Bunny Levine, ‘Gilmore Girls’ actress, dies at 97

Bunny Levine, 'Gilmore Girls' actress, dies at 97. Brendan Morrow USA TODAY.

Key points

• Levine moved to New Jersey and worked as a school librarian, but she decided to pursue acting professionally after she retired.
• Levine's longtime representative, Michael Eisenstadt, confirmed to USA TODAY on Aug.
• Levine's more recent TV credits include Jury Duty and Mrs.
• "I feel very blessed to have been able to get back to what I had always wanted since early memory, " Levine informed the paper.
• Especially after he died, it was something to keep me from being really depressed and lonely.

Bunny Levine, a former librarian who pursued her passion for acting afterwards in life and racked up more than 100 movie and TV credits in "Gilmore Girls, " "Law & Order" and other Hollywood projects, has died. She was 97.

Levine's longtime representative, Michael Eisenstadt, confirmed to USA TODAY on Aug. 23 that the actress "passed away in her sleep." Eisenstadt observed Levine was "still auditioning and worked in June, " adding that she was "a great and fearless actress and such a nice lady" who "will be missed."

Levine's screen credits stretch from 1988 to 2026 and include small roles in a number of hit TV indicates, including "Law & Order, " "Everybody Loves Raymond, " "Ugly Betty" and "2 Broke Girls." She appeared as Mrs. Thompson, an elderly woman who Luke (Scott Patterson) argues with regarding moving a boat being stored in her garage, in a Season 5 episode of "Gilmore Girls." 'Gilmore Girls': Castmates reminisce, spill secrets as show turns 25.

Levine's more recent TV credits include Jury Duty and Mrs. Davis. On the film side, Levine appeared as a theater cashier in the Oscar-winning movie La La Land and had credits in movies like Thelma and Sacramento. She additionally worked with Adam Sandler a number of times on his movies You Don't Mess with the Zohan, Sandy Wexler and You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah.

According to an interview Levine offered in 2025 to The Daily Evergreen, the student newspaper of her alma mater Washington State University, she had a passion for acting since she was young but put it on the back burner after having children. Levine moved to New Jersey and worked as a school librarian, but she decided to pursue acting professionally after she retired. 'Gilmore Girls' documentary: HBO Max project will feature unseen footage.

"I feel very blessed to have been able to get back to what I had always wanted since early memory, " Levine informed the paper. "I wish that everyone could find that happiness."

Speaking with Mel five years ago, Levine additionally stated that acting "just wasn't practical" for her earlier in her life and observed it was "out of the picture for almost 35 years" until she "gradually got back into it" when she was in her 50s.

"My late husband – he died in 2003 – told me that he never saw me so happy as when I got back into acting, " she informed the magazine. "Especially after he died, it was something to keep me from being really depressed and lonely. And, of course, I was depressed and lonely, but I think it alleviated that." Share your feedback to support improve our site!

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