Jennifer Hudson hit that high note and reached EGOT status. Only 16 other people have the honor of being called an EGOT, the elite group of artists who have won Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony awards. Hudson is a popular singer and actress and the second Black woman to collect all four prestigious awards. She completed her award collection after winning a Tony award for co-producing the musical A Strange Loop.
Hudson gained fame in 2004 as a finalist on the singing competition television show “American Idol.” In 2007, Hudson won an Academy Award as best supporting actress for her motion-picture debut in the musical motion picture Dreamgirls (2006), based on a hit Broadway musical. In the film, Hudson portrayed a singer in a 1960’s female vocal group. The film was based on the story of the popular vocal group the Supremes. In 2009, Hudson won a Grammy Award for her best-selling debut album, Jennifer Hudson (2008).
Jennifer Kate Hudson was born on Sept. 12, 1981, in Chicago, Illinois. She sang in gospel choirs as a child. She also acted in community theater and performed on cruise ships. Community theater is a type of nonprofessional, local theater.
Hudson’s second album, I Remember Me, was released in 2011. It also became a hit. Her other films include the crime drama Fragments and the drama The Secret Life of Bees (both 2008); the comedy The Three Stooges (2012); the musical drama Black Nativity (2013); and the drama Chi-Raq (2015). In the biographical film Winnie (2011), she portrayed the South African politician and political activist Winnie Mandela. Hudson has also acted on a number of television shows. In 2013, she portrayed a Broadway star on the musical drama “Smash.” She wrote an autobiography, I Got This (2012). In 2021, Hudson won a Daytime Emmy award for producing Baba Yaga (2020), a virtual reality animated and interactive film.
Hudson has joked about reaching EGOT status after she won an Oscar award after naming a pet dog Oscar, and she won a Grammy award after naming a dog Grammy. She now needs to bring two more dogs into her home and name them Emmy and Tony!
Hudson joins the ranks of Mel Brooks, John Gielgud, Whoopi Goldberg, Marvin Hamlisch, Helen Hayes, Audrey Hepburn, John Legend, Robert Lopez, Alan Menken, Rita Moreno, Mike Nichols, Tim Rice, Richard Rodgers, and Andrew Lloyd Webber. What an impressive group of artists!
