Audra McDonald Has Won More Tonys Than Any Other Performer. Here Are the Top Winners at Other EGOT-Level Shows

Audra McDonald has won six Tony Awards, more than any other performer, and she has a good chance to extend her record at the 2025 Tonys on Sunday (June 8). The Broadway legend is nominated for best performance by an actress in a leading role in a musical for her portrayal of Mama Rose in the latest revival of Gypsy.

Angela Lansbury (1975), Tyne Daly (1990) and Patti LuPone (2008) all won in this category for their portrayals of Rose. (LuPone spoke unkindly about McDonald in a recent interview, but has since apologized. The grace McDonald exhibited in the episode may boost her chances of winning.)

McDonald’s six Tonys are split evenly between musicals and plays. She won for the musicals Carousel, Ragtime and The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, and for the plays Master Class, A Raisin in the Sun and Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill, the latter a “play with music” featuring several of Billie Holiday’s most famous songs.

McDonald’s strongest competition this year appears to be Nicole Scherzinger for playing Norma Desmond in a revival of Sunset Blvd. Glenn Close won in this category for the original production of Sunset Blvd. in 1995. The other nominees are Jasmine Amy Rogers for BOOP! The Musical, and two actresses (Megan Hilty and Jennifer Simard) from Death Becomes Her.

While McDonald has won more Tonys than any other performer, she still has a ways to go to become the individual with the most Tony Awards. The late producer/director Harold Prince won 19 competitive Tonys, plus two more special awards.

McDonald’s good fortune prompted us to take a look at the top winners of other EGOT-level awards shows. In all four shows, we identify the top overall winner and also the person who won the most awards strictly in performance categories. (We count only awards won in competition, but also mention non-competitive awards.)