Profile Text
Bishop in 2016, photo by DFree /Bigstock.com
Birth Name: Carole Jane Bishop
Place of Birth: Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S.
Date of Birth: February 28, 1944
Ethnicity: English, Irish, Scottish, German, likely one eighth Finnish and one eighth Norwegian
Kelly Bishop is an American actress and dancer. She is known for her roles on the series The Thorns , Gilmore Girls , Bunheads , and Étoile , and in the films An Unmarried Woman , Dirty Dancing (1987), Me and Him , Queens Logic , Six Degrees of Separation , Miami Rhapsody , Private Parts (1997), Wonder Boys , and Friends with Kids .
Kelly was raised in Denver, Colorado. As a teenager, she moved to California for ballet school. She was married to television personality Lee Leonard, until his death.
Kelly’s paternal grandfather was Nolan Milford Bishop (the son of Ingram Bill Bishop and Mary Ellen Beals). Nolan was born in Lawrencetown, Annapolis, Nova Scotia, Canada. Ingram was born in South Williamston, Annapolis, the son of Thomas Gifford Bishop and Anne FitzRandolph. Mary was born in Annapolis, the daughter of John Cooper Beals and Nancy Clark, whose father was from Allerston, Yorkshire, England.
Kelly’s paternal grandmother was Fannye/Fannie Leona Stone (the daughter of Anthony G. Stone and Emma L. Boden). Fannye was born in Sedgwick, Kansas, to English parents, from Matlock, Derbyshire. Emma was the daughter of Abel Boden and Lydia Wigley.
Kelly’s maternal grandfather was named George Arthur Wahtola/Watala/Wahgols/Wahtolu (likely the son of Anna Christine). George was born in Ironwood, Michigan, to a father from Finland and a mother from Norway.
Kelly’s maternal grandmother was Marietta Louise “Mary” Hight (the daughter of Edward Clark Hight/Hite and Lulu May Allen). Marietta was born in Cripple Creek, Colorado. Edward was born in Bureau, Illinois, the son of Stewart Hight/Hite and Mary Proctor. Lulu was born in Colorado, the daughter of Oscar Allen and Marietta “Etta” Day.
Sources: Genealogies of Kelly’s parents – http://familysearch.org
Kelly’s maternal grandfather, George Arthur Wahtola/Watala/Wahgols, on the 1910 U.S. Census – http://familysearch.org