Bunny Levine, the actress known for her roles in Gilmore Girls, La La Land, and Law & Order, has died at the age of 97. Her representative, Mike Eisenstadt, confirmed to NBC Los Angeles that Levine died at her home in Tarzana, California. The Los Angeles Police Department responded to a report of an unresponsive person at her residence and confirmed that her death “appeared to be from natural causes.”
A Late Start to a Long Career
Levine spent more than two decades working as a school librarian before launching her acting career at the age of 60. Her first on-screen credit came in the 1988 horror comedy Slime City. Two years later, she appeared in the 1990 film Cadillac Man and went on to guest-star in episodes of As The World Turns and Law & Order in the late 1990s.
Her career continued into the 2000s, including a 2004 episode of Everybody Loves Raymond. Reflecting on that role, Levine told Mel Magazine: “That was the first bigger thing I did in Los Angeles. 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.” She added, “I never really thought that much about it, but I guess, in retrospect, after that I kept getting a lot of those roles.”
From Librarian to Hollywood Character Actor
Levine was candid about her unconventional path to show business. “Acting is always what I wanted to do, but it wasn’t practical,” she said. “I don’t know if you’ve seen a picture of me, but I wasn’t a good young leading lady. I’m short and a little character-y. I wasn’t ugly, but I wasn’t beautiful either, so acting just wasn’t practical.”
Despite those doubts, she landed the recurring role of Mrs. Thompson on the hit series Gilmore Girls. She also appeared in three Adam Sandler films, including You Don’t Mess with the Zohan and You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah. Her filmography includes Cadillac Man, A Thousand Words, and the Oscar-winning La La Land.
Later Roles and Final Film
More recently, Levine appeared in the reality hoax sitcom Jury Duty and the comedy-drama Thelma. Her final film role was in the 2026 indie horror thriller The Cure, directed by David Dastmalchian. Levine’s death marks the end of a career that began late but left a lasting impression across television and film.
