Philip Michael Thomas Coined The Term 'EGOT,' But There's One Part Of The Story That Bums Me Out

As a kid in the 1980s, there was no show on TV that I loved more than Miami Vice. Well, maybe The A-Team, but they are 1A and 1B of my youth. It wasn’t until many years later that I first heard the term “EGOT,” which is an unofficial award in Hollywood for anyone who has won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony. It was many years after that when I learned where the term was coined, and it all goes back to one of my favorite shows’ co-star, Philip Michael Thomas, who played Det. Rico Tubbs in Miami Vice.

That’s right, Thomas is the genius who invented the idea and coined the term, which has become a buzzword in Hollywood over the four decades or so since he first uttered it in public. Thomas gets the praise he deserves for coming up with the idea that a well-rounded star could or would collect all four of the most prestigious awards in Hollywood, and in the mid-’80s, he told the world he had a plan to win them all. Sadly, it hasn’t worked out that way.

To date, there are just 20 EGOT winners (27 if you include non-competitive special awards), including stars like Mel Brooks, Elton John, Audrey Hepburn, and Rita Moreno. There are another 15 stars who are one award short. Sadly, Philip Michael Thomas is not on either list, and it gets even worse for fans of the ‘80s star.

The History Of The “EGOT” Term

Sometime in 1984, according to Vanity Fair, Thomas started wearing a necklace with “EGOT” on it and explained what it meant. He also announced that,

Thomas did have a plan. He was already on a hit TV show (a show that had some wild guest stars) and in 1985 he released his first album, titled Living the Book of My Life. He followed that up with Somebody in 1988, but neither record made much of an impact on the charts or at the Grammys, failing to receive a nomination. Thomas did have a minor hit in Miami with “My, My, My, Miam...I,” but sadly, still no Grammy.

The term really hit the mainstream in late 2009 when Tracy Morgan’s character on 30 Rock saw a necklace that (in the show) was once owned by Thomas, like the “EGOT” one he wore in the ‘80s. Tracy declared he, too, would devise a plan to win all four awards, and just like that, the term was all over pop culture.

Sadly, Things Didn’t Work Out For Thomas

To date, in 2025, Philip Michael Thomas has not won his EGOT. In fact, he has yet to win any of the four awards. He’s never even been nominated for any of the four. I did find in my research that he claimed in an interview with Johnny Carson that he had been nominated for an Emmy, but there is no evidence of that anywhere in Emmy’s history.

That bums me out. I mean, let’s not get carried away and say that Thomas deserved one of each, but he at least deserved some nominations, especially for Miami Vice or one of his guest spots on Nash Bridges alongside his Vice co-star Don Johnson.

Thomas has been retired for a couple of decades now, with his last appearance in any form of media coming in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City in 2003, but it’s never too late for a career resurgence, maybe in the forthcoming Miami Vice reboot!