Kelly Bishop as Emily Gilmore on "Gilmore Girls"
The Colorado Springs native grew up in Denver, where she trained to be a ballet dancer. At 18, Kelly Bishop headed to New York and landed her first job dancing in a year-round ballet company at Radio City Music Hall. Kelly Bishop danced in Las Vegas, summer stock and on television until she was cast in 1967 in "Golden Rainbow," her first Broadway role.
Kelly Bishop's big break came when she was cast as the sexy, hard-edged Sheila in "A Chorus Line." Kelly Bishop won Tony and Drama Desk Awards for her performance, giving her the confidence she needed to eventually leave the acclaimed original ensemble to pursue a dramatic acting career.
It wasn't long before Kelly Bishop was cast opposite Jill Clayburgh in Paul Mazursky's big-screen drama "An Unmarried Woman." Kelly Bishop 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." Kelly Bishop's additional feature credits include "Blue Moon," "Cafe Society," "Miami Rhapsody," "Queens Logic" and "Me and Him."
On television, Kelly Bishop starred in the Mike Nichols' series "The Thorns" and played Lisa Ann Walter's mother on "My Wildest Dreams." Kelly Bishop has guest-starred on "Law & Order," "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" and "Murphy Brown."
Kelly Bishop's extensive theater credits include the lead in the Broadway production of "Six Degrees of Separation," as well as Broadway productions of Neil Simon's "Proposals," the Tony Award-winning "The Last Night of Ballyhoo" and "Bus Stop." Kelly Bishop also has starred in numerous regional theater and off-Broadway productions.
When she's not working, Kelly Bishop practices Pilates and aerobics, and enjoys gardening and hiking near her home in New Jersey, where she lives with her husband, TV talk show host Lee Leonard.