Bunny Levine, a school librarian turned Hollywood actor, has died. She was 97.<\/p>\n
The Tarzana resident died in her sleep Aug. 20, her representative Mike Eisenstadt confirmed to The Times. <\/p>\n
Born Bernice Utal on Dec. 22, 1928, in East Orange, N.J., to parents Rudolph Utal and Elsie Elizabeth Rubin, the actor had a lifelong passion for entertainment during the golden age of Hollywood cinema. In her IMDb autobiography<\/a>, she recalled early memories of subjecting relatives to renditions of \u201cWhen I Grow Too Old to Dream,\u201d from the 1935 film \u201cThe Night Is Young.\u201d<\/p>\n But Levine would put those acting dreams on pause while she focused on raising three children alongside her husband, Bernie Levine. Working primarily as a school librarian \u2014 with book talks and storytelling sessions \u2014 helped her \u201cfill her performing aspirations,\u201d she recalled. Levine held two master\u2019s degrees, from New York University and Columbia University. <\/p>\n After taking early retirement, she took acting classes and auditioned for roles, beginning her career with magazine ads and commercials. Her earliest acting credit was the 1988 cult classic \u201cSlime City\u201d; Levine was 60 at the time. In 1991, Levine and her husband founded Actors Connection<\/a> in New York City, an education and networking acting hub.<\/p>\n After the death of her husband in 2003, Levine relocated to Los Angeles, where she continued booking one- to two-episode roles on prominent shows including \u201cGilmore Girls,\u201d \u201cEverybody Loves Raymond,\u201d \u201cUgly Betty,\u201d \u201cCriminal Minds,\u201d \u201c2 Broke Girls,\u201d \u201cNew Girl,\u201d \u201cThe Mindy Project,\u201d \u201cFuller House,\u201d \u201cShameless\u201d and more.<\/p>\n \u201cI think of myself as a very unfunny human being. But I\u2019m almost always cast in comic roles,\u201d Levine wrote in her IMDb profile.<\/p>\n Brandon Kjar, Levine\u2019s manager, said that she continued to audition at 97 and worked in June, adding that \u201cshe was a great and fearless actress.\u201d <\/p>\n Her most recent credits included roles this year on the TV show \u201cThe Upshaws,\u201d the David Dastmalchian-led film \u201cThe Cure,\u201d and a 12-minute short, \u201cAchiever,\u201d which premiered at South by Southwest in March.<\/p>\n With more than 100 credits to her name, she considered herself one of \u201cthe most energetic and agile\u201d older actors around and \u201cthe oldest living student,\u201d she wrote in her IMDb profile. <\/a><\/p>\n She said her philosophy was \u201cyou can never stop learning and exercising the acting muscle.\u201d<\/p>\n Services for Levine will be held at the Jewish Memorial Chapel in Clifton, N.J. <\/p>\n She is survived by her children, Marty, Francie and Joe, and her grandchildren, Robin and Jeffrey.<\/p>\n