Ep. 155: The EGOT Award
Intro
Hello and Welcome to this episode of the podcast, "The Mnemonic Tree", where we add a single mnemonic leaf to our Tree of Knowledge.
I’m Jans your Mnemonic Man and after a couple of weeks of long mnemonics where we had the star signs which was 12, and the elements of the periodic table which was 10, this week we have a nice easy one which will be on the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Awards for which most will already know the mnemonic, which is EGOT.
These four awards cover television, music, film, and theatre and are considered to be the grand slam of awards for the entertainment industry. The award was coined by an actor from the popular series Miami Vice where he starred alongside Don Johnson. His goal was to win them all within a certain timeframe, however, this was not to be, but he has however indelibly burned his mark and name into the history of the award and how it began.
To date, the award has had 19 winners, which has included one entertainer who has won the award twice. Many of the names are household names and known around the world such as Audrey Hepburn, Mel Brooks, Whoopi Goldberg, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, Jennifer Hudson, and Sir Elton John. While others are lesser known such as Alan Menken, Robert Lopez, Scott Rudin, Jonathan Tunick, Marvin Hamlisch, and Mike Nichols.
The first winner of the award was Richard Rogers way back in 1962 which was 22 years before the term EGOT was even coined.
Today’s mnemonic will be on the four awards that make up an EGOT
So, with that being said, we will begin with a summary from Wikipedia.
Wikipedia Summary
EGOT, an acronym for the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Awards, is the designation given to people who have won all four of the major American performing art awards.[1][2] Respectively, these awards honor outstanding achievements in television, audio recording, film, and Broadway theatre.[3]
Achieving the EGOT has been referred to as the "grand slam" of American show business.[1][4] Nineteen people have achieved competitive EGOT status and six others have done so with honorary or special awards.[5]
In 2018, Robert Lopez became the first and currently only double EGOT winner.[6] Five competitive and one non-competitive EGOT holder have been dubbed PEGOTs, for additionally having received either a Peabody Award (4) or Pulitzer Prize (2).
The EGOT acronym was coined by actor Philip Michael Thomas in late 1984. While starring in Miami Vice, he stated a desire to achieve the EGOT within five years.[7][8] The acronym gained wider recognition following a 2009 episode of 30 Rock that introduced EGOT status as a recurring plotline.[9]
In 2023, TheaterMania writer Zachary Stewart criticized the practice of "selling" producer credits for shows favored to win a Tony as a "shortcut" to EGOT status. He drew a distinction between the producers who actually do the work of organizing the production of a show and investing producers who merely help finance it, often late in the award season.[10]
Extracted from: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_EGOT_winners]
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Academy_Award_of_Merit_(Oscar).png
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Mnemonic
Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, & Tony Awards Mnemonic – EGOT
(Picture the last winner of the EGOT award which was Sir Elton John receiving the award whilst juggling three just boiled eggs and yelling Egg hot, Egg hot, Egg hot!)
1. Emmy Award
2. Grammy Award
3. Oscar Award
4. Tony Award
Five Fun Facts
1. We start with how an EGOT even got started. For that we have to go back to 1984 where Philip Michael Thomas played Tubbs in Miami Vice. He apparently wore a necklace with the letters E, G, O, and T engraved on it. He swore they stood for energy, growth, opportunity, and talent however those close to him tell a different story. He intended to win these four awards in the next five years, but unfortunately for him, he is yet to be even nominated for any of the awards nearly forty years later.
2. The first person to win an EGOT without even knowing it was Richard Rogers. He won an Emmy for the television documentary Winston Churchill: The Valiant Years. An Oscar for the song ‘It Might as Well Be Spring’ from State Fair. Two Grammys, one in 1960 and the other in 1962, for the original cast recordings of ‘The Sound of Music’ and ‘No Strings,’ respectively. And six Tony Awards Between 1950 and 1962.
He also managed to win a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, so again without even knowing it, he also won a PEGOT!
3. The first female to win an EGOT was Helen Hayes in 1977. It took her 45 years to achieve the honour between 1932 and 1977. She won for the following:
· Emmy for ‘Schlitz Playhouse of Stars’ in 1953
· Grammy for Best Spoken word for ‘Great American Documents’ in 1977
· Oscar for ‘The Sin of Madelon Claudet’ in 1932
· Tony for ‘Happy Birthday’ in 1947
4. Still on females and we go to the first black woman to win an EGOT in 2002, Whoopi Goldberg. She nearly picked up an Oscar for ‘The Color Purple,’ but ended up getting that Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for the 1990 movie "Ghost." She received a Grammy for Best Comedy Recording in 1986, an Emmy for ‘Beyond Tara,’ and finally a Tony for Best Musical for ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie’.
5. The 17th EGOT winner Jennifer Hudson may have magically manifested her EGOT win. Apparently, she got a dog and named it Oscar after which she then won an Oscar. But then she then replicated this success with another dog which she called Grammy. Now, I don’t know whether I’m barking up the wrong tree here but it seems that these dogs were definitely fetching her some good luck!
Now, just speaking of dogs; it seems that Liam Neeson has been in the actors’ doghouse, and hasn’t been nominated for an Oscar in the last 10 years! Apparently, according to industry insiders and showbiz gossipers all his good roles have been Taken!
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2003_Technical_Grammy_award.jpg
Three Question Quiz
Q.1. Audrey Hepburn completed her EGOT posthumously. Is that True or False
Q.2. Mel Brooks won a screenwriting Oscar in 1968 for which movie? Options are ‘The Elephant Man,’ ‘The Fly,’ or ‘The Producers’
Q.3. Who in 2018 was and still is the only person to win a double EGOT? (was in in Wiki article)
Bonus Q. Andrew Lloyd Webber has won one Oscar, one Emmy, three Grammys,’ and how many Tony Awards? Options are two, four, or six
Mnemonic Recap
Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, & Tony Awards Mnemonic – EGOT
(Picture the last winner of the EGOT award which was Sir Elton John receiving the award whilst juggling three just boiled eggs and yelling Egg hot, Egg hot, Egg hot!)
1. Emmy Award
2. Grammy Award
3. Oscar Award
4. Tony Award
Three Question Quiz Answers
Q.1. Audrey Hepburn completed her EGOT posthumously. Is that True or False
A. True. She won an Emmy in 1993 for her documentary ‘Gardens of the World with Audrey Hepburn’, which aired the day after she died. She earned a spoken word Grammy in 1994 for her children's book ‘Audrey Hepburn's Enchanted Tales’.
Q.2. Mel Brooks won a screenwriting Oscar in 1968 for which movie? Options are ‘The Elephant Man,’ ‘The Fly,’ or ‘The Producers’
A. The Producers which was released in 1967
Q.3. Who in 2018 was and still is the only person to win a double EGOT? (was in in Wiki article)
A. Robert Lopez
Bonus Q. Andrew Lloyd Webber has won one Oscar, one Emmy, three Grammys,’ and how many Tony Awards? Options are two, four, or six
A. Six Tony Awards. He has also won a Grammy Legend Award and a Special Tony Award
Word of the Week
feckless
[ fek-lis ]
adjective
ineffective; incompetent; futile
Example
Philip Michael Thomas wore a necklace with the letters EGOT engraved on it in a feckless attempt to win all four awards, however ended up with not even a nomination.
Extracted from: [https://www.dictionary.com/]
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References
https://www.watchmojo.com/articles/top-5-must-know-facts-about-the-egot
https://www.funtrivia.com/submitquiz.cfm
https://upjoke.com/oscar-jokes
https://www.glamour.com/gallery/egot-winners-full-list
https://www.thewrap.com/all-egot-winners-audrey-hepburn-whoopi-goldberg-mel-brooks/