Charles Shaughnessy remembers being mentioned in his local pantheon during “The Nanny” fame.
The London-born actor, 66, made a splash when he attended Rosh Hashanah in the ’90s with his wife, Susan Fallender – and not co-star Fran Drescher.
“The commotion could be heard around the temple because people couldn’t believe that Mr. Sheffield was in the temple without seeing Ms. Fine,” he told Page Six with a laugh. “So that’s very exciting.”
Shaughnessy plays wealthy, widowed Broadway producer Maxwell Sheffield, who hires a fashionista a nanny named Fran Fine (Drescher) from – you know the song! — Flushing, Queens, to care for his three children. This beloved show aired on CBS from 1993 to 1999 and has been on the air steadily ever since, attracting new fans every year.
The Cambridge University-educated actor told us that Drescher was impressed by his knowledge of Jewish customs and Yiddish phrases when they started filming.
“When I married [Fallender, who is Jewish], I became one of those people. … I am a very passionate person. I throw myself into everything 100%,” he explains. “So when I was married to a Jewish girl by a Reform rabbi, I took all the books out of the library and read everything and ended up being more educated about Judaism than anyone else. in my husband’s family. So I actually knew all that when I was on ‘The Nanny’. Everyone was very impressed. Fran was very impressed.”
While able to embrace his wife’s culture, Shaughnessy has quipped that he is not as smart as Americans think just because he has a British accent, although he has noted that he is a sound of danger!” won twice.
“I’m not the village idiot, but I’m not as smart as I thought I was. That’s what my wife would say,” he added.
As Page Six carefully noted, “Celebrity Jeopardy!” usually easier than the regular show, Shaughnessy charmingly suggested that wasn’t quite so, volunteering that he knew where the Aleutian Islands were, “not that easy.”
Shaughnessy originated the hugely popular role of Shane Donovan on “Days of Our Lives” in the 1980s. Now he is reprising the role on “Days of Our Lives: Beyond Salem,” an ensemble spin-off characters past and present — and he’s pulling double duty by appearing on “General Hospital” as villain Victor Cassadine.
The father-of-two said he enjoys playing villains but is sometimes criticized for making them “a little bit sparkly because I think they are more fun”.
“And I think psychopaths can enjoy what they’re doing,” he added. “Some bad people like to be bad.”
