From “Shameless” to “Gilmore Girls,” WSU alumna Bernice “Bunny” Levine has become a regular character actress in Hollywood’s infamously competitive industry. She has played more than 100 roles in her lifetime despite starting TV and film acting later in adulthood.
Before Levine was an actress, she was a school librarian in New Jersey. Problems with the principal devaluing libraries led her to take an early retirement and reconsider her first passion.
Since childhood, Levine has had a burning desire to act. There was no rhyme or reason to it—it was simply an instinctual need.
“I don’t know why. I don’t know that many of us could explain why—it’s just something,” Levine said. “Maybe it’s in the genes.”
Throughout her early education, she took leading roles in school and local productions. Eventually, Levine moved to Washington and pursued a major in psychology, rethinking her potential for stardom.
What led her to WSU was unconventional. Levine’s husband, a mathematics major, was recommended for WSU’s graduate program. Levine said his advisor did not want the two to marry and did not expect her to move with him. She did, though, and they married, living in student housing and later an apartment at WSU.
Levine may have lost a scholarship to her New Jersey university and moved from the comfort of home, but she said her time at WSU was worthwhile.
“In the end, I think it was a wonderful experience to be in a different area,” she said. “I met people from far and wide, and I kept up with them for years and years.”
A good friend of hers, a drama minor at WSU, directed and cast Levine in several plays, satiating a small part of her acting bug.
After graduating in 1951 and having children, Levine officially put acting on the back burner. She moved back to New Jersey and became a school librarian, only pursuing her passion again after early retirement.
It started with community theaters and acting courses, though she eventually moved from New Jersey to Los Angeles, where acting had the most opportunity. From there, her acting career steadily built upon itself.
“I don’t know if there was any ‘moment,’” Levine said. “I just plugged along, and I would go study and try to get better at my crafts.”
Like any actor, Levine faced constant rejection and had to learn to power through it—one of her most emphasized pieces of advice for aspiring actors.
“You have to have thick skin,” she said. “An acting teacher I had once said that ‘rejection is the water we swim in.’ You just have to, lift yourself up, take a deep breath and go on.”
Levine said it is important to recognize there is a world beyond acting. Not everyone will find success, she said, but it is important to try. Making the effort will fulfill aspirations and leave behind any regrets.
Levine was lucky enough to pursue her dreams after what many would consider “too late”—but that is the moral of her story. There is never a “too late” to chase your passions and become successful, and Levine proves it.
“I feel very blessed to have been able to get back to what I had always wanted since early memory. I wish that everyone could find that happiness,” Levine said.
