In entertainment, four awards stand as the pinnacle of artistic achievement: the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony. Each one celebrates unparalleled talent in television (Emmy), music (Grammy), film (Oscar), and theatre (Tony). EGOT winners belong to the highest echelon of the industry, with only 18 individuals attaining this distinguished status, eight of whom are women. Their achievements serve as a testament that talent, perseverance, and creativity recognize no gender bounds.
Helen Hayes
Helen Hayes (1900-1993) was a renowned American actress. She began her stage career at a mere five years old, and made her film debut at ten in Jean and the Calico Doll. Hayes won her first Oscar for Best Actress in her sound film debut The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1931). In 1933, she marked her return to the stage, where she would stay relatively consistently until 1971. She received her first Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play in 1946, with her performance in Happy Birthday. Although she was mostly a stage actress, she has some notable television cameos, which made such an impact that she was granted her first Emmy Award for Best Actress in 1953, for her performance in an episode of Not a Chance. In 1977 she won a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Recording for her narration of the audio book Great American Documents.
Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993) was a British actress and fashion icon. She was born in Belgium to a British father, and between the years 1936 to 1939 she attended boarding school in England. With the onset of World War II, she moved to the Netherlands with her mother and began studying ballet. She began performing in musical theatre productions in the late 1940s and had a few minor film appearances. Hepburn rose to fame in 1953, appearing in Roman Holiday, a performance that made history by earning her an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and a BAFTA. That same year, Hepburn also won a Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Play for her performance in Ondine. She experienced a massive rise in stardom until 1967, when she chose to limit her film appearances to occasional roles. Her final recorded performances were in 1990 in a documentary television series, Gardens of the World with Audrey Hepburn, for which she received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement – Informational Programming. In 1992, she won a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children, for her enchanting readings of classical children’s stories.
Rita Moreno
Rita Moreno (1931-) is a Puerto Rican actress, dancer and singer.
Moreno and her mother moved to New York City in 1936. Quickly after arriving in New York, she began taking dancing lessons. She made her first Broadway appearance in 1945, Skydrift. Her first film appearance was in 1951 with So Young, So Bad.
In 1962 she earned an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in West Side Story. She was also a distinguished Broadway star, appearing on stage more prominently in 1964. In 1975 she received a Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Play for The Ritz. From 1971 to 1977, she starred in the children’s educational television series, The Electric Company. In 1972, her work on The Electric Company record earned her a Grammy for Best Recording for Children. Due to her extensive background in children’s television, she became a recurring guest star on The Muppet Show, and in 1977, she was awarded an Emmy for Outstanding Continuing or Single Performance by a Supporting Actress in Variety or Music.
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand (1942-) is an American singer, actress, director, and producer. As a child, Barbra was always musically inclined, being the daughter of a semi-professional singer. At the age of 14, she saw her first Broadway play, The Diary of Anne Frank, igniting her desire to become an actress. In 1960, at just 18, Streisand made her first TV appearance on The Tonight Show, singing Harold Arlen’s “A Sleepin’ Bee”. A year later, she made her first Broadway debut in Another Evening with Harry Stoones. In 1963, she debuted her first album, The Barbra Streisand Album, it won two Grammys in 1964 – for Album of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Her return to Broadway in Funny Girl in 1964 earned her a Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album. A year later, Streisand released a television special, My Name is Barbra, to promote her album, My Name is Barbra, Two… For this, Streisand won two Emmy Awards – Outstanding Program Achievements in Entertainment and Outstanding Individual Achievements in Entertainment – Actors and Performers. In 1968 Funny Girl was adapted into a film, for which she received an Oscar for Best Actress. Two years later, Streisand won the Star of the Decade Tony Award.
Liza Minnelli
Liza Minnelli (1946-) is an American actress, singer, and dancer. She was born into a family of entertainment giants – her mother being Judy Garland and her father, Vincente Minnelli. She technically made her first appearance on screen as a baby, in her mother’s film In the Good Old Summertime (1949). However, she began her professional career in an Off-Broadway revival of Best Boot Forward. In 1968, she was cast in the Broadway show Flora the Red Menace, where she won her first Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical. From 1968 until the 1970s Minnelli recorded three albums, although they were not nearly as successful as her musical film Cabaret (1972). For her seminal role as Sally Bowles, she received an Academy Award for Best Actress in 1973. Following this success, she released a television special, Liza with a ‘Z’: A Concert for Television, featuring songs from her albums. This garnered her an Emmy for Outstanding Single Program – Variety and Popular Music, in 1973. In 1990 she received the Grammy Living Legend Award for Contributions and Influence in the Recording Field.
Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg (1955-) is an American actress, comedian, author, and television personality. She was born and raised in New York City, she began performing at the age of eight with a children’s theatre group. In her teenage years, she transitioned to performing in the choruses of Broadway shows. Her acting training took place at HB studios in New York City, in the late 1970s to early 1980s. Goldberg made her first onscreen appearance in Citizens: I’m Not Losing My Mind, I’m Giving it Away (1982). In 1983 she developed a one-woman show, The Spook Show, which later evolved into a Broadway show Whoopi Goldberg. In 1986, she won a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album, for Whoopi Goldberg: Original Broadway Show Recording. That same year she made her Hollywood debut in The Color Purple, which garnered her widespread acclaim. In 1990 she appeared in the movie Ghost, earning both an Oscar and a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress. She hosted the TV documentary movie, Beyond Tara: The Extraordinary Life of Hattie McDaniel in 2001, for which Goldberg won an Emmy for Outstanding Special Class Special. In 2002, Goldberg’s production of the Broadway show Thoroughly Modern Millie earned her a Tony Award for Best Musical.
Viola Davis
Viola Davis (1965-) is an American actress and producer. Her passion for acting was ignited during high school, and she pursued it further at Rhode Island University, graduating in 1988. She then continued her studies at The Juilliard School, as a member of the school’s Drama Division Group 22, and graduated in 1993. Davis began her professional career in an off-Broadway production of William Shakespeare’s As You Like It. Her Broadway breakthrough came in 1996 with August Wilson’s Seven Guitars. In 2001 she teamed up with August Wilson again for King Hedley II, granting her the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play. During the early 2000s she began making appearances in film, although she was very successful and nominated for many roles, she was still most successful in her onstage performances. In 2010, Davis returned to Broadway, again with August Wilson, who revived the play originally written by Rose Maxson, Fences. For this role, she won an additional Tony Award for Best Performance of a Leading Actress in a Play. In 2016, Fences was adapted into a film, and she reprised her previous role. For this, she went on to win an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress, the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role, and a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Two years prior, Davis took on the lead role in the TV series How to Get Away with Murder, earning her an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, in 2015. In 2023, she was awarded a Grammy for Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording, for her narration of her 2022 autobiography, Finding Me.
Jennifer Hudson
Jennifer Hudson (1981-) is an American singer, actress and producer. She first gained recognition as a finalist on the third season of American Idol in 2004. In 2007, Hudson made her film debut in Dreamgirls, a performance that not only catapulted her into stardom, but also earned her an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. In 2008, she released her first album, Jennifer Hudson, securing her a Grammy for Best R&B Album the following year. In 2021 she won an Emmy Award for Best Interactive Media for a Daytime Program, as an executive producer for the animated short film Baba Yaga. The following year, 2022, Jennifer Hudson received a Tony Award for Best Musical, as a producer for the Broadway musical, A Strange Loop.
These women have not only shattered ceilings but have paved the way for future generations of artists, proving that the stage, screen, and studio are arenas where women can excel, innovate, and leave an indelible mark. They stand as beacons of inspiration for artists everywhere, reminding us that with talent, perseverance, and unwavering passion, anything is possible in the world of entertainment.
