If you have ever watched 30 Rock, you perhaps have a strong mental image of Tracy Jordan proudly sporting a necklace that says “EGOT.” Although the idea of the EGOT existed before 30 Rock, that storyline catapulted the phrase into the popular vernacular. “EGOT” stands for “Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony,” and less than twenty people have ever been awarded all four. But before the big broadcast of the 2023 Grammys began, the hallowed halls of EGOT-dom gained an incredible, very deserving new member: Viola Davis.
Viola Davis achieved her EGOT when she won a Grammy for Best Audio Book, Narration, And Storytelling Recording for her performance on the audio book of her memoir, Finding Me. Hell, the memoir itself is a triumph—by all accounts brilliant and unflinching, honest and moving. Davis was up against some incredible competition in her category: Questlove, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mel Brooks, and Jamie Foxx. All four of those other nominees had already won a Grammy, though. So go get ’em, Viola Davis.
Davis said as she accepted her historic award, “I wrote this book to honor the 6-year-old Viola—to honor her life, her joy, her trauma, her everything. And it has been such a journey. I just EGOT!”
Of course, Viola Davis is one of the most celebrated actresses alive. She won Best Supporting Actress in 2017 for Fences (although she was robbed in 2021 for her lead performance in the titular role of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, if you ask me). Davis has won two Tonys: one in 2001 for Best Featured Actress In A Play in King Hedley II, and another in 2010 for the stage production of Fences. And, of course, she won for Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series for her legendary role as Annalise Keating in How To Get Away With Murder.
Viola Davis is only the 18th person to ever EGOT. On top of that, she’s only the third Black woman to EGOT. So congratulations, Viola Davis! It was an inevitable and well-deserved EGOT-ing.
(Featured image: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
