James Earl Jones: EGT

<a class="taxInlineTagLink" id="PECLB002641" title="James Earl Jones" href="/topic/entertainment/movies/james-earl-jones-PECLB002641.topic">James Earl Jones</a> nearly joined the ranks of the elusive EGOTs now that he's on deck to <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/awards/2011/08/oprah-winfrey-and-james-earl-jones-to-receive-honorary-oscars.html" target="blank">receive the Governors Honorary Award</a> from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. What's an EGOT you ask? When a star earns the entertainment industry's awards grand slam, winning the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony. It's the ultimate lifetime achievement for any performer.<br>
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The 80-year-old actor has already won Emmys for "Gabriel's Fire" and "Heat Wave," a Grammy for "Great American Documents" and a Tony for "The Great White Hope" and "Fences." He was nominated for <a class="taxInlineTagLink" id="EVHST000005" title="Academy Awards" href="/topic/entertainment/movies/academy-awards-EVHST000005.topic">an Oscar</a> in 1971 for the film adaptation of "The Great White Hope" (he won a Tony for the same role in 1969) and despite his hefty body of work since then, Oscar hadn't come calling until now. However, an artist must <i>win</i> the award to be an EGOT champ and unfortunately honorary awards do not count.<br>
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So far, only 10 stars have reached EGOT status, <a class="taxInlineTagLink" id="PECLB001977" title="Whoopi Goldberg" href="/topic/entertainment/whoopi-goldberg-PECLB001977.topic">Whoopi Goldberg</a> and <a class="taxInlineTagLink" id="PECLB000692" title="Mel Brooks" href="/topic/entertainment/movies/mel-brooks-PECLB000692.topic">Mel Brooks</a> among them. But there is a handful of serious serious contenders who could pull it off, let's see who else is close to completing their EGOT.

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( Anacleto Rapping / Los Angeles Times )

James Earl Jones nearly joined the ranks of the elusive EGOTs now that he's on deck to receive the Governors Honorary Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. What's an EGOT you ask? When a star earns the entertainment industry's awards grand slam, winning the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony. It's the ultimate lifetime achievement for any performer.

The 80-year-old actor has already won Emmys for "Gabriel's Fire" and "Heat Wave," a Grammy for "Great American Documents" and a Tony for "The Great White Hope" and "Fences." He was nominated for an Oscar in 1971 for the film adaptation of "The Great White Hope" (he won a Tony for the same role in 1969) and despite his hefty body of work since then, Oscar hadn't come calling until now. However, an artist must win the award to be an EGOT champ and unfortunately honorary awards do not count.

So far, only 10 stars have reached EGOT status, Whoopi Goldberg and Mel Brooks among them. But there is a handful of serious serious contenders who could pull it off, let's see who else is close to completing their EGOT.