La La Land and Gilmore Girls star Bunny Levine dies aged 97

| Deputy Entertainment Editor Published August 23, 2026 7:45am Updated August 23, 2026 7:46am Bunny Levine, known for roles in Gilmore Girls and La La Land, has died at the age of 97 (Picture: Getty) Law & Order and Gilmore Girls star Bunny Levine has died aged 97. A representative for the actress, Mike Eisenstadt, confirmed to NBC Los Angeles that the actress died at her home in Tarzana, California. According to the publication, the Los Angeles Police Department responded to a report about an unresponsive person at Levine’s residence. Police confirmed that her death ‘appeared to be from natural causes.’ Levine had worked as a school librarian for over 20 years and embarked on her acting career at the age of 60. Her first acting credit was in 1988 horror comedy Slime City. She appeared with the late James Van Der Beek in an episode of the series Friends With Better Lives (Picture: Robert Voets/CBS via Getty Images) She was then cast in the 1990 movie Cadillac Man and appeared in episodes of As The World Turns and Law & Order in the late 90s. Her acting career continued into the 2000s after appearing in an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond in 2004. ‘That was the first bigger thing I did in Los Angeles,’ she told Mel Magazine of her role in the sitcom. ‘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. ‘I never really thought that much about it, but I guess, in retrospect, after that I kept getting a lot of those roles,’ Levine said. Discussing her unlikely start in Hollywood, Levine said: ‘Acting is always what I wanted to do, but it wasn’t practical. Levine played Mrs. Thompson in Gilmore Girls (Picture: The WB) ‘I don’t know if you’ve seen a picture of me, but I wasn’t a good young leading lady.’ She added: ‘I’m short and a little character-y. I wasn’t ugly, but I wasn’t beautiful either, so acting just wasn’t practical.’ She went on to portray the character of Mrs. Thompson on the hit series Gilmore Girls. She appeared in three Adam Sandler movies including You Don’t Mess with the Zohan and You Are So Not Invited to my Bat Mitzvah. Levine also appeared in such films as Cadillac Man, A Thousand Words, and Oscar-winning La La Land. More recently she appeared in reality hoax sitcom Jury Duty and comedy drama film Thelma. Deals of the Day Simba's cooling mattresses are now up to 30% off ahead of the bank holiday The best hosepipe ban-friendly products to protect your garden this summer Amazon has slashed the price of Cetaphil's bestselling sensitive skin products Parents can save up to 30% on Kickers school shoes ahead of the new term The back-to-school hack that's helping parents avoid queues and sold-out sizes The actress’ last film role was in the 2026 indie David Dastmalchian horror thriller The Cure. Arrow MORE: Hailey Bieber’s sister avoids jail after bizarre ‘used tampon’ assault arrest Arrow MORE: Fresh blow for Brad Pitt as ‘alienation’ from children continues with legal notice Arrow MORE: Jaafar Jackson confirms Michael sequel will address child abuse allegations