21 People Who Are One Award Away From EGOT'ing
So close, yet so far.

To "EGOT" is to competitively win or be honored with at least one Emmy Award, one Grammy Award, one Academy Award (Oscar), and one Tony Award — the major trophies for television, music, film, and theater.
According to the New York Post, Miami Vice star Philip Michael Thomas coined the term back in the '80s, wearing a gold "EGOT" medallion around his neck and regularly discussing his desire to win the Hollywood grand slam... even though he'd never been nominated for any of the awards. (He still hasn't.)
Only 12 people have EGOT'd competitively — Richard Rodgers, Helen Hayes, Rita Moreno, John Gielgud, Audrey Hepburn, Marvin Hamlisch, Jonathan Tunick, Mel Brooks, Mike Nichols, Whoopi Goldberg, Scott Rudin, and Robert Lopez — and four others have EGOT'd with at least one honorary award — Barbra Streisand, Liza Minnelli, James Earl Jones, and Harry Belafonte. Below are 21 people who are this close to joining their ranks.

1. Elton John

Grammy Awards
Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group, "That's What Friends Are For" (1987)
Best Instrumental Composition, "Basque" (1991)
Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" (1995)
Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, "Candle in the Wind 1997" (1997)
Best Musical Show Album, Aida (2001)
Academy Award
Best Original Song, "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" from The Lion King (1994)
Tony Award
Best Original Musical Score, Aida (2000)
2. Stephen Sondheim

Grammy Awards
Best Score from an Original Cast Album for Company (1970)
Best Score from an Original Cast Album for A Little Night Music (1973)
Song of the Year, "Send in the Clowns" (1975)
Best Cast Show Album, Sweeney Todd (1979)
Best Cast Show Album, Sunday in the Park With George (1984)
Best Musical Cast Show Album, Into the Woods (1988)
Best Musical Cast Show Album, Passion (1994)
Best Musical Cast Show Album, West Side Story (2010)
Academy Award
Best Song, "Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)" from Dick Tracy (1990)
Tony Awards
Best Musical, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1963)
Best Musical, Company (1971)
Best Score, Company (1971)
Best Lyrics, Company (1971)
Best Score, Follies (1972)
Best Musical, A Little Night Music (1973)
Best Score, A Little Night Music (1973)
Best Musical, Sweeney Todd (1979)
Best Score, Sweeney Todd (1979)
Best Score, Into The Woods (1988)
Best Musical, Passion (1994)
Best Score, Passion (1994)
Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre (2008)
3. Andrew Lloyd Webber

Grammy Awards
Best Cast Show Album, Evita (1980)
Best Cast Show Album, Cats (1983)
Best Contemporary Composition, Requiem (1986)
Legend Award (1990)
Academy Award
Best Original Song, "You Must Love Me" from Evita (1996)
Tony Awards
Best Musical, Evita (1979)
Best Original Score, Evita (1980)
Best Musical, Cats (1983)
Best Original Score, Cats (1983)
Best Musical, The Phantom of the Opera (1988)
Best Musical, Sunset Boulevard (1995)
Best Original Score, Sunset Boulevard (1995)

4. Maggie Smith

Emmy Awards
Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie, My House in Umbria (2003)
Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie, Downton Abbey (2011)
Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, Downton Abbey (2012)
Academy Awards
Best Actress, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)
Best Supporting Actress, California Suite (1978)
Tony Award
Best Actress in a Play, Lettice and Lovage (1990)
5. Al Pacino

Emmy Awards
Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie, Angels in America (2004)
Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie, You Don't Know Jack (2010)
Academy Award
Best Actor, Scent of a Woman (1993)
Tony Awards
Best Supporting Actor in a Play, Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie? (1969)
Best Lead Actor in a Play, The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel (1977)
6. Ellen Burstyn

Emmy Awards
Guest Actress in a Drama Series, Law & Order: SVU (1999)
Supporting Actress in a Miniseries of Movie, Political Animals (2012)
Academy Award
Best Actress, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1975)
Tony Award
Best Lead Actress in a Play, Same Time, Next Year (1975)
7. Jeremy Irons

Emmy Awards
Voice-Over Performance, The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century: War Without End (1997)
Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie, Elizabeth I (2006)
Outstanding Narrator, Game of Lions (2014)
Academy Award
Best Actor, Reversal of Fortune (1990)
Tony Award
Best Lead Actor in a Play, The Real Thing (1984)
8. Geoffrey Rush

Emmy Award
Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004)
Academy Award
Best Actor, Shine (1997)
Tony Award
Best Lead Actor in a Play, Exit the King (2009)
9. Vanessa Redgrave

Emmy Awards
Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie, Playing for Time (1981)
Supporting Actress in a Miniseries of Movie, If These Walls Could Talk 2 (2000)
Academy Award
Best Supporting Actress, Julia (1977)
Tony Award
Best Lead Actress in a Play, Long Day's Journey into Night (2003)
10. Christopher Plummer

Emmy Awards
Lead Actor in a Limited Series, Arthur Hailey's The Moneychangers (1976)
Outstanding Voice-Over Performance, Madeline (1994)
Academy Award
Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Beginners (2012)
Tony Award
Best Lead Actor in a Play, Barrymore (1997)

11. Cynthia Nixon

Emmy Awards
Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, Sex and the City (2002, 2004)
Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series, Law & Order: SVU (2008)
Grammy Award
Best Spoken Word Album, An Inconvenient Truth (2009)
Tony Award
Best Lead Actress in a Play, Rabbit Hole (2006)
12. Trey Parker and Matt Stone

Emmy Awards
Outstanding Animated Program, South Park (2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2013)
Grammy Award
Best Musical Theater Album, The Book of Mormon (2012)
Tony Awards
Best Musical, The Book of Mormon (2011)
Best Book of a Musical, The Book of Mormon (2011)
Best Original Score, The Book of Mormon (2011)
Best Direction of a Musical, The Book of Mormon (2011)
*Parker was nominated for an Academy Award — Original Song, "Blame Canada" from South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut — in 2000.
13. Lily Tomlin

Emmy Awards
Outstanding Writing in a Comedy-Variety or Music Special, Lily (1974)
Outstanding Writing in a Comedy-Variety or Music Special, Lily Tomlin (1976)
Outstanding Writing in a Comedy-Variety or Music Special, The Paul Simon Special (1978)
Outstanding Variety, Music, or Comedy Series, Lily: Sold Out (1981)
Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program, The Magic School Bus (1995)
Outstanding Voice-Over Performance, An Apology to Elephants (2013)
Grammy Award
Best Comedy Album, This Is A Recording (1972)
Tony Awards
Lifetime Achievement (1977)
Best Lead Actress in a Play, The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe (1986)
*Nominated for an Academy Award — Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Nashville — in 1976.
14. Dick Van Dyke

Emmy Awards
Lead Actor in a Comedy, The Dick Van Dyke Show (1964, 1966)
Outstanding Individual Achievements in Entertainment, The Dick Van Dyke Show (1965)
Outstanding Comedy-Variety or Music Series, Van Dyke and Company (1977)
Outstanding Performer in Children's Programming, CBS Library: The Wrong Way Kid (1984)
Grammy Award
Best Album for Children, Mary Poppins (1964)
Tony Award
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical, Bye Bye Birdie (1961)
15. Cyndi Lauper

Emmy Award
Guest Actress in a Comedy Series, Mad About You (1995)
Grammy Awards
Best New Artist (1985)
Best Musical Theater Album, Kinky Boots (2014)
Tony Award
Best Original Score, Kinky Boots (2013)

16. Martin Scorsese

Emmy Awards
Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series, Boardwalk Empire (2011)
Outstanding Directing for Nonfiction Programming, George Harrison: Living in the Material World (2012)
Outstanding Nonfiction Special, George Harrison: Living in the Material World (2012)
Grammy Award
Best Music Film, No Direction Home (2006)
Academy Award
Best Director, The Departed (2007)
17. Cher

Emmy Award
Outstanding Variety, Music, or Comedy Special, Cher: The Farewell Tour (2003)
Grammy Award
Best Dance Recording, "Believe" (2000)
Academy Award
Best Actress, Moonstruck (1988)
18. Kate Winslet

Emmy Award
Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie, Mildred Pierce (2011)
Grammy Award
Best Spoken Word Album for Children, Listen to the Storyteller (2000)
Academy Award
Best Actress, The Reader (2009)
19. Burt Bacharach

Emmy Award
Outstanding Single Program, Variety or Musical, Singer Presents Burt Bacharach (1971)
Grammy Awards
Best Arrangement, Instrumental Or A Cappella, Alfie (1968)
Best Musical Theater Album, Promises, Promise (1970)
Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1970)
Song of the Year, "That's What Friends Are For" (1987)
Trustees Award (1997)
Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals, "I Still Have That Other Girl" (1999)
Best Contemporary Instrumental Album, At This Time (2006)
Lifetime Achievement Award (2008)
Academy Awards
Best Original Score for a Motion Picture, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1970)
Best Original Song, "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on my Head" from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1970)
Best Original Song, "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" from Arthur (1982)
*Nominated for a Tony Award — Best Musical, Promises, Promises — in 1969.
20. Julie Andrews

Emmy Awards
Outstanding Variety Musical Series, The Julie Andrews Hour (1973)
Outstanding Nonfiction Series, Broadway: The American Musical (2005)
Grammy Awards
Best Spoken Word Album For Children, Julie Andrews' Collection of Poems, Songs and Lullabies (2011)
Lifetime Achievement Award (2011)
Academy Award
Best Actress, Mary Poppins (1965)
*Nominated for three Tony Awards — Best Actress in a Musical, My Fair Lady (1957); Best Actress in a Musical, Camelot (1961); and Best Actress in a Musical, Victor/Victoria (1996), though she declined that nomination.
21. Randy Newman

Emmy Awards
Achievement in Music and Lyrics, Cop Rock (1991)
Main Title Theme Music, "It's a Jungle Out There" from Monk (2004)
Original Music and Lyrics, "When I'm Gone" from Monk (2010)
Grammy Awards
Best Instrumental Composition, The Natural (1985)
Best Instrumental Composition, A Bug's Life (2000)
Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media, "If I Didn't Have You" from Monsters, Inc. (2003)
Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media, "Our Town" from Cars (2007)
Best Score Soundtrack Album, Toy Story 3 (2011)
Academy Awards
Best Original Song, "If I Didn't Have You" from Monsters, Inc. (2002)
Best Original Song, "We Belong Together" from Toy Story 3 (2011)
You go, almost EGOT'ers!
It should be noted that this is not a complete list of people one award away from EGOT-ing, just a selection of notable names.