Oregon authorities believe they have found the body of Charles Levin, an actor who starred in shows like Seinfeld, Law & Order, Night Court, and NYPD Blue. After Levin went missing last week from Grants Pass, authorities opened an investigation and began searching for the 70 year-old actor. Around 8 p.m. on Saturday, Levin was found dead along a rugged road in Josephine County.
Warren Hensen, chief of the Grants Pass Department of Public Safety, said that investigators have ruled out foul play and suicide as causes of death. According to Hensman, a medical examiner would have to make a final determination.
The news comes a week after Levin was reported missing by his on, Jesse Levin, after he had not heard from his father for a few days. According to police, 70 year-old Levin drove an orange 2012 Fiat and frequently traveled with a pug named Boo Boo Bear.
On July 12, police followed an emergency cell phone ping to a remote area northwest of Selma. During the search and rescue efforts, a resident discovered Levin’s car on “a very remote and almost impassable road.” Oregon State Police were escorted to the car by the person who found it, discovering that the car was off-road and disabled. Levin’s pug, Boo Boo Bear, was found dead inside.
Crews scoured the area around the car for any sign of Levin. Levin’s body was not in the car or even in the proximity of it. After a few hours of searching, human remains were located. Authorities said that “based on the circumstances, there is a high probability that the remains are those of Charles Levin.”
Levin played an irritable mohel in the 1993 Seinfeld episode, “The Bris.” He also made appearances in television shows like The Twilight Zone, Alice, L.A. Law, Hill Street Blues, Doogie Howser, M.D., NYPD Blue, and Night Court.
“He was incredibly comedic. He just had a humongous personality. He was extremely charming. It’s very sad what’s happened,” Jesse Levin said of his father. “My dad was so over the top and ridiculous that he told me that Jerry Seinfeld fell out of a chair laughing at how ridiculous he was.”
“Every bris that I go to now, every mohel compares himself to him,” Jesse Levin added. “He is the team mascot for that profession.”