:Rappin' Granny
{{short description|American rapper}}
{{for|the "rapping granny" from The Wedding Singer|Ellen Albertini Dow}}
{{Infobox musical artist
|name=Rappin' Granny
|image=
|background=solo_singer
|birth_name= Vivian Lee Smallwood
|alias=
|birth_date={{Birth date|1933|06|18|mf=y}}
|origin=Castaic, California, U.S.
|death_date = {{death date and age|2017|07|22|1933|06|18}}
|instrument=Guitar
|genre=Hip hop
|years_active=1989–2017
|label=
|website=
}}
Vivian Smallwood (June 18, 1933 – July 22, 2017{{cite web|url=http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1114369-spring-2019/68?|title=SAG-AFTRA-Spring Edition 2019, In Memoriam|website=SAG-AFTRA}}), known by her stage name Rappin' Granny, was an American grandmother who performed hip-hop music. She lived in Castaic, California, near Los Angeles.
Outside of being known for portraying "Nano" Williams in Big Bad Beetleborgs, Smallwood was a contestant on the NBC television series America's Got Talent during the 2006 season.
Career
=Rapping=
Smallwood was employed as a postal worker and began rapping in the mid-1980s. She took first place in a rap contest at a South-Central Los Angeles roller rink with an anti-drug themed rap.{{cite news|last1=Lacey|first1=Marc|title='Rappin' Granny' Sends Message With a Youthful Beat|date=April 12, 1992|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-04-12-me-162-story.html}} By 1988 she had formed a group with her son called Rappin' Granny and DJ Len. She won a Granny of the Year contest in Pasadena in 1988, performing a rap version of the song "The Little Old Lady from Pasadena".{{cite news|title=Granny raps to fight problems of youth|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1454&dat=19880626&id=ROk0AAAAIBAJ&pg=6122,3709413&hl=en|work=Star-News|date=June 26, 1988}} In 1989, she released a little-known, self-titled music video called "Rock-n-Soul".[http://music.yahoo.com/ar-297469-videos--Rappin-Granny] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070312140937/http://music.yahoo.com/ar-297469-videos--Rappin-Granny |date=March 12, 2007 }} Smallwood was signed to Tandem Records in 1992. She released the single "You Didn't Use Your Blinker Fool" as a response to the DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince song "You Saw My Blinker". A brand of soda, Rappin Granny's Slammin Strawberry Hip Hop Pop, was named for her in 1995.{{cite news|last1=Gertjegerdes|first1=Carol|title=Radio Personality Turns Hip Hop Pop Entrepreneur|url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-2356240.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025133358/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-2356240.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 25, 2012|work=Columbus Times|date=August 29, 1995}}
=Acting=
Smallwood had been a working Hollywood actress since the mid-1990s. She has appeared in numerous television shows with small parts and a few feature films. Some of her credits are, Everybody Hates Chris, Malcolm in the Middle, The Shield, and The Ladykillers.{{cite book|editor1-last=Willis|editor1-first=John|editor2-last=Monush|editor2-first=Barry|title=Screen World: 2005 Film Annual|date=2006|publisher=Applause|location=New York|isbn=978-1-55783-668-7|page=50|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UCCkhsztnYgC&q=%22Vivian%20Smallwood%22&pg=PA50}} In Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood (1996) she is credited as Vivian 'Rappin Granny' Smallwood.{{cite book|editor1-last=Willis|editor1-first=John|editor2-last=Monush|editor2-first=Barry|title=Screen World 1997|date=1998|publisher=Applause|location=New York|isbn=978-1-55783-320-4|page=12|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z7JzuND1xFIC&q=Rappin'%20Granny%20Smallwood&pg=PT15}} She also played Roland Williams' grandmother "Nano" in Big Bad Beetleborgs, a show on the former Fox Kids network.
In 2012, she appeared on the How I Met Your Mother episode "The Magician's Code: Part 1".
Smallwood was featured in the Apollo Theater's Apollo Circus of Soul in 2007.{{cite news|last1=Collins|first1=Glenn|title=The Circus Is in Town. All Over It, in Fact, in Six Troupes.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/24/nyregion/24circus.html|work=The New York Times|date=November 24, 2007}}
==''America's Got Talent''==
Smallwood was a contestant on the NBC television series America's Got Talent{{cite magazine|last1=Slezak|first1=Michael|title='America's Got Talent': The return of Rappin' Granny|url=http://www.ew.com/article/2006/07/27/americas_got_ta_2|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|date=July 27, 2006}}{{cite book|last1=Muir|first1=John Kenneth|title=TV Year: The Prime Time 2005-2006 Season|date=2007|publisher=Applause Theatre & Cinema Books|location=New York|isbn=978-1-55783-684-7|page=[https://archive.org/details/tvyearvolume1pri0000muir/page/7 7]|url=https://archive.org/details/tvyearvolume1pri0000muir|url-access=registration|quote=Vivian Smallwood.}} and qualified on the August 16, 2006 season finale for the one-million-dollar grand prize. In her audition, Rappin' Granny gave a performance that was very popular among the crowd and the judges, all of whom (Brandy, David Hasselhoff, and Piers Morgan) advanced her to the next round by way of a unanimous vote. Smallwood then returned for the semifinal episode that aired July 26, 2006. After another crowd-pleasing song, the judges again put her through to the next round, by another unanimous vote. For the final round, Smallwood rode in on a motorcycle, but finished in the bottom half of the public vote.{{cite journal|last1=Hope|first1=Clover|title=Rapping Grandmother|journal=XXL|date=2006|volume=10|issue=10|publisher=Harris Publications}}
Personal life
Smallwood had 15 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren.
Death
Vivian Smallwood died from natural causes at the age of 84 on July 22, 2017.
Filmography
| class="wikitable" | |||
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood | Sister Williams | |
| 1996-1998 | Big Bad Beetleborgs | "Nano" Williams | 46 episodes |
| 2004 | The Ladykillers | Tea Lady | |
| 2004 | Gas | Beatrice | |
| 2005 | Halfway Decent | Tom's Mom | |
| 2005-2008 | Everybody Hates Chris | Old Black Lady | 9 episodes |
| 2009 | A Day in the Life | Granny | |
| 2010 | Dirty Girl | Shellie the Neighbor | |
| 2012 | Seeking a Friend for the End of the World | Speck's Mother | Uncredited, (final film role) |
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|806614|Vivian Smallwood}}
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6FfhcXS4MQ Rappin' Granny performance on America's Got Talent]
- [http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=FB&p_theme=fb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EAE8206A2FCE74A&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM Fresno Bee article]
- [http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SJ&s_site=mercurynews&p_multi=SJ&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB72DF0D254A9D5&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM San Jose Mercury News article]
- [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-04-12-me-162-story.html Los Angeles Times article]
{{America's Got Talent|collapsed=yes}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rappin Granny}}
Category:20th-century American actresses
Category:20th-century American guitarists
Category:21st-century American actresses
Category:Actresses from California
Category:African-American women rappers
Category:American television actresses
Category:America's Got Talent contestants
Category:Guitarists from Los Angeles
Category:People from Castaic, California
Category:Rappers from Los Angeles
Category:20th-century American women guitarists
Category:African-American guitarists
Category:20th-century African-American women
Category:20th-century African-American musicians