Kelly Bishop

Kelly Bishop (born Carole Jane Bishop;^[1] on February 28, 1944) is an American actress and dancer, best known for her roles as matriarch Emily Gilmore on the series Gilmore Girls and as Marjorie Houseman, the mother of Jennifer Grey's Frances "Baby" Houseman, in the film Dirty Dancing. Bishop originated the role of Sheila in A Chorus Line for which she won a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical. In 2023, she starred as Mrs. Ivey in The Watchful Eye (2023).

Early life

Bishop was born on February 28, 1944, in Colorado Springs, Colorado.^[2] She grew up in Denver, Colorado, where she trained to be a ballet dancer, and as a teenager, moved to California attending the San Jose Ballet School. At 18, she headed to New York City and landed her first job dancing in a year-round ballet company at Radio City Music Hall. Bishop continued to dance in Las Vegas, summer stock, and on television until she was cast in 1967 in Golden Rainbow, her first Broadway role.^[3][4]

Career

Bishop moved to New York City to try to become a ballet dancer.^[3] Bishop's big break came when she was cast as the sexy, hard-edged Sheila in the 1975 Broadway production of A Chorus Line, for which she won the 1976 Tony Award as "Best Supporting or Featured Actress (Musical)" as well as the 1976 Drama Desk Award for "Outstanding Actress in a Musical". Many details of the character Sheila's past were drawn from Bishop's real life, as she helped develop the character during early workshops.^[3] She was also cast in Broadway productions of Six Degrees of Separation, Neil Simon's Proposals, the Tony Award-winning The Last Night of Ballyhoo, and Bus Stop.^[5]

In film, she was cast opposite Jill Clayburgh in Paul Mazursky's big-screen drama An Unmarried Woman (1978). In the 1987 film Dirty Dancing, she was originally set for a small role, but took on the much bigger role of Mrs. Houseman when Lynne Lipton (originally cast to play the role) fell ill during the first week of shooting.

Bishop went on to play mothers to high-profile stars in features: Howard Stern's in the Betty Thomas-directed comedy Private Parts (1997), and Tobey Maguire's in Wonder Boys (2000). Additional feature credits include Ich und Er (USA: Me and Him, 1988), Queens Logic (1991), Cafe Society (1995), Miami Rhapsody (1995) and Blue Moon (2000).

Bishop debuted on television in Hawaii Five-O. She starred in the Mike Nichols series The Thorns in 1988. She played Lisa Ann Walter's mother on My Wildest Dreams in 1995. She guest-starred on, among other series, Kate & Allie, Murphy Brown, Law & Order, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

From 2000 to 2007, Bishop starred in The WB/CW series Gilmore Girls as wealthy New England matriarch Emily Gilmore. Both she and fellow series regular Edward Herrmann were Tony Award recipients in 1976.^[6] She reprised her role in the 2016 miniseries Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life on Netflix. She would later reunite with Amy Sherman-Palladino, who created Gilmore Girls, on Bunheads,^[7] which aired from 2012 to 2013 and was canceled after the first season. Bishop has since appeared in television shows including Army Wives, Mercy, The Good Wife, and played Benedetta in the Golden Globe-winning series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, where she was again reunited with Sherman-Palladino. Bishop starred in the TV drama series The Watchful Eye (which premiered on January 30, 2023) as Mrs. Ivey.

Following the end of Gilmore Girls, Bishop returned to theater, performing in Becky Shaw at the Second Stage Theatre in 2008 and as Evangeline Harcourt in the 2011 revival of Anything Goes alongside Sutton Foster and Joel Grey, as well as appearing in the 2011 movie Friends with Kids.

Personal life

Bishop resides in South Orange, New Jersey. She was first married to stagehand and electrician Peter Miller in 1970 before divorcing in 1975.^[3] She was married to the TV talk show host Lee Leonard until his death in 2018.^[8][9]

Credits

Film

Television

Theater

References

1. ^ Vary, Jeff Conway (September 18, 2024). "Kelly Bishop On Her New Memoir And Life At 80: 'I Love Myself A Little Bit More'". Forbes. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
2. ^ "Kelly Bishop Broadway Profile". Internet Broadway Database. Archived October 7, 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2022-04-16.
3. ^ Bishop, Kelly (September 17, 2024). The Third Gilmore Girl. Gallery Books. ISBN 9781668023778.
4. ^ "Kelly Bishop Biography". Yahoo! Movies. 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-06.
5. ^ "BISHOP Kelly - biography, news, photos, date of birth, press dossier. Personalities GlobalNY.biz.". globalny.biz. Retrieved 2024-07-14.
6. ^ Chambers, Julia. "Gilmore Girls Power Couple Richard and Emily Gilmore Lunched on Broadway Before They Dined on Screen," Playbill (magazine), Tuesday 10 October 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
7. ^ "'Gilmore Girls' reunion: Kelly Bishop joins Amy Sherman-Palladino's new ABC Family show -- EXCLUSIVE". EW.com. Archived from the original on February 16, 2012. Retrieved 2012-04-21.
8. ^ "THEATER; Two Mature Lives on Stage and Screen, Now Playing in New Jersey", The New York Times, September 19, 1999. "She and her husband, Lee Leonard, the host of Jersey Talking on News 12 in Edison, have been living in South Orange for four years."
9. ^ Worth-Baker, Marcia. "Mother's Always Right: played the mother many times over" Archived 2012-03-26 at the Wayback Machine, Maplewood Matters, accessed April 22, 2007. "Ask Kelly Bishop, South Orange resident and star of Gilmore Girls, what drew her to the role of Emily Gilmore, and she recalls, 'The pilot was simply the best script I ever read.'"
10. ^ White, Peter (September 13, 2021). "Hitchcockian Nanny Drama From Julie Durk Lands Pilot Order At Freeform; Andrea Londo & Warren Christie Among Stars". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
11. ^ Lenker, Maureen Lee (November 1, 2024). "Kelly Bishop joins Shrinking as Harrison Ford's ex-wife in exclusive first look". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 5, 2024.

External links

• Kelly Bishop cast bio on The CW