Bunny Levine, an actress who appeared in Gilmore Girls, You Don’t Mess With the Zohan, Thelma and numerous other TV shows and films, has died. She was 97.
Levine died peacefully in her sleep, her manager confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter, with NBC Los Angeles reporting that she died Thursday at her home in Tarzana, California.
Born on Dec. 22,1928, in East Orange, New Jersey, Levine developed an interest in acting at a young age. But after graduating from high school, she put those dreams on hold for 25 years while working as a school librarian and raising her three children, according to herIMDB biography. After retiring, Levine began taking acting classes and auditioning for roles. Following the death of her husband, Bernard Levine, in 2003, she moved to Los Angeles.
Levine went on to build an extensive résumé of television appearances, including roles on Law & Order, Everybody Loves Raymond, Gilmore Girls, Ugly Betty, Private Practice, Criminal Minds, 2 Broke Girls, Raising Hope, Southland, New Girl, Getting On, The Mindy Project, Fuller House, Shameless and Dave.
Her film credits included Slime City, The Jimmy Show, A Thousand Words, La La Land and the Adam Sandler-starring comedy You Don’t Mess With the Zohan in 2008. Levine later reunited with Sandler for Sandy Wexler in 2017 and the 2023 Netflix film You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah.
Levine continued acting into her 90s. Her more recent credits include The Invisible Raptor (2023); Michael Angarano’s Sacramento (2024), starring Kristen Stewart and Michael Cera; and Thelma (2024), starring June Squibb. She also appeared in projects released this year, including the final season of The Upshaws and The Cure.