Kelly Bishop was the Original Gilmore Girl

Kelly Bishop is best known for orchestrating the infamous Friday Night Dinners and spending her days with the Daughters of the American Revolution on Gilmore Girls (from creator Amy Sherman Palladino) as Emily Gilmore. But before she was the Gilmore we loved to hate, the actress was a Broadway star.

This Tony Award winner began her career in entertainment in 1968, at age 24, on stage as a dancer in the show, Golden Rainbow. But the stage was only the start of her life in show business, as she went on to star on not only Gilmore Girls, but Dirty Dancing and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel as well.

The early career of Kelly Bishop

The actress was born as Carole Bishop on February 28, 1944, in Colorado Springs. She relocated to New York City at age 18 to pursue a career in ballet, which eventually led to a life on Broadway. Her first role on the stage came just a few years later and she’s never looked back..

Making it on Broadway was a dream of Bishop’s, and something she was most overjoyed to achieve. “The idea of being a dancer on Broadway in a hit show was really good. It was really cool. Still is. That was it, just being a professional dancer. Made me proud.”

Bishop was cast as Sheila in her most memorable Broadway show, A Chorus Line, in 1975, earning a Tony Award for her performance as a featured actress in a musical. Following her win, Bishop had roles in the Broadway shows Precious Sons (1986), Six Degrees of Separation (1990) and Bus Stop (1996). But by this time, she had already started her transition to movies and television.

Kelly Bishop makes her way on-screen

In her early television career, Bishop had a few minor roles in such series as Hawaii Five-O (1976), Hart to Hart (1982) and Ryan’s Hope (1985). In 1987, she was cast in Dirty Dancing as Marjorie Houseman, the mother to Baby Houseman.

“We had so much fun… it was cast and crew, we were kind of stuck together. So, we really had fun, we had a wonderful time.”

Over the next few years, Bishop had a recurring role on As the World Turns (1987), followed by a role on The Thorns (1988), but that show was canceled after only 12 episodes.

The Gilmore Girl

In 2000, Bishop became the beloved Emily Gilmore on Gilmore Girls (from creator Amy Sherman Palladino). The character was best known for her harsh opinions of her daughter, Lorelai Gilmore (played by Lauren Graham), her granddaughter Rory Gilmore (Alexis Bledel) and everyone else around her, as well as continuously hiring and firing maids over any minor detail.

“I’ve always enjoyed playing what I call the nasty, rich women, because I can’t stand them,” Bishop shared in an interview. “So, I try to make them as awful as possible… She is funny . . . if you don’t have to live with her.”

But despite her pushiness and love of meddling, Emily Gilmore is one of the best aspects of the entire series. It’s clear to see that the character, deep down, just wants to love her family and be loved by them in return.

Bishop’s recent projects

Following the end of Gilmore Girls, Bishop continued to act on-screen as well as on stage. A few of the TV shows and movies the actress has starred in include The Good Wife (2010-16), Friends with Kids (2011) and Bunheads (2012-13).

In 2016, she came back to reprise her role of Emily Gilmore in Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, which was a four-part mini-series. She then starred in The Salzburg Story (2018), Art of Falling in Love (2019) and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2022-23).

Most recently, Bishop portrayed Mrs. Ivey in The Watchful Eye (2023), and is currently promoting her upcoming book, The Third Gilmore Girl, which is set to release on September 17, 2024.

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