Fran Drescher

Francine Joy Drescher (born September 30, 1957) is an American actress, writer, comedian, producer, and former trade union leader. She played Fran Fine in the television sitcom The Nanny (1993–1999), which she created and produced with her then-husband Peter Marc Jacobson. Drescher made her screen debut with a small role in the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever and later appeared in American Hot Wax (1978) and Wes Craven's horror film Stranger in Our House (1978). In the 1980s, she worked as a comedic actress in the films Gorp (1980), The Hollywood Knights (1980), Doctor Detroit (1983), This Is Spinal Tap (1984), and UHF (1989), and made guest appearances on several television series. In 1993, she achieved wider fame as Fran Fine in her own sitcom vehicle The Nanny, for which she was nominated for two Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress in a Comedy Television Series during the show's run. In the 2000s, Drescher starred in the sitcoms Living with Fran and Happily Divorced. From 2012 to 2022, she starred in the animated Hotel Transylvania film series. In 2014, Drescher made her Broadway debut in Cinderella as stepmother Madame. In 2020, she starred in the NBC sitcom Indebted. The national members of trade union SAG-AFTRA, representing actors and other media professionals, elected Drescher as president, and she took office on October 15, 2021. Drescher led the union during the five-month actors' strike that began on July 14, 2023, partially overlapping with the writers' strike that had begun in May of that year. In July 2024, Drescher led another strike against major video game publishers, which ended in 2025.