Viola Davis has officially joined the elite group of Egot winners with her victory at the Grammy awards on Sunday.
The honorific abbreviation Egot stands for an individual who has won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony award, also known as the “grand slam” in US entertainment. As the 18th individual to reach Egot rank, Davis joins the likes of John Gielgud, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Mel Brooks, Audrey Hepburn, and Mel Brooks.
On Sunday, Davis received her first Grammy for the audiobook version of her autobiography, Finding Me, becoming the third Black woman after Whoopi Goldberg and Jennifer Hudson, to receive the Egot award. In 2018, at the age of 39, artist John Legend became the first Black male Egot winner and joint-youngest.
“I wrote this book to honor the six-year-old Viola,” Davis said on stage at the ceremony in Los Angeles. “To honor her life, her joy, her trauma, everything. And, it has just been such a journey – I just Egot!”
Davis faced competition in the audiobook category from fellow Egot, Brooks; actor and composer Lin-Manuel Miranda, who needs one more Oscar to join the Egot club; and Grammy and Oscar winners Jamie Foxx and Questlove.
The 57-year-old star is the most nominated Black female actor in history after being nominated for four Academy Awards. For her portrayal of the wife of a baseball player in the movie Fences, she took home the best supporting actress Oscar in 2017. The identical part in the Broadway production’s original production earned her a 2010 Tony Award for outstanding lead actress.
