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Viola Davis Just Became The First Black Actor To Win An Oscar, Emmy And Tony

Viola Davis Just Became The First Black Actor To Win An Oscar, Emmy And Tony
CULVER CITY, CA - NOVEMBER 19: Actress Viola Davis arrives at the WWD And Variety Inaugural Stylemakers' Event at Smashbox Studios on November 19, 2015 in Culver City, California. (Photo by Gregg DeGuire/WireImage)
Gregg DeGuire via Getty Images
CULVER CITY, CA - NOVEMBER 19: Actress Viola Davis arrives at the WWD And Variety Inaugural Stylemakers' Event at Smashbox Studios on November 19, 2015 in Culver City, California. (Photo by Gregg DeGuire/WireImage)

When Viola Davis walked onstage at the 89th Academy Awards on Sunday to accept her award for Best Supporting Actress, she also vaulted herself into one of the most prestigious acting clubs in the world.

With the win for her work in the 2016 film “Fences,” Davis becomes the 23rd person to complete the so-called triple crown of acting, which is the term used to describe actors and actresses who have won at least one competitive acting award at the Oscars, the Emmys and the Tonys.

She is the first black woman to do so.

Prior to “Fences,” Davis had won an Emmy in 2015 for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her work on “How to Get Away with Murder” and two Tony Awards, first in 2001 for her work in “King Hedley II” and then again in 2010 for her work in the Broadway rendition of “Fences.”

Davis joins an acting group that includes acting legends like Jessica Lange, Helen Mirren, Al Pacino and Ingrid Bergman. But even some of the greatest actors and actresses in history, including one of Davis’ acting heroes, Meryl Streep, haven’t completed the triad like Davis did Sunday.

Notably, Whoopi Goldberg actually has also completed a triple crown of sorts, but her Tony came from producing the Broadway musical “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” not acting in it.

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