Who in the World are the EGOTs? !

EGOT [ee-goht] –noun, plural: EGOTs.
1. (noun)(Alternatively: Igot) is Filipino slang term derived from the word igorot. Igorot refers to the mountainous peoples of the Philippines. It seems a derogatory term.
2. (noun) Philip Michael Thomas invented the phrase "EGOT", meaning "Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony", in reference to his plans for winning all four. (Note: Philip Michael Thomas played "Ricardo Tubbs" in the 1980s TV series Miami Vice. Thomas achieved a People's Choice Award and a Golden Globe nomination but lacked even a nomination for any of the aforementioned awards.
3. (noun/plot device) Bling worn by comedian Tracy Morgan on the NBC television show 30 Rock, playing the character "Tracy Jordan", a caricature of himself.
4. (noun), the Eosinophil Granule Ontogeny Transcript non-protein coding gene which encodes a long noncoding RNA molecule.

Genes and Filipinos aside, the question of the day is: "Who are the real EGOTs (recipients of an Emmy/Grammy/Oscar/Tony awards) ?

Of course, the answer isn't simple, but for the sake of space, there are 10 EGOTs - technically 12 - if the rule of competitive awards awarded isn't a prerequisite, and "special" or "honorary" Emmy, Grammy, Oscar or Tony awards are included.

The TEN EGOTs recipients are (drum roll, please):

Richard Rogers / Helen Hayes / Rita Moreno / John Gielgud / Mike Nichols /
/ Audrey Hepburn / Marvin Hamlisch / Jonathan Tunick / Mel Brooks / Whoopi Goldberg

( - APPLAUSE - )

In addition, Rogers and Hamlisch have both won the Pulitzer Prize, as well.

( - STANDING OVATION - )

If special or honorary awards are allowed in the EGOTs list (and why not?!), then we may include Liza Minnelli and Barbra Streisand.

Also, many of the above have won more than one award in each of the categories; Barbara Streisand then places first with 19 overall Emmy/Grammy/Oscar/Tony awards, with Mike Nichols and Richard Rogers coming in second and third, respectively. Composer Jonathan Tunick comes in last with a mere total of 4 - one each of the highest awards given to entertainment persons.

The other superlatives of the EGOT are as follows:

* First Artist to Win — Richard Rodgers in 1962
* Most Recent Artist to Win — Whoopi Goldberg in 2002
* Youngest Artist to Win — Rita Moreno at 46
* Oldest Artist to Win — John Gielgud at age 87
* Artist with Shortest Amount of Time to Win — Rita Moreno at 16 years
* Artist with Longest Amount of Time to Win — Helen Hayes at 44 years

So there is everything you wanted to know about the EGOTs, but were afraid to ask. I think I might be an EGOT...for Halloween!

(c) Susann Disbro Gilbert

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_persons_who_have_won_Academy,_Emmy,_Grammy,_and_Tony_Awards

So, just what are "Reels"?

It is traditional to discuss the length of theatrical motion pictures in terms of "reels." The standard length of a 35 mm motion picture reel is 1,000 feet (300 m). This length runs approximately 11 minutes at sound speed (24 frames per second) and slightly longer at silent movie speed (which may vary from approximately 16 to 18 frames per second). Most films have visible cues which mark the end of the reel. This allows projectionists running reel-to-reel to change-over to the next reel on the other projector.

A so-called "two-reeler" would have run about 20–24 minutes since the actual short film shipped to a movie theater for exhibition may have had slightly less (but rarely more) than 1000ft (about 305m) on it. Most projectionists today use the term "reel" when referring to a 2,000-foot (610 m) "two-reeler," as modern films are rarely shipped by single 1,000-foot (300 m) reels. A standard Hollywood movie averages about five 2,000-foot (610 m) reels in length.

The "reel" was established as a standard measurement because of considerations in printing motion picture film at a film laboratory, for shipping (especially the film case sizes) and for the size of the physical film magazine attached to the motion picture projector. Had it not been standardized (at 1,000 feet (300 m) of 35 mm film) there would have been many difficulties in the manufacture of the related equipment.

(c) Susann Disbro Gilbert

Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reel

Pampered Youth (1925)

Based on the Pulitzer-prize winning novel The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Takington, the screenplay for Pampered Youth was written by Jay Pilcher and also co-starred Cullen Landis, Allan Forrest, Wallace MacDonald, young Ben Alexander (who grew up to be Jack Webb’s sidekick in television’s Dragnet), and the lovely Charlotte Merriam, who had also been featured prominently in the prior Code of the Wilderness with Alice.

The Los Angeles Times described Alice as:

…A girl who has played a dope fiend with true realism – who has both murdered and been murdered, called by Sir James Barrie “the ideal Babbie of the screen” in The Little Minister …

Thus, it served as no surprise to anyone that she could convincingly age almost an entire lifetime in her role as Isabel Minafer in Pampered Youth.
Released on February 1, 1925, Pampered Youth is the earliest known example of Alice’s work that exists today, and copies are still available for public resale from various sources, although the film is markedly inferior to the original shown in theatres. A condensed version was released in 1927 and re-titled Two to One, and both are in the archives of the Library of Congress Moving Images Collection. A nitrate version is also preserved at the University of California in Los Angeles library archives.

Two major alterations of Pampered Youth from the novel on which it is based are the title itself; and the family name, from the “Ambersons” of the book to the “Minafers” in the film. While the reviews from the time Pampered Youth was released were kind, comparison to other films made at the same period cannot be avoided, especially concerning the camera work, which was credited to David Smith and Stephen Smith, Jr. The photography of Pampered Youth is primitive, featuring fixed, distant camera views which don’t allow for any nuances or subtleties by the actors. Considering some of the cutting-edge film technique that was already in regular use by 1925, this deficiency of skill was undoubtedly due to either lack of imagination or laziness on the part of the director. The result is a glaring flaw in the interpretation of the sweeping saga of Tarkington’s original novel, for which he was awarded the 1919 Pulitzer prize for literature. The core theme of the story is the rejection of modernity by the protagonist, George Minafer (portrayed by Cullen Landis), a spoiled, selfish scion who must eventually lose his family’s fortune, suffer poverty and social shame, and then be redeemed by the story’s end.

But the surviving, snipped versions of Pampered Youth that are commercially available are missing almost one hour of the original film, having been reduced to only 24 minutes, as compared to the original 7 reels of film that was released in 1925. Almost ten full minutes of the surviving, chopped film is taken up by the climatic fire scene, thus eliminating much of the prior plot explanation and making little sense. This makes comparisons to the acclaimed re-make in 1942 by Orson Welles (titled as the novel The Magnificent Ambersons) very difficult to justly contrast or compare. But from the perspective of film preservation and the performances of Alice Calhoun, Cullen Landis, Charlotte Merriam, Wallace McDonald and a very young Ben Alexander, the surviving copies of Pampered Youth are precious, indeed.

(c) Susann Disbro Gilbert

Alice Calhoun: Cover Girl of '22

Clean, pure, and as pretty as a picture, Alice was one of the first celebrity cover girls, providing friendly advice and promoting beauty products on a beauty treatment step-system. “Alice Calhoun Tells How to Care for the Complexion” was the promising headline that ran in a series of ads in national newspapers beginning in June of 1922. As a spokeperson for the line of Hinds, Derwillo Oatmeal Soap, Liska Cold Cream and Beautiful Lavender cologne, her soft smile graced magazines and newspapers, advising young ladies how they, too could obtain a perfect complexion like hers. “The care of the skin and complexion has become a regular hobby with me,” she testified. The skin care beauty products she was touting were “absolutely harmless and contain no bismuth, plaster of Paris or other ingredients that clog the pores.” Alice went on to describe how shocking it was to her that “many girls and women should know better” than to overlook regular beauty cleansing treatments. “To look well is the birthright of every woman” and “a neglected complexion is a drawback to every undertaking.” Her recommended evening and morning ritual included these instructions: “First thing to do is to cleanse your face, hands and arms every night just before retiring with a cleansing cream: for this, I use Liska Cold Cream. In the morning bathe with warm water and Derwillo Oatmeal Soap, then rinse [with] cold water, dry, and before going out, apply Beautiful Lavender, the popular beautifier”. She went on to counsel that “Those who follow my advice are indeed grateful for the wonderful improvement. Just make up your mind to try my system for a few weeks, and if you do, you will agree with me that it is time well spent.”

(c) Susann Disbro Gilbert