to mind: the nasally voice, a sense of humor, the accent from Queens and of course, the nanny. What most do not know is that Fran Drescher is a woman’s health advocate, heavily involved in politics and a cancer sur- vivor. What makes this woman in- triguing is her ambitious persona, de- termination to empower the world, and her witty talent. Fran Drescher better known as “Franny”,
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was born on September 30, 1957 in Flushing, Queens, New York to parents Morty and Sylvia Drescher. She attended Hillcrest High School in Jamaica Queens, with classmate Ray Romano and future husband Peter Marc Jacobson whom she married in 1978 at the age of 21. The Franny, whose first job was collecting tickets at a movie
theatre, had a hunch that she was made for show business. “Acting seemed like an amazing, fun opportunity. Someone told me that if you do what you love, you will never work a day in your life.” And so, she set out to pro- mote herself and entered the 1973 Miss Teen New York beauty pageant and was runner up in the competition. By 1977, she landed her first film role in Saturday Night Fever playing the role of Connie. She obtained several minor roles in films throughout the 80’s and found herself somewhat limited to roles due to her accent from Queens and strong nasal voice. In 1993, a pilot for The Nanny was ordered by Jeff Sagansky, the then president
of CBS after being impressed with Fran Drescher’s idea for the show. Peter Marc Jacobson and Fran Drescher worked diligently on the creation of the show and it proved to be a huge success during its run from from 1993 until 1999. Drescher played the Fran Fine, a bubbly, no-nonsense woman who casually becomes a nan- ny to a Broadway producer’s three children. The show earned a Rose d’Or and an Emmy Award and Drescher received two Golden Globe nominations for her role on The Nanny. After the airing of The Nanny, Drescher was offered several starring roles in
movies such as The Beautician and the Beast, and Jack. In 2000, Drescher’s health took center stage of her life when she was diagnosed with uterine cancer after hav- ing gone two years with symptoms and misdiagnosis. After having a hysterectomy to treat the disease, Drescher stayed positive and focused on maintaining a healthy lifestyle and sharing her experience to create awareness. Cancer Schmancer was written by Drescher to address her experience and her battle with the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Her book made such an impact that it turned into a movement and quickly formed into a non-profit organization as a means to raise awareness and increase early detection rates.
hen we hear the name Fran Drescher, a few things come
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