'Wedding Singer' rapping grandma Ellen Albertini Dow dies at 101

Tuesday, May 5, 2015
LOS ANGELES -- Ellen Albertini Dow, a feisty character actress best known for her salty rendition of "Rapper's Delight" in "The Wedding Singer," has died. She was 101.


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Her agent, Juliet Green, confirmed to The Associated Press that Dow died Monday.

Her breakout rap in "The Wedding Singer" led to memorable and often foul-mouthed character roles in films like "Wedding Crashers," ''Road Trip" and "54," as the drug-addled party girl Disco Dottie.

Dow's numerous television credits include "Seinfeld" and "New Girl."

The Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, native studied theater and dance for most of her life and obtained a master's degree from Cornell when that was still a rarity for women. Dow didn't begin her professional acting career until she was in her 70s, when she got her first job on "The Twilight Zone."

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Story written by the Associated Press.
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