Fran Drescher reveals the real-life inspiration behind “The Nanny” involving the daughter of a famous friend
- - Fran Drescher reveals the real-life inspiration behind “The Nanny” involving the daughter of a famous friend
Raechal ShewfeltJanuary 9, 2026 at 3:24 AM
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Fran Drescher on 'The Nanny'
The Nanny might never have come about if it weren't for star Fran Drescher's friendship with Twiggy.
"I was visiting Twiggy in London — I'd done that short-lived series with her — and she and her husband were working," Drescher told PEOPLE, referring to 1991's Princesses. (In that one, Drescher and the model/actress costarred with Julie Hagerty in the comedy about three women living together in Manhattan.)
"So I ended up with their 12-year-old daughter, schlepping her all over London with me so I would have a companion to go touring with," Drescher continued. "And she all of a sudden says, 'Hey, Fran, my new shoes are hurting me.' And I'm thinking, 'Why is she telling me? Does she want me to take her home? Because I'm not ready yet.'"
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Her reaction was not unlike one that Fran on the show would have.
"I said, 'Oh, honey, just step on the backs of them.' And she said innocently, 'Won't that break them?' And I said, 'Break them in.' And I just couldn't get this unorthodox relationship between an adult and a child out of my head because I wasn't telling her what was good for her. I was telling her what was good for me. I didn't want to sacrifice my afternoon for her. I wanted her to break her shoes in so I could keep touring London!"
She called her then-husband Peter Marc Jacobson, who would eventually create and write the show with her. They had been searching for a project to present in a meeting they had scheduled with a TV executive.
"I said, 'I think I have the idea. What do you think about a spin on The Sound of Music, only instead of Julie Andrews, I come to the door," recalled Drescher, who's continued to act in projects such as the Golden Globe-nominated film Marty Supreme. "And he thought for only a moment, and he said, 'That's it. That's the show we're going to pitch to CBS. The minute you get home, we'll flesh it out. We'll develop it a little more.' And that's what we went in with, without what they call a log line, and they green-lighted it right there."
Donna Ward/Getty
Fran Drescher and Twiggy photographed in 2006
The Nanny ultimately became a funny show about Drescher's Fran Fine, who ends up going to work for a rich family. Ultimately, she also falls in love with the widowed father, Maxwell Sheffield, who's played by Charles Shaughnessy. Nicholle Tom, Madelina Zima, Benjamin Salisbury, Lauren Lane, and Daniel Davis costarred.
It originally ran for six seasons, from 1993 to 1999, but the reruns continue to air on cable, and they are available to stream through multiple services.
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
