Who can forget the legendary nasal voice and famous airiness of Fran Drescher’s “The Nanny”? Not to mention the iconic fashion style that made her character an icon of ’90s television. The show was a huge success, running for six seasons from 1993 to 1999, and Drescher was brought on spotlight thanks to it.
Francine Joy Drescher, born in 1957, a native of Queens, New York, is not only the main character of the sitcom. She and her husband at the time, Peter Marc Jacobson, were also the masterminds behind the show. In 1997, Drescher explained her inspiration behind “The Nanny” to The Hollywood Reporter, saying she went shopping in London with a friend’s daughter and gave her some advice on how to pierce a new shoes. “She was a proper English boarding school girl, and I was like a bull in a china shop around her. … I suddenly realized that this was a kind of humorous female logic “The selfish advice I gave her was that it didn’t really work in a parental way and it seemed funny,” Drescher recalls. Then she called her husband and said, “What do you think about filming ‘The Sound of Music’ except that I come knocking on the door instead of Julie Andrews?” Soon, sitcoms were born.
Typically, when famous people suddenly become stars, their fame contributes to their devastating unhappiness. However, Drescher was first affected by tragedy in the ’80s, before she became a household name. From then on, she faced repeated difficulties that affected her deeply.
She was the victim of a horrific attack
In 1985, years before starring in “The Nanny,” Fran Drescher was the victim of a horrific and violent attack. Drescher was having dinner with her friend and then-husband Peter Marc Jacobson when intruders broke into the couple’s home, bound and blindfolded Jacobson, and proceeded to rape the two women at gunpoint.
Speaking about the incident years later, Drescher told Fox News, “I felt like I was shattered into a million pieces. … It took at least a year for me to feel almost like myself again.” .” She recounted a time after the incident when she went to eat at a restaurant and said she was so nervous that when a waiter dropped her utensils, she jumped out of her seat and screamed.
In an interview with CNN, Drescher revealed that the two men who assaulted her were brothers and that one of them had been released on parole. “It’s very disheartening to think that he was jailed and then released, then went on a rampage, and I wasn’t the only woman he raped,” she said. The men were later captured, largely thanks to Drescher. She explained to CNN that because she has a photographic memory, she was able to assist police in matching faces, which eventually led to the arrest of the criminals. “At least I have the ability to have closure, which sadly a lot of women don’t have.” She went on to say, “Now he’s locked up forever.”
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact the RAINN National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
Fran and her husband divorced after 21 years
Fran Drescher and Peter Marc Jacobson seemed like the perfect couple for decades. They were high school sweethearts, had been in love since they were 15 years old, and worked together on the movie “The Nanny.” Enduring a traumatic home invasion led the couple to seek therapy, where Jacobson eventually overcame his conflicted feelings about his sexuality.
Speaking to Oprah, Jacobson said, “We’re living a heterosexual life. I haven’t had an affair or anything like that. I think I’m straight.” When he went to therapy in the past, Jacobson said he was often told by therapists: “You’re straight. You’re not gay.”
In the same interview, Drescher said Jacobson had begun to act differently. “He’s very controlling. … He’s even jealous of our dog when I want the dog to be with us. So it becomes very suffocating.” Jacobson came out to his wife as bisexual and she supported him unconditionally, but ultimately decided to end their 21-year marriage. “He begged me not to leave him, and for me, that was the hardest thing because I always put other people’s feelings above my own,” she explained.
After years of working through their issues and with Jacobson now living as a gay man, they remain close friends. As he told People in 2011, “We work together. Go out to eat. Travel together. I feel like I still have a wife.”
invasion that rocked Fran Drescher to her core, she managed to seal the deal with CBS and “The Nanny” came to fruition. Playing the lead in the sitcom, she became a recognized face in Hollywood, leading to plenty of media attention. But unfortunately, it wasn’t just the media that had their eyes on the actor. Around 1993, Drescher became the target of a stalker and was harassed by relentless calls and letters.
Back in the day, sitcoms were often filmed in front of a live studio audience, allowing members of the public to attend the tapings of television shows. Drescher was dismayed that her stalker could be in the audience; however, with “The Nanny” being mid-season, they couldn’t move the set. Instead, she worked with the show’s producers and, with the help of casting director Lisette St Caire of Central Casting, they replaced the audience altogether. St Claire put out a casting call for a few dozen people — this way, she could screen everyone coming into the studio.
Not only did this method of filling the audience ensure everyone was vetted, but St Claire could also confirm that the audience would be good at what they do: laughing. This then became the norm for sitcoms.
