{"id":3908,"date":"2026-08-24T17:04:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T17:04:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/?p=3908"},"modified":"2026-08-24T17:04:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T17:04:14","slug":"veteran-actress-of-gilmore-girls-and-la-la-land-dead-at-97","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/?p=3908","title":{"rendered":"Veteran actress of Gilmore Girls and La La Land dead at 97"},"content":{"rendered":"

She spent 25 years working as a school librarian before finally deciding to chase the dream she had carried since childhood.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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But now, Bunny Levine, the beloved character actress whose decades-long career included memorable appearances in\u00a0Gilmore Girls<\/em>,\u00a0Everybody Loves Raymond<\/em>,\u00a0Law & Order<\/em>,\u00a0Criminal Minds<\/em>,\u00a0Ugly Betty<\/em>,\u00a0Raising Hope<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0La La Land<\/em>, has died at 97.<\/strong><\/p>\n

She passed away peacefully in her sleep at her California home on August 20, with her death believed to be from natural causes.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bunny Levine was nearly 60 when she stepped into the acting world \u2014 and what followed was an unexpected second act that brought her into the homes of millions of television viewers.<\/p>\n

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Born Bernice Levine on December 22, 1928, in East Orange, New Jersey, she had dreamed of performing from a young age. But life initially took her in another direction. She earned master\u2019s degrees from New York University and Columbia University and devoted decades to education before retiring in 1985.<\/p>\n

Then, rather than settling into a quiet retirement, Levine decided to take a chance on herself.<\/p>\n

She began auditioning and slowly built an acting career that would last for decades. Her early work included appearances in\u00a0Cadillac Man<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Law & Order<\/em>, before she began landing increasingly memorable comedic roles.<\/p>\n

Age was never going to stop her<\/h2>\n

One of her first unusual television appearances came on\u00a0The Dr. Ruth Show<\/em>, where she played a widow seeking advice about beginning a new relationship.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI played a widow who was having her first post-widow relationship and Dr. Ruth was giving her tips on how to be comfortable with that,\u201d Levine recalled in a 2021 interview.<\/p>\n

She joked that the role briefly confused people who knew her because her husband was still alive at the time.<\/p>\n

Levine later became known for embracing roles that were often funny, unexpected and sometimes downright outrageous. She appeared on\u00a0Chappelle\u2019s Show<\/em>,\u00a0Everybody Loves Raymond<\/em>,\u00a0You Don\u2019t Mess With the Zohan<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Shameless<\/em>, proving that age was never going to stop her from taking on a challenge.<\/p>\n

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Actress Bunny Levine attends the Los Angeles Premiere of \u201cThelma\u201d at The Egyptian Theatre Hollywood on June 14, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Amanda Edwards\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI guess I am funny on camera, but I have no idea why,\u201d she once said.<\/p>\n

Her credits continued to grow well into her 90s, with appearances in\u00a0Thelma<\/em>\u00a0in 2024 and, more recently,\u00a0The Upshaws<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0The Cure<\/em>. According to her manager, Levine was still auditioning and working as recently as June.<\/p>\n

For Levine, acting was never simply about fame. She also wanted to help others find their way into the industry.<\/p>\n

In 1991, she and her husband, Bernie, founded Actors Connection in New York City, an organization designed to help aspiring performers through coaching, casting advice and professional networking. Bernie died in 2003 after 53 years of marriage.<\/p>\n

How Bunny Levine died<\/h2>\n

Bunny Levine died peacefully in her sleep at her home in Tarzana, California, on August 20, her manager Brandon Kjar confirmed. Police believe she died of natural causes.<\/p>\n

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\u201cBunny inspired affection and admiration in many people with her work in education and performance,\u201d her family said in a statement.<\/p>\n

After her death, Actors Connection paid tribute to the woman who helped countless performers pursue their own dreams.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer passion for helping actors has launched countless careers,\u201d the organization said. \u201cThank you Bunny for creating such a vibrant community to serve the fellow artists you have always loved \u2014 may you rest in sweet peace!\u201d<\/p>\n

Levine leaves behind her children, Marty, Francie and Joe, as well as her grandchildren, Robin and Jeffrey.<\/p>\n

Her story was an extraordinary reminder that sometimes the dream you put aside for decades is still waiting for you \u2014 and that it is never too late to begin again.<\/p>\n

Rest in peace, Bunny Levine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

She spent 25 years working as a school librarian before finally deciding to chase the dream she had carried since childhood. But now, Bunny Levine, the beloved character actress whose … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3909,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2],"class_list":["post-3908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trending","tag-breaking-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3908"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3908\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3910,"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3908\/revisions\/3910"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}