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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, 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. 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 is her equally flamboyant mother Sylvia (Renee Taylor) and grandmother Yetta (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. 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
Maggie Sheffield
Nicholle Tom
Brighton Sheffield
Benjamin Salsbury
Grace Sheffield
Madeline Zima
Sylvia
Renee Taylor
Yetta
Ann Morgan Guilbert
