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Actress Viola Davis has entered rarefied air. On Sunday night, the 57-year-old joined an elite group of entertainers by becoming the latest person to become an EGOT.
The EGOT is not an official award. Instead, it’s the unofficial designation for the people who have earned all four of the entertainment’s biggest awards – the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Awards.
During the 65th annual Grammy Awards, Davis received her first Grammy for Best Audiobook, Narration and Storytelling for her 2022 memoir Finding Me. She becomes only the third Black woman to earn an EGOT and the 18th person overall.
Jennifer Hudson and Whoopi Goldberg are the only other Black women so honored.
Davis who was at first primarily known as a theater actress earned two Tony Awards with wins on Broadway in the August Wilson plays King Hedley II (2001) and Fences (2010). She earned her Oscars for Best Supporting Actress for Fences in 2017. And her 2015 Emmy came from playing Analise Keating on the Shonda Rhimes’ ABC hit show How to Get Away with Murder.
“I wrote this book to honor the 6-year-old Viola — to honor her life, her joy, her trauma, her everything,” Davis said while accepting the award. “And it has been such a journey. I just EGOT!”
She also acknowledged her book publisher Harper Collins and her editor, Laveille Lavette, who she called the epitome of a “sister friend.” As she became visibly emotional, Davis thanked her husband and producing partner Julius Tennon and her daughter Genesis. “You are my life and my joy,” she said. “You are the best chapter in my book.”
