Carole "Kelly" Bishop (born February 28, 1944) is an American actress and dancer, best known for her roles as matriarch Emily Gilmore on the series ''

Gilmore Girls ''Gilmore Girls'' is an American Comedy drama, comedy-drama television series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino and starring Lauren Graham (Lorelai Gilmore) and Alexis Bledel (Rory Gilmore). The show debuted on October 5, 2000, on The WB and beca ...

'' and as Marjorie Houseman, the mother of

Jennifer Grey Jennifer Grey (born March 26, 1960) is an American actress. She made her acting debut with the film ''Reckless'' (1984), and had her breakthrough with the teen comedy film '' Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' (1986). She subsequently earned worldwide ...

's Frances "Baby" Houseman in the film ''

Dirty Dancing ''Dirty Dancing'' is a 1987 American romantic drama dance film written by Eleanor Bergstein, produced by Linda Gottlieb, and directed by Emile Ardolino. Starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, it tells the story of Frances "Baby" Houseman ...

.'' Bishop originated the role of Sheila in ''

A Chorus Line ''A Chorus Line'' is a 1975 musical with music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Edward Kleban, and a book by James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante. Set on the bare stage of a Broadway theater, the musical is centered on seventeen Broadway dancers ...

,'' for which she won a

Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical has been presented since 1950. The award was not given at the first three Tony Award ceremonies. Nominees were not announced publicly until 1956. Winners and nominees 1950s ...

. She also starred as Fanny Flowers in the ABC Family short-lived comedy-drama series ''

Bunheads ''Bunheads '' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino and Lamar Damon that aired on ABC Family from June 11, 2012, to February 25, 2013. Starring Sutton Foster, the show centers on a Las Vegas showgirl who g ...

.''

Early life

Bishop was born on February 28, 1944, in

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

, to Jane Lenore ( née Wahtola) and Lawrence Boden Bishop. She grew up in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, where she trained to be a

ballet dancer A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on ye ...

, 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 A ballet company is a type of dance troupe which performs classical ballet, neoclassical ballet, and/or contemporary ballet in the European tradition, plus managerial and support staff. Most major ballet companies employ dancers on a year-round ba ...

at Radio City Music Hall. Bishop continued to dance in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

summer stock In American theater, summer-stock theater is a theater that presents stage productions only in the summer. The name combines the season with the tradition of staging shows by a resident company, reusing stock scenery and costumes. Summer stock th ...

and on television until she was cast in 1967 in '' Golden Rainbow,'' her first

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

role.

Career

Bishop's big break came when she was cast as the sexy, hard-edged Sheila in the 1975 Broadway production of ''

'', 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". She was also cast in Broadway productions of ''Six Degrees of Separation (play), Six Degrees of Separation,'' Neil Simon's ''Proposals (play), Proposals,'' the Tony Award-winning The last night of ballyhoo, ''The Last Night of Ballyhoo'' and ''Bus Stop (play), Bus Stop.'' In film, she was cast opposite to Jill Clayburgh in Paul Mazursky's big-screen drama ''An Unmarried Woman'' (1978). In the 1987 film ''

,'' she was originally set for a small role, but took on the much bigger role of Mrs. Houseman when Lynne Lipton, the original actor, fell ill during the first week of shooting. Bishop went on to play a "mom" to high-profile stars in features: Howard Stern's in the Betty Thomas-directed comedy ''Private Parts (1997 film), Private Parts'' (1997), and Tobey Maguire's in ''Wonder Boys (film), Wonder Boys'' (2000). Additional feature credits include ''Ich und Er'' (USA: ''Me and Him'', 1988), ''Queens Logic'' (1991), ''Café Society'' (1995), ''Miami Rhapsody'' (1995) and ''Blue Moon (2002 film), Blue Moon'' (2002). On television, Bishop starred in the Mike Nichols' ''The Thorns (TV series), The Thorns'' opposite Tony Roberts (actor), Tony Roberts and Marilyn Cooper. She played Lisa Ann Walter's mother on ''My Wildest Dreams''. She has guest-starred on ''Kate & Allie'', ''Law & Order'', ''Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' and ''Murphy Brown''. From 2000 to 2007, Bishop starred in The WB/CW Television Network, CW series ''

'' as wealthy New England matriarch List of Gilmore Girls characters#Emily Gilmore, Emily Gilmore. 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, the show's creator, on the ABC Family show ''

'', which was cancelled after the first season. Following the end of ''Gilmore Girls'', Bishop returned to theater, performing in ''Becky Shaw'' at the Second Stage Theatre in 2008 and briefly as the character Evangeline Harcourt in the 2011 revival of ''Anything Goes'' alongside Sutton Foster and Joel Grey.

Personal life

Bishop resides in South Orange, New Jersey. She was married to the TV talk show host Lee Leonard until his death in 2018.Worth-Baker, Marcia
"Mother's Always Right: played the mother many times over"
''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.'"

Credits

Film

Television

Theater

References

External links

* * * *
Kelly Bishop cast bio on The CW
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bishop, Kelly American female dancers Dancers from New Jersey American film actresses American television actresses Actresses from Denver Actresses from New Jersey Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School alumni Drama Desk Award winners Actresses from Boulder, Colorado Actresses from Colorado Springs, Colorado People from South Orange, New Jersey Theatre World Award winners Tony Award winners Living people American stage actresses 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Dancers from Colorado 1944 births