The Third Gilmore Girl: A Memoir

The Third Gilmore Girl is a 2024 memoir by American actress Kelly Bishop, best known for her role as Emily Gilmore in the television series Gilmore Girls (2000–2007). The memoir offers an intimate account of Bishop’s six-decade career in show business, detailing her journey from ballet dancer to Tony Award-winning actress. Bishop provides behind-the-scenes insights into her experiences on Broadway, in films like 1987’s Dirty Dancing, and on television, highlighting the challenges and triumphs she encountered along the way. Her account emphasizes the importance of personal and professional resilience, and the fulfillment derived from a life of creative expression.

This study guide refers to the Vintage Digital 2024 eBook edition of The Third Gilmore Girl.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of substance use and abortion.

Summary

The author was born Carole Bishop in 1944 in Denver, Colorado. She grew up close to her older brother and her loving and supportive mother Jane. However, her father Lawrence bullied his family and had an addiction to alcohol. He also made little attempt to hide his infidelities. 

Jane warned Bishop that women lose their freedom when they have children. From a young age, Bishop resolved not to become a mother, directing her maternal instincts toward animals.

Bishop hated school but loved Jane’s informal ballet lessons, where she was a natural. She progressed to formal lessons at the American Ballet Theatre, Denver, under teacher Dimitri Romanoff. Bishop felt pretty dancing; the class also provided a refuge from the disruption of her parents’ divorce. Dimitri Romanoff supported Bishop’s dream of joining the American Ballet Theatre in New York, a prestigious ballet company. Dimitri Romanoff, alongside principal dancer and cofounder Lucia Chase, judged the auditions. Bishop felt confident her performance was one of the best; however, Lucia Chase refused to make eye contact with Bishop and rejected her.

Bishop successfully auditioned for the corps de ballet at Radio City Music Hall. The job required four performances a day and was poorly paid. However, Bishop was grateful for the work and started dating fellow dancer Roy Volkmann. They moved in together and later moved to Las Vegas, where, just after her father’s death, Bishop progressed from lounge dancing to the show Vive Les Girls. The pace of rehearsals and performances was relentless, so Bishop briefly used amphetamines as a coping mechanism.

After Bishop and Roy returned to New York and separated, Bishop landed a role in the Broadway show Golden Rainbow. During her next show, Promises, Promises, she became involved with stagehand Peter Miller. The couple married in 1970. Despite his gambling and infidelities, Bishop turned down the role of Anita in a touring production of West Side Story to be with him. Bishop divorced Peter when she lost her penthouse apartment due to his debts.

In 1974, Bishop got the opportunity to appear in A Chorus Line as strong, sassy Sheila Bryant. Directed by Michael Bennett, the musical was based on a workshop where dancers, including Bishop, discussed their lives. One of the show’s songs, “At the Ballet,” is based on Bishop’s childhood experiences. A Chorus Line was a great success. Bishop won a Tony for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical, accepting it under her new name, Kelly Bishop. Unhappy with Michael Bennett’s plans to tour the original cast of A Chorus Line in Los Angeles while introducing a new cast on Broadway, Bishop decided to stay on Broadway despite Bennett’s offer of more money and likely fame in Los Angeles.

Bishop discovered that she was pregnant by her boyfriend Kevin, an aspiring actor. Not wanting children, she had an abortion at a Planned Parenthood facility. The couple split after Bishop had an affair.

After appearing on the talk show Midday Live, Bishop fell in love with and married its host, Lee Leonard. She landed her first TV work on an episode of Hawaii-Five-O, followed by appearances in various soap operas. Her desire to act in a more extended project was fulfilled when she got the role of Marjorie Houseman in the movie Dirty Dancing.

After working as Stockard Channing’s understudy in the play Six Degrees of Separation, Bishop got the leading role when the star left the show and demanded pay equal to that of the male leads.

In 1994, Bishop was devastated when her mom died. Shortly afterward, Lee was diagnosed with melanoma and a spot on his lung. 

In 2000, Bishop landed the role of Emily Gilmore in Gilmore Girls. The show became a long-running success, and Bishop developed a close bond with the cast and writer Amy Sherman-Palladino. Before filming for Season 3 started, Lee was diagnosed with prostate cancer. To allow Bishop to support her husband through radiation therapy, Sherman-Palladino arranged for filming in Burbank, California, to be scheduled around Lee’s treatment. After Season 6 of Gilmore Girls, Sherman-Palladino left the show due to failed contract negotiations. In her absence, the show lost its magic and was canceled. In 2012, Bishop starred in Sherman-Palladino’s new series Bunheads. When Netflix bought Gilmore Girls from Warner Bros., the show became a hit again with old and new viewers alike. 

Bishop cared for Lee until his death from cancer in December 2018. Shortly afterward, one of her beloved dogs also died. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, she adopted a rescue dog and consulted a cognitive behaviorist to rediscover the pleasure she once took in her own company. Her next role was Benedetta in Amy Sherman-Palladino’s new hit show, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. In 2022, after playing Mrs. Ivey in the series The Watchful Eye, Bishop developed blood clots in her legs. After surgery, she returned home, determined to continue working.