Carole “Kelly” Bishop was born on 28 February 1944, in Colorado Springs, Colorado USA, and is a dancer and actress, probably best known for being part of the series “Gilmore Girls” as Emily Gilmore. She’s been active in the industry since 1962, and all of her efforts have helped put her net worth to where it is today.
How rich is Kelly Bishop? As of mid-2017, sources estimate a net worth that is at $4 million, mostly earned through a successful career in acting. She won a Tony Award for her creation and performance of the role Sheila in “A Chorus Line”. She was also part of the film “Dirty Dancing”, and the TV series “Bunheads”. As she continues her career, it is expected that her wealth will also continue to increase.
Kelly Bishop Net Worth $4 million
Kelly grew up in Denver, Colorado and during her time there, trained to be a ballet dancer, but she attended the American Ballet Theatre’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School in New York, and later the San Jose Ballet School in California. At the age of 18, she then decided to move to New York City permanently to pursue a career in ballet, and became a part of a ballet company at Radio City Music Hall. She also worked as a dancer in Las Vegas, before and eventually finding her way to acting, initially appearing in summer stock. Soon, television opportunities would open up for her too, until she was cast in her first Broadway role in a production of “Golden Rainbow” which was showcased in 1967. Her net worth was established.
Bishop eventually got her breakthrough when she was cast as Sheila in the Broadway production of “A Chorus Line”, which earned her a Tony and Drama Desk Awards for “Best Supporting or Featured Actress (Musical)” in 1976. Her net worth started to increase significantly as more opportunities opened up for her. Soon she would appear in other productions including “Six Degrees of Separation, The Last Night of Ballyhoo”, and “Bus Stop”. Two years later, she was cast in her first big role in film in “An Unmarried Woman” opposite Jill Clayburgh, then in 1987, in the film “Dirty Dancing” – she was only supposed to have a minor role in the film but was later cast as Mrs. Houseman when Lynne Lipton opted out of the role due to sickness.
Kelly continued to appear in a string of high profile projects which helped build her net worth; some of these included “Private Parts’, “Wonder Boys” and “Blue Moon”. She also made frequent television appearances, including in “The Thorns” in which she acted alongside Marilyn Cooper. She has also made guest appearances in various popular television shows including “Law & Order”, “Kate & Allie”, and “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”. In 2000, she would then be cast in the series “Gilmore Girls” as the matriarch Emily Gilmore, a role she would hold until the end of the series in 2007, significantly raising her net worth.
In 2008, Bishop returned to stage in the production of “Becky Shaw”, then made a brief performance in the revival of “Anything Goes”. A few of her latest projects have include “Bunheads” which was cancelled after one season. In 2016, she reprised her role of Emily Gilmore in “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life” which aired on Netflix.
For her personal life, it is known that Kelly was firstly married to Peter Miller but they eventually divorced. She has been married to television talk show host Lee Leonard since 1981, and they reside in South Orange, New Jersey.
