Gilmore Girls actress dies at 97 after remarkable second career

Bunny Levine, the veteran actress who appeared in Gilmore Girls, La La Land and a string of beloved television shows, has died aged 97.

The actress passed away in her sleep at her home in the Tarzana neighborhood of Los Angeles on Thursday, August 20, according to NBCLA.

The Los Angeles Police Department reportedly responded to Bunny’s home after receiving a call about an “unresponsive person”. Police told the outlet that her death appeared to be from natural causes.

Bunny’s death brings to a close a remarkable second-act career in Hollywood, which began after she had already spent more than two decades working as a school librarian and raising her family.

She continued acting well into her 90s, with credits stretching from Everybody Loves Raymond to Criminal Minds, Shameless and the Oscar-winning La La Land.

Bunny Levine’s extraordinary path to Hollywood

Born on December 22, 1928, in East Orange, New Jersey, Bunny developed an interest in performing at an early age and appeared in school and local productions.

According to her IMDb biography, she initially majored in Theater Arts at college before changing direction.

After graduating, Bunny focused on raising her children with her husband, Bernard, while building a career as a librarian, a profession she remained in for 25 years.

However, her childhood passion for performing never completely disappeared. After taking early retirement, Bunny returned to acting, taking classes and attending auditions as she embarked upon an entirely new chapter of her life.

Her first professional screen credit came in the 1988 horror comedy Slime City, when she was already approaching 60.

She followed that with a role in the 1990 Robin Williams movie Cadillac Man, before appearing on television in shows including As the World Turns and Law & Order.

Bunny Levine’s Gilmore Girls role

Following the death of her husband in 2003, Bunny relocated from New York to Los Angeles and began booking more television, movie and commercial work.

In 2004, she appeared in Everybody Loves Raymond and also entered the world of Stars Hollow with a guest role in Gilmore Girls.

Bunny played Mrs. Thompson in the beloved series, which starred Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel as mother-daughter duo Lorelai and Rory Gilmore.

It was just one role in an impressive collection of television credits that followed.Bunny appeared in Ugly Betty, Private Practice, General Hospital: Night Shift, Community and two episodes of Criminal Minds.

She later added Raising Hope, Southland, The Middle and New Girl to her résumé and appeared alongside Mindy Kaling in a 2016 episode of The Mindy Project.

Bunny Levine appeared in La La Land

That same year, Bunny landed a small but memorable role in one of the biggest movies of the decade. She played a movie theater cashier in Damien Chazelle’s La La Land, starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling.

The romantic musical became a huge critical and commercial success, earning 14 Academy Award nominations and taking home six Oscars, including Best Actress for Emma and Best Director for Damien.

Bunny also appeared in movies including In My Sleep in 2010 and Let Go in 2011, and worked alongside James Van Der Beek in Friends with Better Lives in 2014.

She later appeared alongside Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs in two episodes of 2 Broke Girls.

Acting into her 90s

While many performers might have considered slowing down, Bunny continued booking roles well into her 90s.

In 2021, she appeared as Mrs. McCurdy in Shameless, the long-running series starring William H. Macy, Emmy Rossum and Jeremy Allen White.

Three years later, she appeared in the comedy-drama Thelma, starring June Squibb.

Her acting career continued into 2026, with credits including The Cure and the short film Achiever, almost four decades after she landed her first professional screen role.

Bunny’s unusual route to Hollywood meant that many of the roles for which audiences came to know her arrived at an age when other performers might have been contemplating retirement.

Instead, after spending 25 years working as a librarian, she returned to the ambition she had first nurtured as a young woman and continued pursuing it for the rest of her life.

As her IMDb biography explains of the decision that ultimately led to her decades-long screen career, Bunny “retired early to pursue her lifelong passion for acting.”