Last updated on: February 9, 2023
Kelly Bishop is an American actress and dancer who rose to fame for her roles as Emily Gilmore on Gilmore Girls and Fanny Flowers on Bunheads. She has won several awards, including a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. Bishop is also known for her work on the big screen, appearing in such films as Hip Hop Kidz, Dirty Dancing, and Shall We Dance?
Early Life
Jane Lenore (née Wahtola) and Lawrence Boden Bishop welcomed their son Kelly into the world on February 28, 1944, in the city of Colorado Springs, Colorado.
She attended the San Jose Ballet School while she was growing up in Denver, Colorado, which is where she began her training to become a ballet dancer.
When she was eighteen years old, she moved to New York City and got her first job dancing in a ballet company that performed at Radio City Music Hall year-round. She continued to dance in Las Vegas, in summer stock, and on television until she was cast in Golden Rainbow in 1967, which was her first role on Broadway. Golden Rainbow was her debut performance.
Career
Bishop’s big break came when she was chosen to play seductive, tough-talking Sheila in the 1975 Broadway production of A Chorus Line, for which she was nominated and won the 1976 Drama Desk Award and the 1976 Tony Award for “Best Supporting or Featured Actress in a Musical.”
She also appeared on Broadway in the productions of Six Degrees of Separation, Neil Simon’s Proposals, The Last Night of Ballyhoo, which won a Tony Award, and Bus Stop.
She played Jill Clayburgh’s opposite in Paul Mazursky’s major motion picture drama An Unmarried Woman (1978).
She was originally cast in a minor role in the 1987 movie Dirty Dancing, but when Lynne Lipton, the original actor, became ill during the first week of filming, she was given the much larger role of Mrs. Houseman.
Bishop then went on to play a “mom” to prominent actors in films, including Howard Stern in the comedy Private Parts (1997), directed by Betty Thomas, and Tobey Maguire in Wonder Boys (2000). Ich und Er (USA: Me and Him, 1988), Queens Logic (1991), Café Society (1995), Miami Rhapsody (1995), and Blue Moon (1995) are additional feature credits (2002). In 1988, Bishop appeared on television in Mike Nichols’ The Thorns alongside Tony Roberts and Marilyn Cooper.
On My Wildest Dreams, she played Lisa Ann Walter’s mother (1995). On Kate & Allie, Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and Murphy Brown, she has appeared as a guest star.
In the WB/CW television series Gilmore Girls, Bishop played the affluent New England matriarch Emily Gilmore from 2000 to 2007. In the Netflix miniseries Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life from 2016, she played the same character again.
She later worked with the show’s creator, Amy Sherman-Palladino, on the ABC Family program Bunheads, which ran from 2012 to 2013 but was canceled after the first season.
After Gilmore Girls ended, Bishop went back to acting, appearing in Becky Shaw at the Second Stage Theatre in 2008, briefly playing Evangeline Harcourt in the revival of Anything Goes in 2011, along with Sutton Foster and Joel Grey, and in the 2011 film Friends with Kids. Since then, Bishop has also made one-off and ongoing guest appearances on shows like Army Wives, Mercy, The Good Wife, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, where she reconnected with the show’s creator Amy Sherman-Palladino while playing Benedetta.
Bishop currently plays Mrs. Ivey in the TV drama series The Watchful Eye.
Know Kelly Bishop bio, career, debut, husband, daughter, age, height, awards, favorite things, body measurements, dating history, net worth, car collections, address, date of birth, school, residence, religion, father, mother, siblings, and much more.
Bio/Wiki
Full Name
Kelly Bishop
Nickname
Kelly Bishop
Profession
Actress, Dancer
Career
Debut
Film – Dirty Dancing (1987)
Best Known for
Gilmore Girls (2000), Dirty Dancing (1987), and Wonder Boys (2000)
Awards
Personal life
Date of Birth
February 28, 1944
Age
As of 2023, Kelly Bishop is 79 years old.
Zodiac sign
Pisces
Nationality
American
Birth Place
Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States of America
Residence
Colorado Springs, Boulder
School / College / University
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School
Religion
Christianity
Race / Ethnicity
White.
Food Habits
Non-vegan.
Hobbies
Dancing, cooking, and listening to music.
Tattoo
Unknown.
Physical Stats & More
Height
- In feet – 5′ 6″
- In Centimeters – 168 cm
- In meters – 1.68 m
Weight
- In kilograms – 65 kg
- In Pounds – 143 lbs
Body Measurements
32- 26 – 32 inches
Shoe size
7 (US)
Eye color
Brown
Hair Color
Light Brown
Family
Husband
Lee Leonard (1981–2018) (TV Personality) (Died on 16 December 2018)
Father
Lawrence Boden Bishop
Mother
Jane Lenore
Siblings
Unknown.
Children
Norma Sheryl Leonard (Daughter)
Relationship & More
Marital Status
Single
Marriage Date
In 1981.
Boyfriend and dating history
Peter Miller
Lee Leonard (1981–2018)
Favorite Things
Unknown.
Money Factor
Kelly Bishop Net Worth
$6 million.
As of 2023, her estimated net worth is around $6 million.
Source of Income – Acting
Car collection
It will be updated soon.
House
It will be updated soon.
Find on Web
Website
None.
She is not active on Facebook.
She is not active on Twitter.
She is not active on Instagram
