Bunny Levine dead at 97: Iconic character actress worked as a LIBRARIAN before roles in Gilmore Girls, Law & Order and the Oscar-winning film La La Land

Bunny Levine, who was known for roles in projects such as Gilmore Girls and La La Land, died at the age of 97 on Thursday, August 20. 

The late actress passed away in her sleep at her home in the Tarzana neighborhood of Los Angeles, NBCLA reported. 

The Los Angeles Police Department had responded to Levine's residence after receiving a report of an 'unresponsive person,' according to NBC. The police told the outlet that her death 'appeared to be from natural causes.' 

Daily Mail has reached out to a rep for Levine for comment, but has yet to hear back. 

Levine had worked as a school librarian for over 20 years before pursuing her passion for entertainment. 

Her professional acting career began in the late 80s and led to her starring in numerous television and film projects for decades. 

Levine was born on December 22, 1928 in the city of East Orange in New Jersey. 

Her interest for acting and performing began at an early age, per her official IMDB page. 

She often took on roles in both local and school productions, and had initially majored in Theater Arts in college before switching to a different degree. 

Following graduation, Levine put her focus into raising her children with her husband Bernard and worked as a librarian for 25 years. 

The late star retired early and stepped back into her passion for acting, where she began taking acting classes as well as going to auditions. 

'Acting is always what I wanted to do, but it wasn't practical,' she previously told Mel Magazine. 

'I don't know if you've seen a picture of me, but I wasn't a good young leading lady.'

She added, 'I'm short and a little character-y. I wasn't ugly, but I wasn't beautiful either, so acting just wasn't practical.' 

After the passing of her husband in 2003, Levine notably later relocated from New York to Los Angeles as she started booking acting gigs in commercials and other projects, per IMDB. 

Her first professional acting credit was the 1988 horror comedy titled Slime City. 

She was then cast in the 1990 movie Cadillac Man and appeared in episodes of As The World Turns and Law & Order in the late 90s.  

Her acting career continued in the 2000s and she appeared in an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond in 2004. 

'That was the first bigger thing I did in Los Angeles,' she told Mel Magazine of her role in Everybody Loves Raymond. 

'In that, I was a friend of Raymond's mother, and me and a couple of other older women kept dropping things to admire Ray Romano's rear end. 

'I never really thought that much about it, but I guess, in retrospect, after that I kept getting a lot of those roles,' Levine said.

That same year, she portrayed the character of Mrs. Thompson on the hit series Gilmore Girls. 

Levine continued to take on roles in a number of television projects including Ugly Betty, Private Practice and General Hospital: Night Shift. 

She also appeared in an episode of Community in 2008 as well as two episodes of Criminal Minds. 

The late actress additionally played characters in films such as In My Sleep (2010) and Let Go (2011) which had also starred comedian Kevin Hart.  

In 2014, she appeared with the late James Van Der Beek in an episode of the series Friends With Better Lives.

Levine worked alongside Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs in two episodes of the sitcom 2 Broke Girls. 

Other notable TV projects she starred in are Raising Hope, Southland, The Middle and New Girl. 

In 2016, she appeared in an episode of The Mindy Project with Mindy Kaling. 

That same year, she took on the role of a movie theater cashier in the film La La Land. 

The film, which had also starred Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, was a box office and critical success upon its release in theaters. 

La La Land received 14 Academy Awards nominations and won six, including Best Actress for Stone as well as Best Director for Damien Chazelle. 

Levine's career continued as she landed more guests roles in shows and feature films. 

In 2021, she played Mrs. McCurdy in the series Shameless also starring Emmy Rossum, William H. Macy and Jeremy Allen White. 

Three years later, the star worked with Jane Squibb in the comedic drama Thelma (2024). 

Her acting credits continued through 2026, such as the movie The Cure as well as the short film Achiever.