Francine Joy Drescher (born in Flushing, Queens, New York City on September 30, 1957) is an American film and television actress. She is famous for her nasally voice, "machine-gun" laugh, and Queens accent. Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life and career 1.2 The Nanny and film roles 1.3 Return to television 2 Filmography 2.1 Film 2.2 Television 3 External links Biography Early life and career Born to Russian-Jewish parents, Morty and Sylvia, Drescher was a studious girl and was quite popular in school. In fact, at age fifteen she'd met the man she thought she would spend much of her life with: Peter Marc Jacobson. Her first break was a bit part in the movie Saturday Night Fever (1977). A year later, she married Jacobson. In January 1985, robbers ransacked Drescher's Los Angeles apartment and raped her and a friend at gunpoint. It took her many years to overcome this ordeal, and it took her even longer to admit this to the press. She was paraphrased as saying in an interview with Larry King that although it was a very negative experience, she found ways to turn her experience into something positive; she saw her rapist sent to prison. The Nanny and film roles She continued to play small but memorable roles in movies, until she finally created her own vehicle, The Nanny. She was visiting her friend, model Twiggy, in England and came up with the plotline. The show aired on CBS from 1993 to 1999, becoming an instant success, and so did Fran. In this sitcom, she played a charming and bubbly woman, named Fran Fine, who casually became the nanny of three children; with her wit and her charm, she endeared herself to their widower father Maxwell Sheffield, a stuffy, composed, proper British gentleman and a Broadway producer (played by British actor Charles Shaughnessy). Two of the many sides of Fran Her voice is a combination of a high nasal pitch and a New York accent that people find either annoying, endearing, or humorous (or all three). In her autobiography, Drescher discusses the fact that this is her real voice, and the many voice lessons she has had to take to overcome it for movie auditions (only to have it, and her machine-gun titter, end up being her trademark). Her first book was even titled Enter Whining. In the late 1990s, she was a defendant in a lawsuit, and later dismissed from it. Acerbic comic Dennis Miller remarked that "no one wanted to have to listen to her testify!" During her TV experience, she also appeared in a number of films, including Jack (1996), directed by Francis Ford Coppola, The Beautician and the Beast (1997) (which she also executive produced) and Picking Up the Pieces (2000) co-starring Woody Allen. In 1999, Fran divorced her husband, Peter Jacobson. Drescher is also a huge fan of the legendary rock band Phish, and has been spotted at several of their concerts. Fran Drescher was admitted to Los Angeles's Cedars Sinai Hospital on June 21, 2000, after doctors diagnosed her with uterine cancer. But emergency surgery caught it early as it was only at Stage 1 and she didn't have to have radiation or chemotherapy. She has been given a clean bill of health and no post-operative treatment has been ordered. She wrote about her experiences in her second book, Cancer Schmancer. Return to television In 2005, she returned on TV with the sitcom Living with Fran, in which she played Fran Reeves, a middle-aged mother of two living with Riley Martin (Ryan McPartlin, Passions), a guy half her age and barely older than her son. Former Nanny costar Charles Shaughnessy appears as her philandering ex-husband, Ted. Living with Fran was cancelled May 17, 2006 after two seasons. Filmography Film Saturday Night Fever (1977) American Hot Wax (1978) Gorp (1980) The Hollywood Knights (1980) Ragtime (1981) Doctor Detroit (1983) The Rosebud Beach Hotel (1984) This Is Spinal Tap (1984) Young Lust (1984) It Had to Be You (1989) UHF (1989) The Big Picture (1989) Wedding Band (1990) Cadillac Man (1990) We're Talking Serious Money (1992) Car 54, Where Are You? (1994) Jack (1996) The Beautician and the Beast (1997) (also executive producer) Kid Quick (2000) (short subject) Picking Up the Pieces (2000) Santa's Slay (2005) Television Stranger in Our House (1978) Charmed Lives (1986) (canceled after 4 months) Rock 'n' Roll Mom (1988) What's Alan Watching? (1989) Love and Betrayal (1989) Princesses (1991) (canceled after 7 episodes) Without Warning: Terror in the Towers (1993) The Nanny (1993-1999) The Nanny Christmas Special: Oy to the World (1995) (voice) Living with Fran (2005-2006) (also executive producer) External links Fran Fans! Fran Drescher cast bio on The WB Fran Drescher at the Internet Movie Database Fran Drescher at TV.com "Enter Winning" article on Drescher Fran Drescher on line Search Term: "Fran_Drescher" Categories: 1957 births | American film actors | American television actors | Jewish American actors | Living people | Queensites | Russian-Americans | Worst Actress Razzie nominees