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Bunny Levine

Acting

Born December 22, 1928 · East Orange, New Jersey, USA

Also known as Bernice Utal

Biography

Bunny Levine has had a passion for entertaining from her earliest memory. At the age of two, she subjected all her relatives to her rendition of the song "When I Grow Too Old to Dream" at every possible opportunity. Playing with her sister and friends in pre-school days, her favorite game was a simulation of the performances of the current Hollywood stars, replete with screams and fainting, in the mode of the times. Her greatest regret was that she, unlike her contemporary Shirley Temple, had not been discovered in dance class. By third grade she wrote, directed and starred in the epic, "Debbie's Diary." A year or so later, with increased maturity, she limited her contributions to no more than two of the three elements. All through elementary school and high school, she played either the lead or a character role in school and local productions. Transferring colleges on her marriage after sophomore year made her rethink the wisdom of a short, young, character woman gaining fame and fortune in the field, so she switched majors from Theater Arts, but continued to act, and to work on the college radio station. Already pregnant upon graduation, she put her acting aspirations on the back burner for 25 years, working primarily as a school librarian, to help her underpaid college professor husband raise their three children. Storytelling and book talks helped fill her performing aspirations. Foolishly, she would not participate in community theater, thinking of herself as too much of a professional. Upon early retirement, she began taking acting classes, going on auditions, and gradually immersing herself totally in the fabulous, mad world of acting. Soon she was a member of all the unions and began booking commercials, roles on soaps and episodics, as well as films. Upon her beloved husband, Bernie's, death, she moved from the New York area to the LA market, and continued studying, booking, and striving. Among her credits are Law & Order (1990), The Jimmy Show (2001), Everybody Loves Raymond (1996), _Gilmore Girls_, the soon-to-be-released Charles Busch film, and Las Vegas (2003). She considers herself the most energetic and agile septuagenarian in the field and the oldest living student (her philosophy being that you can never stop learning and exercising the acting muscle).

Filmography39 titles

Shameless

2011as Mrs. McCurdy

Community

2009as Pierce's Mom (voice)

La La Land

2016as Movie Theatre Cashier (uncredited)

Gilmore Girls

2000as Mrs. Thompson

The Upshaws

2021as Old Woman

The Middle

2009as Sylvia Goldberg

Private Practice

2007as Old Lady

Fuller House

2016as Old Lady

New Girl

2011as Shirley

Workaholics

2011as Fran

Raising Hope

2010as Olivia

Dave

2020as Muriel

Law & Order

1990as Irene Drummond

2 Broke Girls

2011as Helen

Thelma

2024as Mona

Mrs. Davis

2023as Sister Ollie

Happy Endings

2011as Enid

Everybody Loves Raymond

1996as Hilda

No Activity

2017as Yaya Westbrook

Con Man

2015as Elderly Patient

You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah

2023as Bella

Mr. Mayor

2021as Enid

Friends with Better Lives

2014as Estelle Markowitz

Ugly Betty

2006as Mabel

Sacramento

2024as Mrs. Krenshaw

Getting On

2013as Mrs. Beverly Poppley

The Jimmy Show

2002as Fireplace Woman

Bad Judge

2014as Mildred

The Mindy Project

2012as Bryant's Grandmother

The Invisible Raptor

2023as Dorothy

VHYes

2020as Diane

A Thousand Words

2012as Woman on Pier

Play the Game

2009as Claire Cranston

Cadillac Man

1990as Woman Customer

You Don't Mess with the Zohan

2008as Older Lady in Salon

In My Sleep

2010as Rachel

Let Go

2011as Mrs. Grossman

The Cure

2026as Mrs. Polanski

The Shickles

2016as Nana Shickles