Rest in peace, rapping granny! Fans of 1998's Adam Sandler classic The Wedding Singer may not recognize the name Ellen Albertini Dow, but they'll surely smile when seeing her face. After all, the actress played the hilarious granny who delivered a spot-on rap to The Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper’s Delight" in the film with Sandler and Drew Barrymore. She was 101 years old.
Dow, whose acting career didn’t begin until she was in her 70s, died Monday, May 4, her agent confirmed to Deadline. Honing her acting chops in New York City with the help of Michael Shurtleff and Uta Hagen, Dow worked with mime Marcel Marceau in Paris before moving to California to teach drama at Los Angeles City College. When her husband, Eugene Dow, established the theater department at Pierce College, she transferred there to teach, and did so until retiring in 1985.
With early credits including Sister Act, The Golden Girls, ER, and Seinfeld, Dow acted until very recently, appearing on shows like New Girl and Family Guy (2012) and on Shameless in 2011.
