Richard Gilmore - Character

Richard is the father of Lorelai Gilmore, grandfather of Rory Gilmore, and husband of Emily Gilmore on the WB television program Gilmore Girls. His mother was named Lorelai "Trix" Gilmore (Marion Ross), which was the inspiration for his daughter's own name. His father was Charles Abbott Gilmore, who died sometime before the show picks up. Richard's mother and father were second cousins, a fact that disgusted Lorelai and Rory very much. "Trix" disliked Emily and often made fun of her in front of her family. When Emily was organizing her estate and planning her funeral, she found a carbon copy of a letter she wrote to Richard the eve of their marriage asking him to break off his relationship to Emily and consider marrying his previous girlfriend, Pennilyn Lott, instead. Richard stuck to his guns because he truly loved Emily.

Richard and Emily's relationship go through many ups and downs throughout the show. During the first season, it appeared that their relationship had hit a nice balance with Richard getting up at 5:30 am to go to the office every day and travelling extensively while Emily took care of Richard, managed the house and their social calendar. However, in the second season, their relationship began to show some cracks or became more real. For instance, Lorelai and Rory came over for Friday night dinner and saw them embroiled in an argument. Lorelai found this surprising since they never argued in front of her before. The main storyline in the second season was the effect of Richard's work stress on their relationship. Richard became very distant and moody because he was being phased out at work. He was in such a funk that he did not want to participate nor attend Rory's coming out ceremony. Something he should have enjoyed, especially since Lorelai did not have one because of her pregnancy. The stress became so palpible that Richard quit his job and did not tell Emily until they were at the Bracebridge dinner. Retirement was also straining on their relationship as Richard was always around, unable to keep himself busy and even wanted to attend Emily's DAR meetings and water aerobics class. After puttering around Star's Hollow for a day with Lorelai and making a spectacle of himself in front of Headmaster Charleston after the team that he championed for lost the school's entrepreneurship challenge, he decided retirement was really not for him. Richard started his own consulting firm "The Gilmore Group" at the end of the second season. Lorelai even helped him set up his office and find a new secretary.

The third season centered around Rory choosing a college and Richard trying everything to convince her to attend Yale rather than Harvard. However, it was in the fourth season that viewer's saw a slow deterioration in Emily and Richard's marriage. Shortly after "Trix" died, Lorelai and Rory found out that Richard and Emily were separated. The girls were shocked but there were signs. Most notably, there was a complete break down in communication and quips that were once amusing were now perceived as insults. Richard began to do things that he wanted to do, often negating Emily's feelings. Emily reacted to this by going on shopping spree and spending tens of thousands of dollars on stuff for everyone including cash strapped Lorelai and Rory. Once the separation was announced to the girls and after Emily and Rory's European trip, Richard moved into the pool house. Richard soon appeared to want to get back together with his wife and Emily was often over concerned with Richard's whereabouts. Emily went on one date with a gentleman, Simon Maclean, from the club and when Richard found out, he drove into the back of Emily's car (while she was still in it) at an event out of jealousy. They got back together that evening and had a ceremony to renew their vows with Lorelai as the Maid of Honour and Rory as the Best man. The separation seemed to draw them closer and Richard and Emily appeared to be back to the same balance that we saw at the beginning of the series with more warmth.

Rory and Richard have developed a very close relationship since the beginning of the series over a common love of books and a thirsty quest for knowledge. In the first couple of episodes, they hardly spoke. Richard felt he would have nothing in common with a girl from the MTV generation. However, they quickly bonded over a golf lesson and lunch at their posh country club. Since then, Richard became the father figure that Rory was lacking in her life. When she decided to attend Yale, Richard was ecstatic and often met Rory for lunch there. He even helped Rory get even with Logan after he humiliated her in class.

Richard works as the executive vice-president for the Gehrman-Driscoll Insurance Corporation during the first two seasons. He retires for a bit during the second season, but finds retired life to be dull and realizes that what he thrives on is working hard. He then goes out to start his own business. When he did, Lorelai helped him set up and hire a new assistant. It was one of the first times in the series that we saw the bond between them. He really enjoyed their time together and was very disappointed when she had to go back to her regular job. To some extent, Lorelai also seems to prefer Richard over Emily, however, can talk more easily to Emily.