Few stars in Hollywood shine as brightly as Meryl Streep.
With three Academy Awards, eight Golden Globes and three Emmys to her name, the actress has solidified her place in cinematic history. So why, then, has she not achieved the illustrious “EGOT” status? While only 19 people have all four awards that comprise the acronym — Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony — she’s closer than you might think.
This year, Streep is nominated for a Grammy for her narration of the audiobook version of Big Tree, by Brian Selznick. While the actress has been nominated for 6 Grammys in the past, she’s yet to take home a trophy. If she wins her category on Sunday, she’d be a Tony Award away from becoming an EGOT winner.
Hold up: What is an EGOT?
The term EGOT is an acronym that represents all four of the major American entertainment awards for television, music, film and theater excellence: “E” for the Emmys, “G” for the Grammys, “O” for the Oscars and “T” for the Tonys. When an artist wins all four, even if it’s an honorary award, they’re considered to be EGOT winners.
Elton John is the most recent EGOT winner, completing the sweep of the four major awards at the Emmys on Jan. 15 for his concert film, Elton John Live: Farewell From Dodger Stadium. Other EGOT winners include Whoopi Goldberg, John Legend, Rita Moreno, Jennifer Hudson and Viola Davis, to name a few.
Streep does the Grammys
If Streep wins on Sunday, she’ll take home her first Grammy Award.
Her competition is fierce. Other Grammy nominees in the category for Best Audio Book, Narration and Storytelling Recording are William Shatner for Boldly Go: Reflections On A Life Of Awe And Wonder; Rick Rubin for The Creative Act: A Way Of Being; Sen. Bernie Sanders for It’s OK To Be Angry About Capitalism and Michelle Obama for The Light We Carry: Overcoming In Uncertain Times.
Will it be televised?
According to Billboard, 80 of the 94 Grammy categories will be announced on the pre-telecast, with the remaining 14 unveiled during the primetime show, which airs on CBS and is emceed by Trevor Noah.
Streep is presenting during the live broadcast. Puck reported that she will be paired with her music producer son-in-law Mark Ronson, who is nominated for five awards for his work on Barbie, including Song of Year.
Streep’s statuettes
With a whopping 21 Oscar nominations, Streep is the most-nominated actor in history, winning two for lead roles (Sophie’s Choice in 1983 and The Iron Lady in 2012) and one for a supporting role (Kramer vs. Kramer in 1980).
Although the Yale Drama School graduate started her career in theater before landing her first film role in 1977’s Julia alongside Jane Fonda, Streep hasn’t been on Broadway since the late ’70s.
According to IBDB, the last time she appeared on the Great White Way was in the 1977 musical Happy End with Christopher Lloyd. Before that, she appeared in the Broadway productions of The Cherry Orchard, Secret Service, A Memory of Two Mondays / 27 Wagons Full of Cotton and Trelawny of the “Wells,” which marked her Broadway debut.
Although she took a 20-year hiatus from the stage between 1981 and 2001, Streep has appeared in various New York City productions over the years. However, none of them has been eligible for an independent Tony Award nomination.
According to the Tony Awards Administration Committee, an actor has to be in the opening cast of a production produced at any of the 41 Broadway theaters in operation in New York City to be eligible, and Streep has not performed on any of them since 1977. Her recent work includes several plays for the Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park productions in Central Park; the 2006 production of Mother Courage and Her Children, directed by George C. Wolfe; and a 2001 production of The Seagull, directed by Mike Nichols.
Streep’s representatives didn’t immediately respond to Yahoo Entertainment’s request for comment.
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