A troublesome news story out of Oregon has seemingly come to an equally troublesome conclusion. Bodily remains discovered over the weekend in South Oregon are believed to be those of missing Hollywood actor Charles Levin, arguably best known for working on Seinfeld as the stressed-out and quotable mohel in the episode, "The Bris."
Details are still being worked out, but here's the latest. On July 8, the 70-year-old Charles Levin was reported missing in Grants Pass, Oregon by his son, who claimed to have not spoken to his father for several days prior to the report. Search parties were able to use GPS data from Levin's cell phone in order to narrow their central search down to an area near the town of Selma, and it was there where hopeful rescuers came together to try and track Levin down.
Charles Levin drove a 2012 Fiat that was noteworthy due to its orange paint job, and a local resident was the one who discovered the car down a remote and "almost impassable road" in the area, according to the Grants Pass Department of Public Safety. The vehicle itself was no longer on the road itself and had been deemed unusable due to the rough terrain.
According to police, inside the car were the remains of Boo Boo Bear, the pet pug that Charles Levin was known to travel with. At that point, the rescue teams were able to put more efforts into searching the area surrounding Levin's vehicle.
After several hours of searching around, human remains were discovered. Not long after, the Grants Pass Department of Public Safety went public with their knowledge.
Based on the circumstances, there is a high probability that the remains are those of Charles Levin.
Beyond those facts, little else has been reported about Charles Levin's reported death, as far as what he was doing in that area, how his vehicle got stuck, and the actual cause of death. According to The Oregonian, a final identification of the remains will eventually be completed by the medical examiner. At that point, perhaps more answers will begin to surface.
Charles Levin's acting career started up back in the 1970s with an appearance in Annie Hall, and he made quite a name for himself in the years after. In the '80s, Levin memorably appeared in Rob Reiner's seminal comedy This Is Spinal Tap, had a recurring role in the beloved sitcom Alice, and also appeared in other popular shows such as Hill Street Blues, The Facts of Life, and Night Court.
The 1990s started off with a promising, though short-lived, stint in the David Milch co-created drama Capital News with Lloyd Bridges. After popping up on L.A. Law, Designing Women and Growing Pains (one from the Leonardo DiCaprio days), Charles Levin nailed one of his most memorable roles as the mohel in "The Bris" who came to start calling Jerry "the Flincher" for having moved during the titular act. (You can stream the episode on Hulu now.)
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Charles Levin went on to appear in some episodes of NYPD Blue and Law & Order, and he took part in his final on screen roles in 1998 as part of the TV series Oh Baby and the feature film A Civil Action.
Also interestingly, Charles Levin was initially tapped to be a big part of The Golden Girls whenever that classic sitcom was initially conceived. He was set to play a gay cook named Coco, but once Estelle Getty's role as Sophia was changed from a recurring part to a regular part, Coco was written out of the series as not to have too many characters getting the focus.
CinemaBlend sends our thoughts and condolences to the family and friends of Charles Levin in their time of mourning.
