Fran Fine (Fran Drescher) was a Nanny who worked for wealthy New York widower and successful Broadway producer Maxwell Sheffield (Charles Shaughnessy) and took care of his three children, Maggie (Nicholle Tom), Brighton (Benjamin Salsbury) and Gracie (Madeline Zima).
Her exaggerated, high-pitched nasal, Long Island accent, her over-the-top fashion sense, and her sense of humour were central features of the show.
Working with Fran was Niles (Daniel Davis), the sarcastic butler-cum-chauffeur. Then there was Maxwell’s socialite business partner Chastity Claire (C.C.) Babcock (Lauren Lane), who viewed Fran as an underling and a threat to her hopes of making Maxwell her husband. Always on hand to give Fran both advice and grief was her equally flamboyant mother Sylvia (Renee Taylor) and grandmother Yetta Rosenberg (Ann Morgan Guilbert).
Near the end of the show’s run, Maxwell realised he loved Fran deeply and eventually married her. She, in turn, adopted Maxwell’s children and became pregnant, giving birth to twins Eve and James.
Maggie eventually met a male model named Michael (Andrew Levita) and married him. By the final season, Brighton was attending Yale University.
The series finale had the Sheffield family moving from New York to California, and – in a real shocker – Niles ended up marrying his nemesis CC.
Fran Drescher and her husband Peter Marc Jacobson created The Nanny with the help of veteran sitcom producers Robert Sternin and Prudence Frasier (Who’s The Boss?).
After the series ended its run, Drescher and Jacobson divorced (Drescher later admitted Jacobson was gay, but the two remained good friends) and she was diagnosed with uterine cancer, requiring a radical hysterectomy.
Francine Joy Fine Fran Drescher Maxwell Sheffield Charles Shaughnessy Niles
Daniel Davis “CC” (Chastity Claire) Babcock
Lauren Lane MaggieSheffield
Nicholle Tom BrightonSheffield
Benjamin Salsbury Grace Sheffield
Madeline Zima Sylvia Fine
Renee Taylor Morty Fine
Steve Lawrence (1)
Mort Drescher (2) Yetta Rosenberg
Ann Morgan Guilbert Joan Sheffield
Joan Collins James Sheffield
Robert Vaughn
