Ellen Albertini Dow Biography

Fast Facts

• Earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in theater from Cornell University and trained with legendary dancers Hanya Holm and Martha Graham
• Began her teaching career in the drama department at Los Angeles City College before transferring to Pierce College, where her husband, Eugene Dow, founded the theater department
• Worked with mimes Marcel Marceau and Jacques LeCoq in Paris and was a member of a comedy act before becoming a teacher
• Best known for playing the rapping grandmother who performed "Rapper's Delight" in the 1998 Adam Sandler film "The Wedding Singer․"
• Involved in the acting industry for most of her life, she didn't begin appearing in screen productions until she was in her 70s