Veteran actress Kelly Bishop has portrayed many memorable roles in film, television and the theater since her breakout
performance as one of the original cast members of the hit Broadway musical A Chorus Line.
The Colorado Springs native grew up in Denver, Colo., where she trained to be a ballet dancer. At 18, she headed to New York
and landed her first job dancing in a year-round ballet company at Radio City Music Hall. Bishop danced in Las Vegas, summer
stock and on television until she was cast in 1967 in Golden Rainbow, her first Broadway role.
Her big break came when she was cast as the sexy, hard-edged Sheila in A Chorus Line. She 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 she was cast opposite Jill Clayburgh in Paul Mazursky's big-screen drama An
Unmarried Woman. She went on to play "mom" to several high-profile stars in numerous features such as Jennifer Grey's mother
in the box-office hit Dirty Dancing. On television, Bishop starred in the Mike Nichols' series The Thorns and played Lisa
Ann Walter's mother on My Wildest Dreams.
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. She also
has starred in numerous regional theater and off-Broadway productions.
When she's not working, 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.
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Full name Kelly Bishop
Date of birth February 28, 1944
Place of birth Colorado Springs, CO
Height 5'7 (1.70 m)
Eyes/hair Brown/brown
Sign Pisces
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