Leah Bernstein

99, Woodland Hills

Her life was synonymous with early Hollywood’s golden age. Its biggest stars, to Leah Bernstein, felt like family.

“I remember Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney playing outside the window, and Katharine Hepburn was always trying to get me to play tennis,” she said in a 2015 interview.

Bernstein was still a Fairfax High student, just 16, when she landed an after-school typing job at MGM Studios that propelled her into a life spent on movie sets. On more than 28 films, Bernstein worked as filmmaker Stanley Kramer’s executive secretary, befriending the likes of Sidney Poitier and Vivien Leigh.

On April 23, Leah Bernstein died at 99 of complications from COVID-19. She was one of many residents of the Motion Picture and Television Fund skillednursing home to die of the virus. Her family has since praised the heroism of those who helped care for her while the virus spread through the Woodland Hills facility.

A Los Angeles native, Bernstein grew up dreaming of a life in the movie business. After working every night until midnight at MGM, she resolved to put herself through Woodbury Business College to become an executive secretary.

Her trademark wit caught on quickly among Hollywood executives. Over a long career, she also worked for Irving Fein, Jack Benny’s manager, and for famed animator Ralph Bakshi.

“Even in her late 90s, Leah had a dry, witty sense of humor and was a flirt until her last days,” Bob Beitcher, president and chief executive of the MPTF, told Deadline.

Beitcher said Bernstein often noted her pride in the social impact that the movies she created with Kramer made. The Oscar-winning filmmaker died at MPTF in 2001.

In her later years, Bernstein spent most of her time volunteering and with family. She is survived by her nephew, Rodger, as well as three grand-nieces and -nephews and nine great-grandnieces and -nephews.