Actress Kelly Bishop, 81, may be best known for her role as Lorelai Gilmore’s (Lauren Graham) uptight, yet quick-witted mother, Emily Gilmore, on the hit series Gilmore Girls, which ran for seven seasons until 2007. Bishop discussed playing Emily during the show’s original run and its 2016 Netflix revival, Gilmore Girls: A Year in a Life, in an October 2025 interview with The i Paper.
During the interview, Bishop explained she wasn’t interested in having children. She told the publication she was focused on her career as a ballet dancer and Broadway performer in the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s. She said that her mother, Jane Lenore, encouraged her to be child-free to have a sense of independence.
“She said, ‘Don’t ever feel you have to give me grandchildren.’ This was the 50s when that was absolutely expected of you,” said Bishop to the publication. “My mother was a fair and wonderful woman who told me when I was six or seven that once you have children, you’re never free again. She wasn’t complaining, but she wanted to be sure that I did something that was tangible, that I loved.”
The i Paper reported that Bishop terminated a pregnancy in 1978 and eventually got a tubal ligation.
“I got my tubes tied,” said Bishop during the interview.
In addition, she said she doesn’t regret her decision.
Kelly Bishop Shared Why Having Freedom Has Meant So Much to Her
In an October 2024 panel from her book, The Third Gilmore Girl, moderated by Graham, Bishop explained why her mother’s warning about having children resonated with her. She explained that she has always prioritized her freedom, even as a small child.
“Freedom is what it’s all about. I mean it always was with me if it was climbing a tree or going for a walk in the woods with my dog. It was being free. Having to go to school was a terrible hardship. From kindergarten to my senior year. I hated school and so I had to be free,” said Bishop on the panel.
Bishop also explained that her mother became interested in ballet when she was about 20 years old. The actress said while her mother “could have been a good dancer,” she “really sort of discovered ballet late.” According to Bishop, Lenore wanted her to have a career in dance because it was something that could enable her to make a life for herself without a husband.
“[My mother] was born in 1917 and there weren’t a lot of options for women. And I think that she wanted to give me some sort of a career that she could enjoy as well. But that would make me not feel like I had to get married when I was 18,” said Bishop.
Bishop also told Graham that her mother, who was musically inclined, offered her services as a pianist to be able to afford her ballet lessons, after her father, Lawrence Boden Bishop, refused to pay for them.
“My mother, this little quiet, very resourceful woman, who was a very good pianist trotted herself over to the ballet school. And offered herself as a accompanist, the pianist, to play for classes in return for my tuition. And that’s what she did,” stated Bishop to the audience members.
Kelly Bishop Said She Views Lauren Graham as Her Real-Life Daughter
In the October 2025 interview with The i Paper, Bishop said she considers herself to be a mother figure in Graham’s life.
‘She is another extremely bright woman and a dear friend of mine – she’s my daughter. She really is my daughter,” said Bishop to the publication.
The publication also reported that Bishop and her late husband, Lee Leonard‘s daughter, Sheryl, currently live together. Leonard, who wed Bishop in 1981, died at the age of 89 in 2018.
