Dirty Dancing vet Kelly Bishop, 80, details affair she had with married man in new memoir The Third Gilmore Girl Have YOU got a story? Email [email protected] By Ashleigh Gray For Dailymail.Com Published: 21:18 BST, 20 September 2024 | Updated: 21:23 BST, 20 September 2024 e-mail View comments Kelly Bishop has opened up about an affair she had with a married man many years ago.
While promoting her new memoir The Third Gilmore Girl, which was published September 17, the 80-year-old Gilmore Girls star revealed the details of the relationship. The romance took place in the summer of 1967, not long after she landed her first Broadway role in Golden Rainbow. In the literary effort, Bishop describes the guy as 'a highly successful publicity agent' but doesn't name him.
'I knew that it was wrong,' Bishop - who played Marjorie Houseman, the mother of Jennifer Grey's Frances 'Baby' Houseman in the film Dirty Dancing - admitted to Fox News Digital . Kelly Bishop has opened up about an affair she had with a married man many years ago; pictured September 17 While promoting her new memoir The Third Gilmore Girl, the 80-year-old Gilmore Girls star revealed the details of the relationship Read More Baby Reindeer's Nava Mau puts on a stylish display in a zig-zag blazer for the Missoni show during Milan Fashion Week after show's Emmy Awards success She said about the salacious romance, 'You’re not supposed to be doing that.' Considering his spouse, she recalled, 'I started thinking about his wife, who may or may not have known about us, who may have experienced other affairs he had.
I don’t know. 'But I knew this wasn’t fair to her.' Bishop fondly remembered the affair as 'exquisite' and 'romantic.
' She noted that only two people knew about the secretive relationship — her mother, and a friend who was 'discreet.' She never met the man's wife, making it 'easy to ignore her existence' until it became hard because she loved him 'deeply.' Bishop shared, 'Right around the time I left Golden Rainbow, the reality finally sank in that if this man’s wife loved him nearly as much as I did, I was doing her a huge, incredibly unkind disservice.
' Eventually the longtime entertainer surrendered, explaining, 'I had to say goodbye to him, and I did. Bishop is known for her role as Lorelai's mom Emily; pictured in 2016 'It was painful for both of us — I think he was genuinely in love with me too, and it broke my heart to hurt him. 'But I guess no one ever said that doing the right thing would always feel good.
' Loneliness was the motivator for the clandestine affair: 'I was lonely. And that’s an unfortunate setup. 'You’re not going to see the person as often as you want to.
You don’t have the freedom to call them and all those other things. I just thought, "This is absolutely going to go nowhere except lead to more lonely nights and broken hearts."' The Dirty Dancing star continued, 'I just needed to get out of this.
I couldn’t do this anymore. So, I got out.' Bishop's book was published on September 17 Following the heartbreaking situation, Bishop went on to marry Broadway stagehand and electrician Peter Miller in 1970 when she was 26.
She described him as 'cute, sexy, charming, employed and single,' though the relationship ended on a sore note as he had a gambling addiction. 'I did not understand that as an addiction. I had made all sorts of deals with him,' she reflected.
'I even made him go to a therapist for a while. I later learned through my own psychotherapy that you can’t cure an addiction through therapy,' she opened up. Kelly pictured on stage with Lauren Graham at The Third Gilmore Girl: Kelly Bishop in Conversation Following the heartbreaking situation, Bishop went on to marry Broadway stagehand and electrician Peter Miller in 1970 when she was 26.
The marriage ended five years later and she later wed TV host Lee Leonard 'Unfortunately, at that time, there were no Gamblers Anonymous. I certainly was not aware of one at all. I remember thinking, "I wish there was one,"' Kelly said as she looked back.
She hoped to help her husband 'get over' his gambling struggle, thinking she could give him 'the confidence to know how much he’s loved.' But instead, 'The only thing that happened was I was dead broke when I left that marriage,' she said, leaving her feeling 'betrayed' and 'hopeless.' The marriage ended after five years and Bishop later wed TV host Lee Leonard in 1981.
They stayed together until he died at age 89 in 2018. 'The secret' to her second marriage, she said, 'was honesty and love, along with support — tremendous support on both sides. 'We were each other’s fans.
We had a great time. We just loved each other so much, and we respected each other’s work. We both knew how much we had so much passion for our own work,' Kelly said, adding, 'We didn’t keep secrets from one another.
And I think it’s really that love, respect and communication — that’s the secret.' Share or comment on this article: Dirty Dancing vet Kelly Bishop, 80, details affair she had with married man in new memoir The Third Gilmore Girl e-mail Add comment.
