| Ellen Albertini Dow | |
| Birth Name: | Ellen Rose Albertini |
| Birth Date: | November 16, 1913 |
| Death Place: | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Resting Place: | Saint Peter's Cemetery |
| Alma Mater: | Cornell University (1935) |
| Years Active: | 1985–2013 |
| Occupation: | Actress, acting coach |
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).
Albertini was born on November 16, 1913, in Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania,[1] the seventh and youngest child of Italian immigrant parents, Ellen and Oliver, from Non Valley, Trentino.[2] [3] 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.[4]
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.[5] Dow studied acting with Michael Shurtleff and Uta Hagen, and worked with mimes Marcel Marceau and Jacques Lecoq in NYC.[4]
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.
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 , 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, , Radioland Murders, The Wedding Singer, 54, Patch Adams, Road Trip and Wedding Crashers.
Dow married Eugene Dow Jr. on June 27, 1951.[6] Eugene died on October 11, 2004. They had no children.
Dow died on May 4, 2015, at the age of 101 due to pneumonia.[7]
Dow was a practicing Roman Catholic and a lifelong Democrat.[8]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | American Drive-In | Allison | |||
| 1986 | Tough Guys | Old Lady | |||
| Body Slam | Organist | ||||
| Munchies | Little Old Lady | ||||
| Walk Like a Man | Organist | ||||
| 1988 | Going to the Chapel | Grandma Haldane | |||
| 1990 | My Blue Heaven | Nun | |||
| Genuine Risk | Receptionist | ||||
| 1991 | Blood and Concrete | Old Lady | |||
| 1992 | Memoirs of an Invisible Man | Mrs. Coulson | |||
| Sister Act | Choir Nun #1 | [9] | |||
| Twogether | Mrs. Norton | ||||
| Space Case | Betsy | ||||
| 1993 | Choir Nun #1 | ||||
| 1994 | Radioland Murders | Organist | |||
| 1995 | Problem Child 3 | Lila Duvane | |||
| 1998 | The Wedding Singer | Rosie | [10] | ||
| Carnival of Souls | Mrs. Meltzer | ||||
| 54 | Disco Dottie | [11] | |||
| Patch Adams | Aggie Kennedy | ||||
| 2000 | Ready to Rumble | Mrs. MacKenzie | |||
| Road Trip | Mrs. Manilow | ||||
| 2001 | Longshot | Mrs. Fleisher | |||
| 2002 | Eight Crazy Nights | See's Candies Box | Voice | ||
| 2005 | Wedding Crashers | Mary Cleary | [12] | ||
| Halfway Decent | Mrs. Kahn | ||||
| 2006 | Fat Girls | Mildred | |||
| 2007 | The Blue Hour | Anabella | |||
| 2008 | Lonely Street | Lydia the Librarian | |||
| 2010 | The Invited | Natalie Shaw | |||
| 2011 | Not Another Not Another Movie | Older Rose | |||
| 2012 | She Wants Me | Grandma Elma | |||
| 2013 | Frank the Bastard | Dora | Final film role |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | The Twilight Zone | Mrs. Hotchkiss | Episode: "Need to Know" | ||
| Mr. Belvedere | Old Lady | Episode: "Grandma" | |||
| The Twilight Zone | Old Woman | Episode: "The Storyteller" | |||
| 1987 | Beauty and the Beast | Anna Lausch | Episode: "Nor Iron Bars a Cage" | ||
| 1988 | Moonlighting | Mrs. Baer | Episode: "Los Dos DiPestos" | ||
| Mr. Belvedere | Old Lady | Episode: "The Trip: Part 1" | |||
| Webster | Mrs. Crane | Episode: "Papa's Big Romance" | |||
| The Golden Girls | Mrs. Leonard | Episode: "The Days and Nights of Sophia Petrillo" | |||
| Lillian | Episode: "Sophia's Choice" | ||||
| 1991 | Sarah | Episode: "Older and Wiser" | |||
| 1992 | The Wonder Years | Mrs. Tambora | Episode: "Kevin Delivers" | ||
| Down the Shore | The Old Woman | Episode: "Atlantic City" | |||
| Wings | Debbie | Episode: "The Customer's Usually Right" | |||
| 1993 | Felisa Howard | Episode: "Sub Rosa" | |||
| 1993 | Family Matters | Elderly Lady | Episode: "Scenes From The Mall" | ||
| 1994 | Family Matters | Mrs. Ostendorf | Episode: "That's What Friends Are For" | ||
| 1995 | ER | Mrs. Riblet | Episode: "Hell & High Water" | ||
| Seinfeld | Peterman's mother | Episode: "The Secret Code" | |||
| 1997 | Beyond Belief - Fact or Fiction | Aunt Connie | Segment: "Mystery Lock" | ||
| Sabrina the Teenage Witch | Homeowner | Episode: "A River of Candy Corn Runs Through It" | |||
| 1999 | Just Shoot Me! | Mrs. Gallo | Episode: "Jack Vents" | ||
| 2001 | Will & Grace | Sylvia Walker | Episode: "The Young and the Tactless" | ||
| 2005 | Scrubs | Betty | Episode: "My Faith in Humanity" | ||
| Six Feet Under | Roberta | Episode: "Time Flies" | |||
| My Name Is Earl | Gertrude Balboa | Episode: "Broke Joy's Fancy Figurine" | |||
| 2006 | Hannah Montana | Katherine McCord | Episode: "Debt It Be" | ||
| Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide | Miss Knapp | Episode: "Social Studies/Embarrassment" | |||
| The Emperor's New School | Azma | Voice, episode: "The Bride of Kuzco" | |||
| 2007 | Cold Case | Audrey Abruzzi | Episode: "Torn" | ||
| 2011 | Shameless | The Real Aunt Ginger | Episode: "Aunt Ginger" | ||
| 2012 | Family Guy | Aunt Helen | Voice, episode: "Jesus, Mary and Joseph!" | ||
| 2013 | New Girl | Aunt Ruthie | Episode: "Chicago" |