In this Sept. 6, 2008 file photo actress Frances Bay poses at an unveiling ceremony for Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto. Bay, who found success as a character actress in middle age playing grandmother roles in the Adam Sandler movie "Happy Gilmore" and on TV's "Happy Days," died Thursday Sept. 15, 2011. AP/The Canadian Press, Frank Gunn, File
LOS ANGELES – Frances Bay, who tussled with Jerry Seinfeld over a loaf of marble rye and played Adam Sandler’s grandmother in “Happy Gilmore” during a career that began in the 1930s, has died. She was 92.
Her cousin Les Berman said Bay died Thursday at a Los Angeles area hospital after being diagnosed with pneumonia.
After working as a radio actress before World War II, Bay married and became a housewife. She returned to acting in the 1970s and her career took off. Bay played Fonzie’s Grandma Nussbaum on “Happy Days” and kindly older ladies in shows like “The Jeffersons,” ”The Dukes of Hazzard” and “Who’s the Boss?”
The Canadian-born actress also was cast by director David Lynch in several films, including “Blue Velvet” and “Wild at Heart.”
Fans of “Seinfeld” know her as the tough lady who fought with the show’s star over the last loaf of bread.
She has no immediate survivors.