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Ellen Albertini Dow
Dow as Rosie in The Wedding Singer
Born	Ellen Rose Albertini (1913-11-16)November 16, 1913 Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	May 4, 2015(2015-05-04) (aged 101) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Burial place	Saint Peter's Cemetery
Alma mater	Cornell University (1935)
Occupations	Actress acting coach
Years active	1985–2013
Spouse	Eugene Francis Dow Jr. ​ ​(m. 1951; died 2004)​

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.

Career

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, My Blue Heaven, Sister Act, Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, Radioland Murders, The Wedding Singer, 54, Patch Adams, Road Trip and Wedding Crashers.

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.

Dow was a practicing Roman Catholic and a lifelong Democrat.

Filmography

Film

Television

See also

• List of centenarians (actors, filmmakers and entertainers)

References

1. Reference to Ellen Albertini Dow's 100th birthday, businessinsider.com; accessed November 17, 2014.
2. The father Oliverio Albertini was born on March 21, 1875, in Brez, Trentino and the mother Arcangela Stancher on May 29, 1882, in Tavon, Trentino.
3. Census 1920
4. ^ Parker, Ryan (May 5, 2015). "Ellen Albertini Dow, 'Wedding Singer's' rapping granny, dies at 101". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
5. Ellen Rose Albertini, Cornell University alumna (class of 1935), e-yearbook.com; accessed June 23, 2014.
6. ^ Slotnik, Daniel E. (May 5, 2015). "Ellen Albertini Dow, Actress, Dies at 101; Rapping Granny in 'Wedding Singer'". The New York Times. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
7. Pedersen, Erik (May 4, 2015). "'Wedding Singer' Rapping Granny Dead; Ellen Albertini Dow Was 101". Deadline Hollywood. United States.
8. An Interview with Ellen Albertini Dow, Skip E. Lowe, 1998
9. "Sister Act". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
10. "The Wedding Singer". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
11. Jordan, Louis (February 16, 2015). "54 Bombed in 1998. Now It's Been Resurrected as a Cult Gay Classic". Vulture. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
12. Castillo, Monica (May 5, 2015). "'Wedding Crashers' Grandma Ellen Albertini Dow Dies at 101; Watch Her Best Performances [VIDEOS]". International Business Times. IBT Media. Retrieved September 30, 2015.

External links

• Ellen Albertini Dow at IMDb
• Ellen Albertini Dow at TV Guide
• Ellen Albertini Dow Archived May 19, 2017, at the Wayback Machine
• Ellen Albertini Dow at Find a Grave

• 1913 births
• 2015 deaths
• 20th-century American actresses
• 20th-century Roman Catholics
• 21st-century American actresses
• 21st-century Roman Catholics
• Actresses from Pennsylvania
• American acting coaches
• American film actresses
• American people of Italian descent
• American Roman Catholics
• American stage actresses
• American television actresses
• American voice actresses
• American women centenarians
• Catholics from Pennsylvania
• Cornell University alumni
• Deaths from pneumonia in California
• Pennsylvania Democrats
• People from Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania