Theatre Register

Kelly Bishop

Shows · Kelly Bishop

Actor b. 1944 On stage 19752011

Kelly Bishop (born Carole Jane Bishop; on February 28, 1944) is an American actress and dancer, best known for her roles as matriarch Emily Gilmore on the series Gilmore Girls and as Marjorie Houseman, the mother of Jennifer Grey's Frances "Baby" Houseman, in the film Dirty Dancing. Bishop originated the role of Sheila in A Chorus Line for which she won a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical. In 2023, she starred as Mrs. Ivey in The Watchful Eye (2023).

On stage 6 productions, 36 years

1975 A Chorus Line Shubert Theatre · Original · directed by Michael Bennett 6,137 perf.
1990 Six Degrees of Separation Vivian Beaumont Theater · Original · directed by Jerry Zaks 485 perf.
1996 Bus Stop Circle In The Square Theatre · Revival · directed by Josephine R. Abady 29 perf.
1997 Proposals Broadhurst Theatre · Original · directed by Joe Mantello 77 perf.
1997 The Last Night of Ballyhoo Helen Hayes Theatre · Original · directed by Ron Lagomarsino 556 perf.
2011 Anything Goes Stephen Sondheim Theatre · Revival · directed by Kathleen Marshall 521 perf.

Each row is a staging this name appears in the cast list of, read from the production record rather than from the person record. The person record names works instead, and a work cannot say which run somebody was in — that is how Elaine Stritch ends up filed under Show Boat 1927 when she was in the 1994 revival. No row here says what part was played, because no cast list records it.

In the literature8 passages

  • Cast: Kelly Bishop, Pamela Blair, Wayne Cilento, Kay Cole, Patricia Garland, Baayork Lee, Priscilla Lopez, Robert LuPone, Donna McKechnie, Michel Stuart, Thommie Walsh, Sammy Williamsebooks/Green, Stanley/Broadway Musicals, Show By Show - Seventh Edition - Stanley Green & Cary Ginell.txt
  • After years in the chorus, Kelly Bishop gained attention and a Tony Award as the original Sheila in A Chorus Line before moving on to a film and TV career in such roles as Emily Gilmore on Gilmore Girls. In 1968, a pre-name-change Kelly Bishop (“Carole Bishop”) had made her Broadway debut as “Dancer, Cat-Girl” at the Shubert in Golden Rai…ebooks/Tepper, Jennifer/Untold Stories of Broadway, Volume 2 PART 1, The - Jennifer Tepper.txt
  • Kelly Bishop (then using the first name Carole), who created the role of the sultry Sheila, said that the original idea, as Stevens explained it to her, “was trying to get professional dancer-actor people together to be able to do productions as a resident company. That was very appealing to me, as an actress: getting a wonderful little g…ebooks/Viagas, Robert/B004CRTAGM EBOK - Robert Viagas & Baayork Lee & Thommie Walsh.txt
  • “When it came to my turn I said, ‘My name is Kelly Bishop, my real name is Carole Jane Bishop, which I really hate. I was born February twenty-eighth, 1944, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. And I’m going to be thirty real soon. And I’m real glad.’ Which is exactly what Sheila says, except that the name is different. We changed the date of S…ebooks/Viagas, Robert/B004CRTAGM EBOK - Robert Viagas & Baayork Lee & Thommie Walsh.txt
  • Priscilla Lopez recounted her horror stories about being humiliated by two teachers at the High School of the Performing Arts. Kelly Bishop described how she escaped from an unhappy childhood into a ballet world where everything was beautiful. McKechnie told what it was like to grow up with a father away in the military, and how she would…ebooks/Viagas, Robert/B004CRTAGM EBOK - Robert Viagas & Baayork Lee & Thommie Walsh.txt
  • Kelly Bishop said, “For my money, Jacki was the Broadway gypsy. She was the one I’d worked with. I didn’t know Trish, though I’d seen her at auditions. Suddenly Trish’s in the show and Jacki isn’t. Michael was brutal, that’s why he made so many enemies. He was ruthless in what he went for in terms of casting. There could be any number of…ebooks/Viagas, Robert/B004CRTAGM EBOK - Robert Viagas & Baayork Lee & Thommie Walsh.txt

Passages naming this person, found by keyword across 178 books. A keyword match is not a biography, and a common name will pull in the wrong one.

What this page does not know

  • What this person played. No cast list we hold records a character against a performer.
  • Which of the credits above the roles on this record — actor — apply to. The roles sit on the person and never on a credit, so a director who also acted looks the same here as one who did not.

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