Ellen Albertini Dow (born November 16, 1918) is an American character actress. She often portrays feisty old ladies and is perhaps best known as the rapping grandmother who performs in the feature film The Wedding Singer. She also played a disillusioned, homophobic grandmother (much to the dismay of her gay grandson) in Wedding Crashers and a victim of Christopher Lloyd's slapstick in Radioland Murders. Additionally, on an episode of Will & Grace, she portrayed the mother-in-law of Karen Walker, who referred to her as "the goiter." Upon inadvertently helping Will Truman muster some confidence, she becomes extremely upset when she realizes he's gay, exclaiming, "I helped a fag get a date! Oh my God, I'm going to hell!" She also played J. Peterman's dying mother on an episode of Seinfeld. George tells her his secret ATM code ("BOSCO"), believing that she is unconscious. However she was not, and shouts out "BOSCO!", just before she dies. Dow also appeared in three episodes of The Golden Girls, playing different characters in each one.
Dow was born in Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania. She was educated at Cornell University where she was a member of Kappa Delta Sorority. She later taught drama and dance before her Hollywood career. She was married to Eugene Dow until his death in 2004.
