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JWR VerifiedFounding RecordJWR-2026-000032

First Singer to Achieve an EGOT

Record holder

Country represented: United StatesAchievement location: New York City, New York, United StatesAchievement date: 19 April 1970Current record

Verified by Jewish World RecordsHow we verify records

Barbra Streisand being congratulated after winning the Academy Award for Funny Girl in 1969

Barbra Streisand is greeted at Paramount Studio on 16 April 1969, the day after winning the Academy Award for Best Actress for Funny Girl — direct awards context for her EGOT record.Don Cormier / Los Angeles Times Photographic Collection / UCLA Library / Wikimedia CommonsSourceCC BY 4.0

Official record definition

The first singer in history to receive an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony, where the Tony may be honorary/non-competitive, matching the Guinness World Records definition.

Measurement methodology

historical chronology verified against Guinness World Records definition

Measurement point: completion of Emmy + Grammy + Oscar + Tony set, including non-competitive Tony

Record story

Barbra Streisand became the first singer to complete the EGOT under the inclusive definition that permits a non-competitive award. The four pillars were substantive achievements: her Grammy breakthrough included Album of the Year for The Barbra Streisand Album; her television debut My Name Is Barbra earned Emmy recognition; she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl; and on 19 April 1970 she received the special honorary Tony Award, Star of the Decade, completing the set. Guinness also notes her later Oscar for the song “Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born).”

Media

How JWR verified this record

Verification date
31 August 2026
Verification standard
JWR Verification Standard 1.0

Achievement evidence

Guinness World Records identifies Barbra Streisand as the first singer to achieve EGOT, completed on 19 April 1970 after she had received a Grammy, Emmy, Oscar and an honorary/non-competitive Tony.

Superiority evidence

Guinness World Records identifies Barbra Streisand as the first singer in history to achieve EGOT under the inclusive definition that permits an honorary or non-competitive Tony. Because no singer predates her under that definition, no Jewish singer does. Jewish Telegraphic Agency independently documents her Jewish identity and public pride in her Jewish heritage.

Jewish Eligibility — Verified by JWR

Jewish eligibility verification

Evidence establishing that the holder qualifies as Jewish for JWR purposes.

  • Barbra Streisand is getting the next 'Jewish Nobel' — Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Achievement / record verification

Evidence establishing that the holder achieved the result and holds the record as defined.

  • First singer to achieve the EGOT (including non-competitive awards) — Guinness World Records

Jewish eligibility, achievement and superiority evidence retain their separate classifications and are never merged. Context and provenance are not presented as proof of the achievement. Restricted evidence and internal research notes are never published. Learn more about the seven-stage process on the verification page.

Sources & Verification

History

  1. Verified

    Verified according to JWR Verification Standard 1.0.

  2. Publishedv1

    Published to the official JWR registry.

Richard Rodgers at the St. James Theatre in 1948
JWR VerifiedFounding Record
Awards · EGOTFirst

First Person to Achieve EGOT

Record holder

Richard Rodgers

Record value

First person to achieve competitive EGOT

Richard Rodgers became the "First person to achieve competitive EGOT" on 22 May 1962 in New York City. The record is defined as being the first person in history to win qualifying individual competitive Emmy, Grammy, Academy Award (Oscar), and Tony awards. Rodgers's achievement marks him as the first person to complete this set of four major American entertainment prizes, as verified by sources including Guinness World Records.

Country represented
United States
Achievement location
New York City, New York, United States
Achievement date
22 May 1962
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Jessica U. Meir in a NASA spacesuit
JWR VerifiedFounding Record
Space / Human Spaceflight / Distancefarthest

Farthest Distance from Earth Reached by a Jewish Woman

Record holder

Jessica U. Meir

Record value

428.9 kilometers

On 27 August 2026, a Cygnus XL reboost raised the International Space Station to an apogee of 266.5 statute miles, approximately 428.9 kilometers. Jessica Meir was aboard the station as part of Expedition 75, so she physically reached that maximum orbital altitude. JWR compares documented apogees on a like-for-like basis rather than mixing average altitude, perigee or launch trajectory values. Earlier missions flown by verified Jewish women were screened, including flights by Marsha Ivins, Judith Resnik and Ellen Baker. Their published maximum orbital values remained below the 2026 ISS apogee. The resulting record is a precise example of how a station reboost can create a new human altitude mark even without a new launch.

Country represented
United States
Achievement location
United States
Achievement date
27 August 2026
View full record
Irving Jaffee, American Jewish Olympic speed skater, in 1928
JWR VerifiedFounding Record
Sports · Olympic GamesFirst

First Jewish Athlete to Win a Winter Olympic Gold Medal

Record holder

Irving Jaffee

Record value

4 February 1932

American speed skater Irving Jaffee became the first Jewish athlete to win a Winter Olympic gold medal on 4 February 1932. His record was set at the third Olympic Winter Games in Lake Placid, New York, where he won the gold medal in the men's 5,000-metre speed-skating event. Official Olympic sources and Team USA medal histories confirm Jaffee as the winner of the race.

Country represented
United States
Achievement location
Lake Placid, New York, United States
Achievement date
4 February 1932
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