Fran Drescher Just Had A Mini ‘The Nanny’ Reunion And It Was Awesome
Fran Drescher took part in a mini-reunion with her fellow The Nanny co-stars Charles Shaughnessy and Renée Taylor at Taylor’s 83rd birthday party, which was held earlier in March, according to Entertainment Weekly.
It’s been over 12 years since The Nanny cast members reunited; the last time was for a one-hour Lifetime special, A Nosh to Remember.
But this time The Nanny fans were treated with only photos. In one of the photos posted by Shaughnessy on Facebook, the actor is seen with Fran Drescher and Taylor.
Fran Drescher played Shaughnessy’s wife on The Nanny, while Oscar-nominated Taylor played the role of Sylvia Fine. The CBS show ran from 1993 through 1999, and Drescher even won the TV Land Awards prize in the category Favorite Nanny in 2008.
Fran Drescher, Shaughnessy and Taylor made their own reunion on TV Land’s Happily Divorced, where Drescher played the main character, Shaughnessy guest-starred, and Taylor had a recurring role.
In his recent interview with TV Guide, Shaughnessy said that Fran Drescher is “one of the most loyal people in the business.” And it turns out that it was Drescher who invited him to guest star on the show.
“When I called to congratulate her on the pick-up, she said I would have to come on and do a show… It’s nice to reconnect on Happily Divorced — just this once though.”
Shaughnessy went on to say that Happily Divorced reminded him of The Nanny because it’s “charming and funny,” and that there were some inside jokes and references to The Nanny during his guest role.
“The first time our characters meet I ask her who I should make out my autograph to and she says, ‘Fran,’ and I say, ‘Fine,’ so it comes out as Fran Fine.”
Fran Drescher’s voice is what has always made her stand out from the crowd. In her recent interview with Star 2, the 58-year-old actress even says that people often tell her that they cannot believe it’s actually her real voice. But The Nanny star always responds, “Who could make this up?”
In the sitcom that brought Fran Drescher international recognition, the actress plays a Jewish-American woman who happens to work as a nanny to a British Broadway producer’s three kids.
“It has universal appeal. People understand it everywhere in the world – blue-collar meets blueblood, or working class meets aristocracy.”
But according to Fran Drescher, it becomes even more fun when you add some “sexual tension” between those classes. And then the audience starts rooting for the character, eager to know whether she is going to meet the man of her dreams or not.
The Nanny, starring Fran Drescher, Shaughnessy, Daniel Davis, Lauren Lane, Nicholle Tom, Madeline Zima and Benjamin Salisbury in the main roles, was a big hit back in the ’90s, with the show receiving multiple awards.
In 1995, the CBS show won an Emmy for achievement in costuming. In fact, the show got so popular that other countries, including Russia and Indonesia, started adopting their own local versions of The Nanny.
The Nanny had a great number of guest stars appearing over the course of its run, including 2016 GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump. Fran Drescher even has a story about the real estate mogul.
“I had a moment where I was standing between Mr. Sheffield and Donald Trump and I said, ‘All you millionaires are alike’. He gave us a note at the end of the day that said, ‘Can you please change that line, I’m not a millionaire, I’m a billionaire’.”
Fran Drescher also revealed that due to the fact that she is financially comfortable, she allows herself to do the things that are important to her. And although her character in the CBS show only held down one role, the actress herself has had quite a busy life. Fran Drescher has kept herself busy not only acting, but with also writing, directing and producing TV shows. The Nanny actress made her Broadway debut in 2014 and even published a few best-selling books. She even launched her own non-profit organization on cancer awareness called Cancer Schmancer.
[Photo by Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images for AHA]
