Fran Drescher has come a long way since playing the “flashy girl from Flushing” on The Nanny.
Drescher scored her breakout role in 1977’s Saturday Night Fever as supporting character Connie, who had a brief interaction with leading man John Travolta. While her performance was brief, Drescher soon landed starring roles in the likes of American Hot Wax, The Hollywood Knights, Ragtime and This Is Spinal Tap.
After conquering the big screen, Drescher and then-husband Peter Marc Jacobson co-created CBS’ The Nanny. The six-season sitcom followed Drescher as the titular nanny, named Fran Fine, after she started a new career in childcare following a bad breakup.
“It doesn’t matter what you look like or what you speak like, it’s what’s in your heart that counts. And I think that that message is probably more important today than ever,” she exclusively told Us Weekly in April 2022 of The Nanny’s core messages and continued fan following. “And to treat kids respectfully and honor them as human beings and not talk down to them is important. To be tolerant of those who don’t happen to be like you is a daily practice. To make kindness and compassion your compass is really also a daily practice and the reason why we are on this earth.”
The Nanny ultimately wrapped in 1999, nearly 20 years before Drescher ran to become the president of the SAG-AFTRA union. Drescher proved victorious in September 2021 and has since fought for equality in the industry, especially during the July 2023 actor’s strike.
1970s
Drescher kicked off her career with roles in Saturday Night Fever and American Hot Wax.
1978
The actress and Jacobson were high school sweethearts, ultimately getting married amid her early career success.
1993
Drescher and Jacobson co-conceived The Nanny, which ran for six seasons on CBS. While he stayed behind the scenes, Drescher lead the cast as the fashion-savvy Fran Fine.
1999
The twosome eventually separated in 1996 before their divorce was finalized in 1999 after Jacobson publicly came out as gay.
“He’s officially my gay ex-husband. We met when we were 15. We created The Nanny. That became my baby. We were excellent writing and producing partners,” she later told Fox News in 2019. “And we’re now the best of friends. My parents still view him as a son.”
1999
After six seasons, The Nanny came to an end with Fran Fine and eventual husband Maxwell Sheffield (Charles Shaughnessy) welcoming a pair of twins together and moving from New York City to Los Angeles.
2000
One year after The Nanny wrapped, Drescher was diagnosed with uterine cancer when she was 44 years old. She underwent a full hysterectomy and has since been cancer-free. Drescher’s health struggles inspired her to launch her Cancer Schmancer foundation, which is dedicated to the prevention and early detection of various cancers.
2005
Drescher returned to TV five years later, starring in USA Network’s Living With Fran alongside Misti Traya, Ryan McPartlin and Ben Feldman. The two-season sitcom followed a post-divorce Fran Reeves (Drescher) finding love with a man who was half her age. Living With Fran also served as a Nanny reunion, with Shaughnessy making a cameo as Drescher’s ex-husband.
2014
After a lengthy career in TV and film, Drescher conquered the Great White Way next. She made her Broadway debut in Roger & Hammerstein’s Cinderella, playing the wicked stepmother of Carly Rae Jepsen’s Cinderella.
2023
Two years into Drescher’s tenure as the president of SAG-AFTRA, she came under fire by Shannen Doherty and other actors over their criticisms about the union’s health insurance benefits.
“@Officialfrandrescher I’m curious for people like me who have worked since they were 10 and paid dues to @sagaftra how when we aren’t able to work for health reasons why our union abandons us,” Doherty, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2020, wrote via Instagram in March 2023. “I think we can do better for all our members and I think you’re [the] person to do it.”
Doherty continued at the time: “Health insurance shouldn’t be based on annual income. It’s a lifetime contribution. And for me and many others, we have paid a lifetime of dues to only be canceled because we don’t meet your current criteria. Not OK.”
Drescher did not address the drama, which occurred months before SAG-AFTRA authorized a strike after failing to reach an agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) during contract negotiations.
“This is a very seminal hour for us. I went in thinking that we would be able to avert a strike. The gravity of this move is not lost on me,” Drescher said in a press conference at the time. “It’s a very serious thing that impacts thousands, if not millions of people all across this country and around the world. Not only members of this union but people who work in other industries that service the people that work in this industry. … We had no choice. We are the victims here. We are being victimized by a very greedy entity.”
Drescher and her fellow union members were fighting over fair wages, especially in regard to residual paychecks, the use of artificial intelligence in media and more issues.
