Kelly Bishop

Person Score

 
9.4 Superb
121 votes

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Biography

Recent Role:
Mrs. Kent (voice on phone) on The Good Wife
Gender:
Female
Born:
2-28-1944
Birthplace:
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Birth Name:
Carole Bishop
AKA:
Carole Bishop
Veteran actress Kelly Bishop has portrayed many memorable roles in film, television and the theater since her breakout performance as one of the original cast members of the hit Broadway musical A Chorus Line.

The Colorado Springs native grew up in Denver, Colo., where she trained to be a ballet dancer. At 18, she headed to New York and landed her first job dancing in a year-round ballet company at Radio City Music Hall. Bishop did nightclub work after that until she was cast in 1967 in Golden Rainbow, her first Broadway role.





More Her big break came when she was cast as the sexy, hard-edged Sheila in A Chorus Line. She won Tony and Drama Desk Awards for her break-out performance, giving her the confidence she needed to eventually leave the acclaimed original ensemble and move to Los Angeles to pursue a dramatic acting career.

It wasn't long before she was cast opposite Jill Clayburgh in Paul Mazursky's big-screen drama An Unmarried Woman. She went on to play "mom" to several high-profile stars in numerous features: Jennifer Grey's mother in the box-office hit Dirty Dancing, Howard Stern's mother in the Betty Thomas-directed comedy Private Parts and Tobey Maguire's mom in Wonder Boys. Her additional feature credits include Blue Moon, Café Society, Miami Rhapsody, Queens Logic, Me and Him and A Guy's Guide to Marrying Money.

On television, Bishop starred in the Mike Nichols' series The Thorns, and played Lisa Ann Walter's mother on the show My Wildest Dreams. She has guest-starred on Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and Murphy Brown, and had recurring roles on All My Children, One Life to Live, Another World and As the World Turns.

Bishop's extensive theater credits include playing the lead in the Broadway production of Six Degrees of Separation, as well as starring in Broadway productions of Neil Simon's Proposals, the Tony Award-winning The Last Night of Ballyhoo, Bus Stop and Precious Sons. She has also starred in numerous regional theater and Off-Broadway productions.

About the character: Emily is Lorelai's mother. She wanted the best for her daughter, unfortunately her daughter just wanted to make it on her own. Now that Lorelai needs money, Emily wants to make sure she gets the family togetherness she always wanted.

Kelly Bishop is married to Lee Leonard (from 1981-present), host of Channel 12 show "Jersey Talkin'" in New Jersey.

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  •  
    8 Great
    Kelly Bishop, I wish she was my Mum. hide show

    I absolutely love Kelly Bishop as Emily Gilmore. She embodies the role. With a sassy, get it done and do it correctly, professionalism. She exudes and drips class with every bit of her tongue. But can not help letting out her unique individual flairs... her haughtiness is overcome by her insecurities. And a tender heart beats underneath her pearls and cashmere. I applaud this actress... Simply put, she's my favorite. I wish she did more and i wish when I watched dirty dancing I payed a bit more attention I mite just have to watch it again and try to spot her out.

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  •  
    9.9 Superb
    Classic and amazing! hide show

    There are few actors in this world that can make you love yet hate the character they are portraying at the same time. Kelly Bishop is one of the actresses that can. Although I am only familar with her as the character Emily Gilmore on Gilmore Girls, I see she is an amazing actress. She makes you pity her and loath her, something hard to make a viewer do. Kelly has the most talent on the set of gilmore girls. While Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel are also superb actresses, Kelly Bishop's role is harder to portray yet she does it better than anyone else could.

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    10 Perfect
    Ja som sa narodila 28.feb, takze je to moj clovek...Charakter postavy je nervny, ale ma svoj hoch styl. hide show

    Pani bishop je ako moja grandmum, ale she lives in own world.Ma vsetko naprogramovane atesi sa zo svoje noblesy. Nechcela by som byt riadena touto pani, aj ked trochu mam tento problem doma. Musi tu byt az sto slov.Neviem pisat v english a v slvak language uz nemam slov.Takze pani vie byt aj na silu mila, aj ked by vrazdila.Musi si udrzat riadny odstup, aj ked najradsej by sa kazdemu hodila okolo krku a vyslahla emocie do plena. To by bolo great. Ulavilo by sa jej a mohla by dalej hrat tu chladnu malomestiacku a terorizovat svoju rodinu, v nasom meste je takychto grandmums vela.Enede schluss.

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    10 Perfect
    Wow, she's amazing! hide show

    She is absolutely my favorite character in Gilmore Girls, and seems like an awesome person outside of it too. The things her character says basically make me puke from laughter. She and Richard are a great couple on the show! Too bad she can't ditch her real hubby and marry Ed.

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    10 Perfect
    Kelly does a fantastic job! hide show

    Kelly is perfect for the role of Emily Gilmore on Gilmore Girls. I give Kelly Bishop a ten on her performance as Emily Gilmore. Her acting has to be top notch to make that character believable. Kelly and Emily are two different people. I have seen Kelly in interveiws, and she seems nothing like her character. She seems so nice and sweet. Emily can be mean somethimes. She and Ed Herrmann have a nice on screen connection. Kelly and Lauren on the other hand are great together. Their timing is just pheonomenal. It is so beleivable that they could have a relationship like that. Well done Kelly!!

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