for Best Leading Actor in a Musical for Kinky Boots. His first and only Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album in 2014 was for Kinky Boots. And his first Emmy nomination in 2019 for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for playing Pray Tell in Pose, solidified his status as an EGOT winner.