As a big fan of Kelly Bishop in her role as Emily Gilmore in “Gilmore Girls”, I was really excited to be able to dive into her memoir and learn all about her life, Especially after hearing part of her interview with NPR earlier this year. I knew she had a small role in Dirty Dancing, but I had no idea that Kelly started out as a professional dancer herself! She then moved into a Broadway career before finding television and film success.
I came away from her memoir feeling even more awe and respect for the actress. Life threw a lot of heartache and trouble into her path. The difficult childhood with an emotionally abusive father. A gambling ex-husband that left her broke before they divorced. Her thoughtful decision to have an abortion because she knew having children wasn’t her path but also that having children is an important decision not to be taken lightly. (This is something she went into greater detail about in her NPR interview, explaining why she chose to add it to her memoir). Losing the love of her life after years of medical battles.
Through it all, she maintained a more-or-less positive outlook on life, stayed true to herself, and trusted her intuition. She turned projects and opportunities down when they didn’t align with her inner values and trusted that the universe would take care of her.
What's not to admire?
“Don’t cry because your best days are gone. Smile because you had them in the first place.”