Ellen Albertini Dow (16 November 1913–4 May 2015; age 101) was a character actress who appeared as Felisa Howard in the Star Trek: The Next Generation seventh season episode "Sub Rosa". She was born in Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, USA. Dow is perhaps best known for her role as Grandma Rosie in The Wedding Singer (1998, featuring Angela Paton). She was also known for her role as Grandma Mary Cleary in Wedding Crashers (2005, starring Christopher Walken, with Ron Canada, Henry Gibson, and Richard Riehle. She gained notoriety for a guest appearance on Seinfeld in which she played Momma, an old woman who died yelling George's (played by Jason Alexander) PIN code: "Bosco". Heidi Swedberg also appeared in this episode.
In 1987, she appeared in Munchies, with Star Trek: Voyager actors Robert Picardo and Wendy Schaal. She appeared as a choir nun in Sister Act (1991) and Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993), both starring Whoopi Goldberg. Her many other film credits include Walk Like a Man (1987) and Radioland Murders (1994), both starring Christopher Lloyd (with the former also featuring John McLiam and the latter Corbin Bernsen and Michael McKean), as well as My Blue Heaven (1990, with Ed Lauter, Bill Irwin and Carol Kane), Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992, also with Michael McKean as well as Rosalind Chao and Aaron Lustig), Patch Adams (1998, starring Robin Williams, with Bob Gunton, Richard Kiley, and Harve Presnell), Longshot (2000, with Paul Sorvino and The Rock), Ready to Rumble (2000, with Richard Lineback), and Road Trip (2000, with Andy Dick).
Prior to her appearance on The Next Generation, she had previously guest-starred on Beauty and the Beast starring Linda Hamilton and Star Trek Nemesis actor Ron Perlman, with Michael Ensign), The Golden Girls, Newhart (with Tony Jay and Tony Papenfuss), Family Matters, Murphy Brown, The Wonder Years (starring Olivia d'Abo), Wings (starring Steven Weber), and Quantum Leap, starring future Star Trek: Enterprise actors Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell. She went on to appear on such shows as ER (starring Eriq La Salle, with Lily Mariye and Chase Masterson), Murder One (with John Fleck, Clayton Rohner, Barbara Bosson, Jack Kehler, Alexander Enberg, and Jack Blessing), UPN's G vs E (with Clayton Rohner, Googy Gress, and Cress Williams), Will & Grace, Yes, Dear, Judging Amy (with Barbara J. Tarbuck, John Prosky, Tim Kelleher, and Mary Mara), Cold Case (with Carolyn McCormick and Zach Grenier), The John Larroquette Show, Nikki (2000, starring Nikki Cox and Toby Huss, with Brad William Henke), and Six Feet Under (with James Cromwell and Anne Elizabeth Ramsay). She also lent her voice to episodes of Seth MacFarlane's Family Guy and American Dad! (with Patrick Stewart, Scott Grimes, and Steven Weber).
Albertini Dow later appeared in The Invited (2010), Not Another Not Another Movie (2011), Shameless (2011, with Jerry Sroka), She Wants Me (2012), and Frank the Bastard (2012, with Chris Sarandon and William Sadler).
After Viola Stimpson, she was the second Star Trek actor to reach the age of 100. Dow passed away at the age of 101 on 4 May 2015. [1] Dow was also the longest-lived Star Trek performer, having surpassed Stimpson's lifespan by 88 days, until she was surpassed in 2016 by Dick Cherney. Following Dow's death, Olaf Pooley – four months her junior – became the oldest living Star Trek person.
External links[]
- Ellen Albertini Dow at Wikipedia
- Ellen Albertini Dow at the Internet Movie Database
- EllenAlbertiniDow.com(X) – former official site
- The Genealogy of Ellen Albertini Dow at WikiTree.com