IT’S been 18 years since The Nanny ended and some of the stars are virtually unrecognisable these days.
FOR six sensational years in the 90s, millions of viewers followed the story of Fran Fine, the nasal and fabulous beautician hired as a nanny by wealthy widower Maxwell Sheffield after accidentally showing up on his doorstep.
After a shaky first year in 1993, The Nanny was almost cancelled before it found its feet and went on to become a hit around the world until its final season in 1999.
Here’s what the cast have been up to since it ended:
FRAN DRESCHER AND CHARLES SHAUGHNESSY
For a brief spell there — before Seth and Summer — Fran and Mr Sheffield were our favourite TV couple.
Fran Fine was the sassy nanny who had a years-long “will-they-or-won’t-they?” flirtation with her boss, Mr Sheffield (Charles Shaughnessy).
We all desperately wanted them to get together — until they did, and the sexual tension evaporated, along with the ratings.
Anyway, during the show’s run Drescher was nominated for two Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards, and starred in Jack and Beautician and the Beast.
And it appears audiences still love her: since then,she’s starred in sitcoms Living With Fran and Happily Divorced, lent her voice to Hotel Transylvania 1 & 2 and The Simpsons, and made her Broadway debut in Cinderella in 2014.
Meanwhile, Shaughnessy has also enjoyed a reasonably successful career since finishing up on The Nanny, helped by the fact that even before he was the handsome but somewhat clueless Maxwell Sheffield, he starred in iconic soap Days of our Lives .
He’s since starred in a number of made-for-TV movies, and appeared in Sabrina The Teenage Witch, Stargate SG-1, Law & Order: SVU and Hannah Montana.
NICHOLLE TOM, BENJAMIN SALISBURY AND MADELINE ZIMA
Nicholle Tom, Benjamin Salisbury and Madeline Zima were household names as child stars during their time on The Nanny, but — with the exception of Zima — that hasn’t really translated to long-term careers.
Since the show ended, Tom, now 39, has provided the voice for Supergirl in the DC Animated Universe, has had roles in Ice Angel, Panic, Burn Notice and Criminal Minds, and played a teen reporter in The Princess Diaries.
Meanwhile, 35-year-old Salisbury appeared in The Nanny reunion in 2004, had a minor role in an episode of Numb3rs in 2005, and featured in a Domino’s Pizza commercial a year later.
Of the three Sheffield children, Zima, 31, has made the biggest post-Nanny splash in Hollywood: she’s got an extensive list of movie and TV credits to her name, including A Cinderella Story, JAG, Gilmore Girls, 7th Heaven, Grey’s Anatomy, Californication, Heroes, The Vampire Diaries and the Twin Peaks reboot.
LAUREN LANE AND DANIEL DAVIS
Lauren Lane also dropped off the radar in television and films after The Nanny. She joined the cast for the reunion, and starred in 2001 movie The Cutting Room.
Since then, she’s made a number of appearances on stage, in productions including The Vagina Monologues and August Osage County.
Meanwhile, her on-screen rival/lover Daniel Davis has had more success staying in the spotlight.
Before The Nanny, Davis, who played Niles — arguably the world’s most famous butler, adopted the same faux British accent as Professor Moriarty in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
A year after The Nanny wrapped, he was nominated for a Best Actor Tony Award for his role in Broadway play Long Mountain. During the next couple of years, he starred onstage in a string of plays and musicals, before guest-starring in TV sitcom Frasier.
In 2006, Davis appeared in director Christopher Nolan’s movie The Prestige.
SYLVIA FINE
Renee Taylor stole the show (and most of the on-set food) as Fran’s brash yet loveable mum, Sylvia.
Before becoming a household name on The Nanny, Taylor was a well-established actress and writer — she even scored an Oscars nomination for her work on the screenplay for Lovers and Other Strangers in 1971.
The now 84-year-old has had a string of guest roles since the sitcom ended in hit shows including How I Met Your Mother and Victorious. She also lent her voice to Ice Age: The Meltdown and last year appeared in Adam Sandler’s Netflix movie The Do-Over.
