Kelly Bishop Recalls Learning Gilmore Girls Costar Edward Herrmann Had Cancer From a Newspaper: ‘Don’t Let This Be True’

Kelly Bishop and Edward Herrmann shared a special bond while filming Gilmore Girls from 2000 to 2007, portraying the beloved couple Emily and Richard Gilmore. Despite their close relationship on set, Bishop revealed in her recently published memoir, The Third Gilmore Girl, that she had to learn about Herrmann’s terminal cancer diagnosis from a newspaper. “I hadn’t even known he was sick until one day a couple of weeks before he died,” Bishop wrote. She recounted the moment she came across the news in Page Six of the New York Post: “I noticed a brief article about some trouble between Ed and his business manager… I was just skimming it until I came across the words, ‘Herrmann, 71, who is battling brain cancer…'” 

Bishop described the shock that followed, saying, “I must have stared at those words for ten minutes, hoping I’d misread them, or that maybe it was just a misquote or something.” When she realized the gravity of the news, it hit her like “a vicious gut punch.” Herrmann, who was not public about his illness, died on December 31, 2014, at the age of 71. His death came after a year-long battle with grade IV glioblastoma, a common and often fatal form of brain cancer. The diagnosis had been revealed after he suffered a seizure in December 2013. Upon learning the news, Bishop hesitated to reach out to Herrmann’s wife, Star Roman, as they didn’t know each other well. Instead, she called her Gilmore Girls family — Lauren Graham, who played her onscreen daughter Lorelai, and the show’s creator, Amy Sherman-Palladino. Both were equally devastated. “We struggled to even figure out what to say beyond ‘Oh my God,’ and ‘Please don’t let this be true,'” Bishop recalled.

Bishop and Herrmann’s relationship as Gilmore Girls‘ fan-favorite couple was close both onscreen and off. Bishop referred to Herrmann as “my great pal, my set buddy,” and “my extraordinary ‘husband’ for seven years.” The two had a bond beyond their characters, often sharing time together between takes. As Herrmann’s health declined, his wife Star invited Bishop to say goodbye to her longtime friend and co-star. Though apprehensive about seeing him in such a fragile state, Bishop knew she would regret not visiting. “I knew I’d regret it for the rest of my life if I didn’t summon up the courage to get past all those tubes and beeping monitors and focus on the fact that this was Ed lying there,” she wrote. When Bishop finally said her goodbyes, she whispered to Herrmann, who was in a coma, that “Lauren, Amy, and Alexis [Bledel] sent their love,” leaving him with a kiss on the forehead. “I kissed him on the forehead, left a lip print, and whispered, ‘Tell them that’s from me.'”

The bond between the two actors made Herrmann’s absence deeply felt when Gilmore Girls was revived for the 2016 Netflix miniseries A Year in the Life. The revival paid tribute to Herrmann’s character, Richard Gilmore, and the void left by his passing. Reflecting on their friendship before the release of A Year in the Life, Bishop told Entertainment Weekly, “It’s sad without my darling Edward Herrmann. We used to do our crossword puzzle together in the makeup trailer. If we had a short day and were feeling festive or belligerent, we’d go across the street and have a martini together.” The Third Gilmore Girl, Kelly Bishop’s memoir, provides a touching account of her time on Gilmore Girls and her enduring relationship with her late costar, Edward Herrmann. https://bomseen.com/product/stitch-halloween-spooky-season-2024-t-shirt/