Bonnie Kathleen Gilliland: Amazing Facts About Jean Smart’s Daughter

The 14-year-old Bonnie Kathleen Gilliland is the daughter of Richard Gilliland and the well-known American actress Jean Smart. The mother of Bonnie Kathleen Gilliland, Jean, is a numerous award-winning actress best remembered for her work in the films Designing Women, Bringing Down the House, and Sweet Home Alabama. Known for his roles in Designing Women (1986), Airplane II: The Sequel (1982), and CBS Summer Playhouse, Richard is also a well-known actor in both television and film (1987). Lindsay Harrison was Richard’s first wife.

Firstborn Connor Douglas was born to her parents Jean and Richard in 1989, two years after their 1987 wedding. Bonnie Kathleen Gilliland is not the couple’s biological kid, yet they nonetheless treat her as such. Bonnie was adopted by Jean and Richard at the age of only one from China.

Bonnie Kathleen Gilliland

Early Life

In 2008, Bonnie Kathleen Gilliland was born in China. In 2022, she will be 14 years old. In fact, they first met on the set of Designing Women, where her parents had already collaborated. Bonnie is average in height at 4 feet 6 inches, weight, and physical composition for her age. The adopted daughter of Jean Smart and Richard Gilliland is Bonnie Kathleen Gilliland.

Bonnie Kathleen Gilliland has dark eyes and black hair. In May 2009, Bonnie Kathleen Gilliland was adopted from China. American-born Bonnie belongs to the Asian ethnic group.

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The Story of Adoption

After bringing the 10-month-old newborn daughter home, Jean, Richard, and Connor left for East Asia. During an interview on The Bonnie Hunt Show, Jean introduced the newest member of her family and described how they had flown to pick her up in May.

Actress Jean Smart and her husband Richard Gilliland’s stunning daughter, Bonnie Kathleen Gilliland, have been living a luxurious life.

Bonnie Kathleen’s Parents

Richard Gilliland

Richard Gilliland, an American actor best known for playing JD Shackleford in Designing Women, was born on January 23, 1950, and died on March 18, 2021. He would have been 61 years old in 2022. Jack Ri’chard is his father, and Beverly Ri’chard is his mother. He is a mixed-race African-American and Creole.

In 1974, Richard Gilliland played Jeff in the television film Unwed Father for his acting debut. As Lieutenant Nick Holden in the military comedy television series “Operation Petticoat,” he had his first significant recurring role in 1977. Since then, Gilliland has made appearances in a number of television programs and motion pictures, including Scandal, 24, Imposters, Joan of Arcadia, A Killing in a Small Town, Parts Per Billion, Matlock, Kim Possible: A Stitch in Time, Batman: The Animated Series, Criminal Minds, etc. He played Bob Orci in the Criminal Minds episode “False Flag” from the show’s thirteenth season.

The Waltons, Operation Petticoat, Just Our Luck, Thirtysomething, Designing Women, The Love Boat, Murder, Matlock, Winnetka Road, She Wrote, Touched by an Angel, Dark Skies, Early Edition, Heartland, Brooklyn South, Party of Five, The Practice, Judging Amy, Becker, Crossing Jordan, Joan of Arcadia, 24; The Unit, and Desperate Housewives are just a few of his other TV appearances.

Additionally, he has acted in other films, such as Bug, Stay Hungry, The White Buffalo, Little Women, Airplane II: The Sequel, The Night the Bridge Fell Down, Happy Hour, and Vampire Clan. Actress Jean Smart, his wife, has won numerous Primetime Emmy Awards.

The estimated net worth of Richard Gilliland is $400,000. His acting career is his main source of income. Although it is unknown what his actual annual income is, an American actor typically makes roughly $40,000.

Jean Smart

The daughter of teacher Douglas Alexander Smart and Kathleen Marie “Kay” Smart, Jean Smart was born and reared in Seattle, Washington. She is the middle kid of four. When Smart was 13 years old, she received a type 1 diabetes diagnosis. First-generation Scottish-American, her father was. Who Do You Think You Are? Season 10 revealed that Smart is a maternal descendant of Dorcas Hoar, one of the final people to be found guilty of witchcraft during the Salem witch trials.

She graduated from Ballard High School in Seattle in 1969, where the drama program sparked her passion for performing. She received her BFA after completing the University of Washington Professional Actors Training Program. Smart belongs to the Alpha Delta Pi sorority, which has a chapter at the University of Washington.

Following her college graduation, Smart started her acting career in regional theater in the Pacific Northwest, including in Washington, Alaska, and Oregon. She played with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon, as well as the Seattle Repertory Theater. She and fellow actor Elizabeth Wingate (Lavery), a friend from college, relocated to New York City in the middle of the 1970s, when she started acting in Off-Broadway and professional regional shows.

Bonnie Kathleen Gilliland

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Smart started working in television as well, appearing in a number of lesser to mid-sized guest roles on shows including The Facts of Life, Alice, and Remington Steele, among others. Smart claims that following appearances in 1983 on the short-lived series Teachers Only and Reggie, “casting directors just decided I was funny. When that happens, you usually get pigeonholed, but I was fortunate. I got to move back and forth.”She played a supporting role in the suspenseful film Flashpoint the next year (1984).

After playing the lead in the comedy series High Society, which ran for 13 episodes and co-starred Mary McDonnell, Smart went on to co-star with Nancy McKeon in the short-lived CBS sitcom Style & Substance. She also played Deborah Sloane in the drama Guinevere (1998) and a part in Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple II (1999). She played an aged beauty queen in the title role of the 1999 comedy Forever Fabulous.

Acting alongside Kelsey Grammer in the Seattle-based comedy series Frasier in 2000, Smart was given the role of Lana Gardner. For Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series, she went on to win two Primetime Emmy Awards.

I had enjoyed that job on Frasier so much, especially that first episode, Smart reflected on the role “I had loved that role on Frasier so much, particularly that first episode. It’s nice to get nominated and win for something you were particularly proud of. At the time I was a little bit snobby about doing guest parts. Based on what I don’t know. It wasn’t something I was seeking. But my agent said, ‘You have to read this.’ I thought it was hilarious and the show was brilliant so I didn’t even hesitate. I remember when we did the table read with the rest of the cast we could hardly get through it we were laughing so hard.”

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Jean Smart, who costarred with Christina Applegate in the sitcom Samantha Who?, earned her third Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as Samantha’s controlling mother. Smart portrayed the role from 2007 to 2009. Later, she was cast in the CBS-TV adaptation of Hawaii Five-0’s first season as Hawaii Governor Pat Jameson.

She also plays a famed Las Vegas comic diva trying to connect with a newer audience in the HBO Max dark comedy series Hacks (2021). After starring in Watchmen, Mare of Easttown, and the newest HBO film Hacks, Smart was dubbed “The Queen of HBO” by USA Today at the age of 69. In his review, NPR’s Glen Weldon lauded Smart’s performance “I don’t know if the role of Deborah Vance was written for Smart, but she certainly makes it seem like it was… Smart’s also convincing as a standup, performing Deborah’s vaguely hokey routines with a naturalistic flair as if she was born to it.”

Relationship Between Richard Gilliland and Jean Smart

Bonnie Kathleen Gilliland

Smart met actor Richard Gilliland, who played J.D. Shackelford, Mary Jo Shively’s lover, on the set of Designing Women, where they both worked. They later got married. Connor Douglas (born in 1989) and Forrest are their two boys (adopted from China in May 2009). On the television show 24, Gilliland portrayed Captain Stan Cotter, and Smart went on to portray First Lady Martha Logan. In March 2021, Gilliland passed away following a brief illness.

Richard Gilliland Cause of Death

The Los Angeles Times claims that the actor had a stroke diagnosis, which contributed to his demise. Although the exact cause of death is unknown, a stroke was believed to be the culprit. Recently, the actor was scheduled to collaborate alongside Meshach Taylor, Tate Taylor, and Annie Potts.

Each of these two performers passed away from cancer in a different situation. Richard Gilliland’s cause of death is unknown, but it was probably caused by a brief illness. The actor’s death from a cardiac issue was revealed after he passed away. The actor’s causes of death are still a mystery.

Despite his brief illness, the late actor’s family and friends paid tribute to him. Everyone was shocked by Richard Gilliland’s passing, and the media has reacted with a mix of commemoration and regret. But as a fan of the legendary actor, I feel that the entire entertainment sector has lost something with his demise.

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Bonnie Kathleen’s Brother

Connor Douglas Gilliland

The first child of Jean and Richard is Connor Douglas Gilliland. On October 25, 1989, just two years after the pair tied the knot following their encounter on the set of Designing Women, he was born. The 31-year-old has a low profile on social media and keeps his personal affairs private. The most notable fact about Connor is that his mother battled diabetes the entire time she was carrying him.

The renowned actress had to keep a close eye on her blood sugar levels to make sure Connor was growing normally. The family had long talked about Connor becoming Bonnie’s adoptive big brother, and it is believed that he has done so gloriously. Jean Smart disclosed:  “When we finally started the process, it actually took a lot longer than we expected. We thought my son was going to be about 15 when we got the baby and he’s just turned 20.”

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