Topline
Actress Viola Davis won a Grammy Award on Sunday for narrating the audiobook of her memoir Finding Me, becoming only the 18th person in history to achieve the coveted EGOT status by winning an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award.
Viola Davis speaks onstage during the 65th GRAMMY Awards in Los Angeles, California.
Key Facts
Davis won her first Tony Award in 2001 for her supporting role in the play King Hedley II and in 2010 she would win her second Tony for her leading role in the Broadway revival of the play Fences.
In 2015, she became the first person of color to win the Emmy for best lead actress in a drama for her role in the show How to Get Away With Murder and only a year later she would win the best supporting actress Oscar for the cinematic adaptation of the play Fences, in which she reprised her Tony-winning stage role.
Davis is the fourth Black performer to win the quartet of awards after Whoopi Goldberg, John Legend, and Jennifer Hudson.
Besides Davis, other actors to win the EGOT include Helen Hayes, Rita Moreno, John Gielgud and Audrey Hepburn.
Composers Alan Menken, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Jonathan Tunick, Marvin Hamlisch, Richard Rodgers and Robert Lopez along with directors Mel Brooks, Mike Nichols, producer Scott Rudin and lyricist Tim Rice are the only other people to have completed the prestigious award sweep.
Surprising Fact
With her Oscar win in 2016, Davis became the first Black performer to achieve the coveted “Triple Crown” in acting—winning an Oscar, Emmy and Tony in acting categories.
Crucial Quote
In her acceptance speech at the Grammy’s, Davis said: “I wrote this book to honor the six-year-old Viola. To honor her life, her joy, her trauma, everything and it has just been such a journey. I just EGOT.”
Further Reading
Grammy Awards 2023: Harry Styles Wins Album Of The Year, Beyoncé Becomes Winningest Artist Ever (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2023/02/06/viola-davis-reaches-egot-status-here-are-the-17-others-who-have-achieved-this-unique-honor/