IMDB

Actor

1913-11-16 · Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, USA · Female

46 series in the catalog

Ellen Rose Albertini Dow (November 16, 1913 – May 4, 2015) was an American film and television character actress and drama coach. She portrayed feisty old ladies and is best known as the rapping grandmother Rosie in The Wedding Singer (1998), performing "Rapper's Delight". Dow's other film roles include elderly lady Mary Cleary who "outs" her grandson in Wedding Crashers, Disco Dottie in 54, the recipient of Christopher Lloyd's character's slapstick in Radioland Murders and a choir nun in Sister Act. She was best known to small screen audiences for her guest appearances on sitcoms The Golden Girls (playing Lillian, a friend of Sophia's) and Will & Grace (as Karen Walker's mother-in-law Sylvia).

Early life

Albertini was born on November 16, 1913, in Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, the seventh and youngest child of Italian immigrant parents, Ellen and Oliver, from Non Valley, Trentino. She studied dance and piano at age five and would later move to New York City, where she studied and worked with renowned dancers and choreographers Hanya Holm and Martha Graham.

Secondary education

Dow earned a B.A. and M.A. in theatre from Cornell University, where she became a member of Kappa Delta sorority, graduating in 1935. Dow studied acting with Michael Shurtleff and Uta Hagen, and worked with mimes Marcel Marceau and Jacques Lecoq in NYC.

Educator

When Dow moved to Los Angeles with her husband, she taught drama at Los Angeles City College. She and her husband later taught at Los Angeles Pierce College.

Acting

Albertini Dow did not start acting on screen until the 1980s, when she was in her seventies. Her television work includes appearances in such television series as Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Golden Girls, The Wonder Years, Family Matters, Newhart, Designing Women, Just Shoot Me, ER, Will & Grace, Seinfeld, Ned's Declassified, Hannah Montana, Scrubs, Sister, Sister, According to Jim, Six Feet Under, Wings, The Nanny and My Name Is Earl.

Her film appearances include Tough Guys (1986), My Blue Heaven (1990), Sister Act (1992), Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993), Radioland Murders (1994), Problem Child 3 (1995), The Wedding Singer (1998), 54 (1998), Patch Adams (1998), Road Trip (2000) and Wedding Crashers (2005).

Personal life and death

Dow married Eugene Dow Jr. on June 27, 1951. Eugene died on October 11, 2004. They had no children.

Dow died on May 4, 2015, at the age of 101 due to pneumonia.

Ellen Albertini Dow at TV Guide

Ellen Albertini Dow at TV.com at the Wayback Machine (archived May 19, 2017)

Ellen Albertini Dow at Find a Grave