Viola Davis Joins Whoopi Goldberg As Only Two Black Actors To Win Oscar, Emmy and Tony Awards

Viola Davis’ best supporting actress win at the 2017 Oscars is breaking records!

She now joins Whoopi Goldberg in the revered club of actors who have won an Oscar, Emmy and a Tony award. They are also the only two black actors to hold these three awards.

Davis won her first Oscar Sunday night for her breathtaking performance in Fences, the same role which won her the Tony Award for the Broadway revival of August Wilson’s play in 2010. Plus, her Oscar win makes Davis the 10th person to win an Oscar and Tony for the same role.

Prior to that, she won the 2001 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her role as Tonya in the original production of King Hedley II. As for her Emmy, she has her work in ABC’s  How To Get Away With Murder to thank for that!

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“People ask me all the time, what kind of stories do you want to tell, Viola?” she said during her Oscar speech. “And I say, exhume those bodies, exhume those stories, the stories of the people who dreamed.”

Goldberg is a card-carrying EGOT member — meaning she has won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony award. She is the only black actor to hold such an achievement. 

Goldberg has won two Daytime Emmys for The View and Beyond Tara: The Extraordinary Life of Hattie McDaniel, a Grammy for her comedy recording Whoopi Goldberg: Original Broadway Show Recording, an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in Ghost, and Best Musical Tony for Thoroughly Modern Millie. 

Her Tony win was as a producer of Thoroughly Modern Millie, not an actress.

Now all Davis has to do is win a Grammy!