Nanny, The

1 9 9 3 – 1 9 9 9  (USA)
145 x 25 minute episodes

Fran Fine (Fran Drescher) was a Nanny who worked for wealthy and successful British theatrical producer Maxwell Sheffield (Charles Shaughnessy) and took care of his three children, shy Maggie (Nicholle Tom), budding promoter Brighton (Benjamin Salsbury) and cute-as-a-button Gracie (Madeline Zima).

Fran secured the position purely by accident when she turned up at the door of the Sheffield townhouse in Manhattan selling cosmetics. She was mistaken for an applicant for the vacant nanny position and got the job, moving into the Sheffield residence.

Her exaggerated, high-pitched nasal, Long Island accent, her over-the-top fashion sense, and her sense of humour were central features of the long-running CBS show.

Working with Fran was Niles (Daniel Davis), the sarcastic butler-cum-chauffeur. Then there was Maxwell’s patronising socialite business partner CC (Chastity Claire) 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 Jewish 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
Maggie Sheffield
Nicholle Tom
Brighton Sheffield
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

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