:Fran Drescher

Francine Joy Drescher was born on September 30, 1957, in Queens, a borough of New York City,{{cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/53121%7C0/fran-drescher#biography|title=Fran Drescher|publisher=Turner Classic Movies|access-date=May 5, 2019|archive-date=May 5, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190505191913/http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/53121%7C0/Fran-Drescher/biography.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Firestone|first=David|title=For Queens, a Place in the Sun; Hollywood Is Suddenly Zooming In, With a Vengeance|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/18/nyregion/for-queens-a-place-in-the-sun-hollywood-is-suddenly-zooming-in-with-a-vengeance.html|access-date=May 26, 2014|newspaper=The New York Times|date=September 18, 1994|quote=Ms. Drescher, who actually comes from Kew Gardens Hills, may be the most deliberately colorful of the lot, but she is hardly alone in celebrating the showbiz ascendancy of her native land.|archive-date=May 26, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150526104218/http://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/18/nyregion/for-queens-a-place-in-the-sun-hollywood-is-suddenly-zooming-in-with-a-vengeance.html|url-status=live}} the younger daughter of Sylvia Drescher (born 1934), a bridal consultant, and Morty Drescher (1929–2024), a naval systems analyst. Her family is Jewish, from Southeast and Central Europe. Her maternal great-grandmother Yetta was born in Focșani, Romania, and emigrated to the United States,{{cite news |url=http://www.evz.ro/detalii/stiri/dadaca-fran-eu-sunt-din-romania--822765.html |title=Dădaca Fran: "Eu sunt din România!" |newspaper=Evenimentul Zilei |date=October 1, 2008 |language=ro |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140305204623/http://www.evz.ro/detalii/stiri/dadaca-fran-eu-sunt-din-romania--822765.html |archive-date=March 5, 2014}} while her father's family came from Poland.{{cite web|url=http://journal.aarpinternational.org/a/b/2009/01/5961d017-c416-4a08-8796-3ba078c165c0|title=Raising Global Awareness of Women's Health Issues|author=Fran Drescher|access-date=July 30, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140722152131/http://journal.aarpinternational.org/a/b/2009/01/5961d017-c416-4a08-8796-3ba078c165c0|archive-date=July 22, 2014|url-status=dead}} She has an older sister, Nadine. Drescher was a first runner-up for "Miss New York Teenager" in 1973.{{cite book|last=Drescher|first=Fran|title=Enter Whining|date=1996|publisher=Regan Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-06-039155-3|page=9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JScKgD09giYC|edition=1|access-date=May 26, 2014|archive-date=July 13, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230713201241/https://books.google.com/books?id=JScKgD09giYC|url-status=live}}

She attended Flushing's Parsons Junior High School, which later dissolved,{{cite news| url=https://www.qchron.com/editions/north/two-schools-to-replace-parsons-junior-high/article_1aab392b-4ba6-5707-968a-379f964c321e.html|title=Two Schools To Replace Parsons Junior High|date=May 31, 2007|access-date=May 5, 2019| first=Liz |last=Rhoades|work=Queens Chronicle|location=Queens, New York City|archive-date=May 5, 2019|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190505193639/https://www.qchron.com/editions/north/two-schools-to-replace-parsons-junior-high/article_1aab392b-4ba6-5707-968a-379f964c321e.html| url-status=live}} and then Hillcrest High School in Jamaica, Queens. There she met her future husband, Peter Marc Jacobson, whom she married in 1978, at age 21. They divorced in 1999.{{cite news|last=Meisler|first=Andy|title=Television; Mary Poppins She's Not|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/12/18/arts/television-mary-poppins-she-s-not.html?pagewanted=all|access-date=May 26, 2014|newspaper=The New York Times|date=December 18, 1994|quote=After she graduated from Hillcrest High School in Queens, where she met Mr. Jacobson, the two of them moved to Los Angeles and were married.|archive-date=May 27, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140527224703/http://www.nytimes.com/1994/12/18/arts/television-mary-poppins-she-s-not.html?pagewanted=all|url-status=live}} Drescher graduated from Hillcrest High School in 1975;{{cite web|url=http://www.biography.com/people/fran-drescher-392440|title=Fran Drescher|website= Biography.com|publisher=A&E Networks|archive-date=November 28, 2011|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111128211942/http://www.biography.com/people/fran-drescher-392440|url-status=dead|quote = While attending Parsons Junior High, Drescher realized she was interested in acting. At Hillcrest High School (where she shared several classes with comedian and fellow student Ray Romano), Drescher joined the drama club. There she met and began dating classmate Peter Marc Jacobson... After graduating in 1975...}} one of her classmates was comedian Ray Romano.{{cite news |last1=Gliatto |first1=Tom |last2=Tomashoff |first2=Craig |title=Home Truths |url=http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20142516,00.html |access-date=May 26, 2014 |newspaper=People |date=October 14, 1996 |quote=While a student at Hillcrest High (where The Nanny's Fran Drescher was a classmate), he performed in a comedy troupe at church. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140528005204/http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20142516,00.html |archive-date=May 28, 2014}} Drescher's character Fran Fine from The Nanny and Romano's character Ray Barone from Everybody Loves Raymond met at a 20th high school reunion on an episode of The Nanny.{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0657352/ |title=The Nanny (1993–1999) : The Reunion Show |publisher=IMDb |access-date=November 7, 2016 |archive-date=October 15, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015174324/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0657352/ |url-status=live}} Drescher and Jacobson attended Queens College, City University of New York, but dropped out in their first year because "all the acting classes were filled." They then enrolled in cosmetology school.{{cite magazine|last1=Suzanne|first1=Gerber|title=The fear Fran Drescher had to face|magazine=Redbook|date=January 1996|volume=186|issue=3|page=60|issn=0034-2106}}

Drescher's first break was a small role as dancer Connie in the movie Saturday Night Fever (1977), in which she delivered the line "So, are you as good in bed as you are on the dance floor?" to John Travolta's character. A year later, she began to gain attention in films such as American Hot Wax (1978) and Summer of Fear (1978). She also took on a rare dramatic role in the 1981 Miloš Forman film Ragtime. During the 1980s, Drescher found success as a character actress with roles in films such as Gorp (1980), The Hollywood Knights (1980), Doctor Detroit (1983), The Big Picture (1989), UHF (1989), Cadillac Man (1990), and memorably in This Is Spinal Tap (1984) as publicist Bobbi Flekman. She also made an appearance in a second-season episode of Who's the Boss? in 1985 as an interior decorator. She also had an appearance on Night Court as a woman with dissociative identity disorder who flips from a prude to a sexually minded woman and ends up in a hotel with Assistant District Attorney Dan Fielding. In 1990, Drescher appeared on ALF as Roxanne, the wife of grown-up Brian, who had no clue she was a mob boss, in the episode "Future's So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades". In 1991, Drescher co-starred on the short-lived CBS sitcom Princesses. In the early-to-mid 1990s, she voiced "Peggy" from The P Pals on PBS (the woman with the flower on her hat).

File:Fran Drescher mirror.jpg

Drescher and Jacobson created their own television show, The Nanny, in 1993. The show aired on CBS from 1993 to 1999, and Drescher became an instant star. In this sitcom, she played a woman named Fran Fine who casually became the nanny of Margaret ("Maggie") (played by Nicholle Tom), Brighton ("B") (played by Benjamin Salisbury), and Grace ("Gracie") Sheffield (played by Madeline Zima); with her wit and her charm, she endeared herself to their widower father: stuffy, composed, proper British gentleman and Broadway producer Maxwell Sheffield (Charles Shaughnessy). She reprised her This is Spinal Tap character of Bobbi Flekman, a look-alike for her Fran Fine character, in season 5, episode 3, of The Nanny. Drescher appeared in Jack (1996), directed by Francis Ford Coppola, The Beautician and the Beast (1997) (for which she was also executive producer) and Picking Up the Pieces (2000) co-starring Woody Allen. She was also the voice of "Pearl" in Shark Bait (2006).

In the 2000s, Drescher made a return to television both with leading and guest roles. In 2003, Drescher appeared in episodes of the short-lived sitcom Good Morning, Miami as Roberta Diaz. In 2005, she returned with the sitcom Living with Fran, in which she played Fran Reeves, a middle-aged mother of two living with Riley Martin (Ryan McPartlin), a man half her age and not much older than her son. Former Nanny costar Charles Shaughnessy appeared as her philandering ex-husband, Ted. Living with Fran was cancelled on May 17, 2006, after two seasons.

In 2006, Drescher guest-starred in an episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent; the episode, "The War at Home", aired on US television on November 14, 2006.{{cite web |url=http://www.tv.com/law-and-order-criminal-intent/the-war-at-home/episode/913601/summary.html?tag=ep_list;title;7 |title=Law & Order: Criminal Intent – Season 6, Episode 8: The War at Home |website=TV.com |date=November 14, 2006 |access-date=November 7, 2016 |archive-date=May 17, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090517061928/http://www.tv.com/law-and-order-criminal-intent/the-war-at-home/episode/913601/summary.html?tag=ep_list;title;7 |url-status=dead }} She also appeared in an episode of Entourage and, in the same year, gave her voice to the role of a female golem in The Simpsons episode "Treehouse of Horror XVII". In 2007, Drescher appeared in the US version of the Australian improvisational comedy series Thank God You're Here. In 2008, Drescher announced that she was developing a new sitcom entitled The New Thirty, also starring Rosie O'Donnell. A series about two old high school friends coping with midlife crises, Drescher described the premature plot of the show as "kind of Sex and the City but we ain't getting any! It'll probably be more like The Odd Couple."{{cite web |first=Julie |last=Gordon |url=http://www.newsday.com/buzz-rosie-o-donnell-fran-drescher-combine-for-tv-s-whiniest-sitcom-1.880364 |title=BUZZ: Rosie O'Donnell, Fran Drescher combine for TV's whiniest sitcom? |work=Newsday |date=May 22, 2008 |access-date=March 31, 2011 |archive-date=October 13, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121013071040/http://www.newsday.com/buzz-rosie-o-donnell-fran-drescher-combine-for-tv-s-whiniest-sitcom-1.880364 |url-status=live }} It was never produced.

In 2010, Drescher returned to television with her own daytime talk show, The Fran Drescher Tawk Show. While the program debuted to strong ratings, it ended its three-week test run to moderate success, resulting in its shelving.{{cite news |first=Paige |last=Albiniak |url=http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/460398-Audiences_Still_Love_The_Nanny_.php |title=Audiences Still Love The Nanny |work=Broadcasting & Cable |date=November 29, 2011 |access-date=March 31, 2011 |archive-date=October 5, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005000351/http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/460398-Audiences_Still_Love_The_Nanny_.php |url-status=live }}{{cite web |first=Paige |last=Albiniak |url=http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/461400-Syndies_Flat_as_Holiday_Season_Revs_Up.php |title=Syndies Flat as Holiday Season Revs Up |work=Broadcasting & Cable |date=December 21, 2011 |access-date=March 31, 2011 |archive-date=April 3, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110403123207/http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/461400-Syndies_Flat_as_Holiday_Season_Revs_Up.php |url-status=live }} The following year, the sitcom Happily Divorced, created by Drescher and her ex-husband, Peter Marc Jacobson, was picked up by TV Land for a ten-episode order. It premiered there June 15, 2011.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/celebritology/post/fran-drescher-talks-being-happily-divorced-from-gay-ex-husband/2011/06/14/AGJ4lhUH_blog.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=June 14, 2011 |title=Fran Drescher talks being 'Happily Divorced' from gay ex-husband |author=Sarah Anne Hughes |access-date=August 28, 2017 |archive-date=October 4, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171004192039/https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/celebritology/post/fran-drescher-talks-being-happily-divorced-from-gay-ex-husband/2011/06/14/AGJ4lhUH_blog.html |url-status=live }} The show was renewed in July 2011 for a second season of 12 episodes, which aired in spring 2012. On May 1, 2012, TV Land extended the second season and picked up 12 additional episodes, taking the second season total to 24. The back-order of season two debuted later in 2012. Happily Divorced was cancelled in August 2013.

To promote Happily Divorced, Drescher performed the weddings of three gay couples in New York City using the minister's license she received from the Universal Life Church.{{cite web |url=http://www.themonastery.org/blog/2012/03/ulc-minister-fran-drescher-to-officiate-gay-wedding/ |title=ULC Minister Fran Drescher to Officiate Gay Wedding – Universal Life Church Monastery Blog |website=Themonastery.org |date=March 5, 2012 |access-date=November 7, 2016 |archive-date=July 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160703074155/http://www.themonastery.org/blog/2012/03/ulc-minister-fran-drescher-to-officiate-gay-wedding/ |url-status=live }} Drescher hand-picked the three couples, all of whom were entrants into "Fran Drescher's 'Love Is Love' Gay Marriage Contest" on Facebook, based on the stories the couples submitted about how they met, why their relationship illustrated that "love is love" and why they wanted to be married by her.{{cite web |url=http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fran-drescher-to-marry-three-gay-couples-in-new-york-city-on-tuesday-march-6-139320183.html;title;7 |title=Fran Drescher to Marry Three Gay Couples in New York City on... – NEW YORK, Feb. 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ – |access-date=July 31, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415223357/http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fran-drescher-to-marry-three-gay-couples-in-new-york-city-on-tuesday-march-6-139320183.html |archive-date=April 15, 2012 }}

Drescher made her Broadway debut on February 4, 2014, in the revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella. She replaced Harriet Harris as stepmother Madame for a 10-week engagement. She reprised the role during the North American tour's engagement in Los Angeles, lasting from March through April 2015.{{cite web |url=http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Fran-Drescher-to-Reprise-Role-in-CINDERELLA-at-the-Ahmanson-This-Month-20150309 |title=Fran Drescher to Reprise Role in CINDERELLA at the Ahmanson This Month |website=Broadway World |date=March 9, 2015 |access-date=September 2, 2021 |archive-date=April 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220423050535/https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Fran-Drescher-to-Reprise-Role-in-CINDERELLA-at-the-Ahmanson-This-Month-20150309 |url-status=live }} Drescher's previous stage performances include an off-Broadway production of Nora Ephron's Love, Loss, and What I Wore, and Camelot at the Lincoln Center with the New York Philharmonic.{{cite web |url=http://www.nj.com/jjournal-news/index.ssf/2014/02/fran_drescher_makes_broadway_d.html |title=Fran Drescher makes Broadway debut in 'Cinderella' |website=The Star-Ledger |date=February 14, 2014 |access-date=November 7, 2016 |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304070618/http://www.nj.com/jjournal-news/index.ssf/2014/02/fran_drescher_makes_broadway_d.html |url-status=live }} On January 8, 2020, it was announced that Drescher and Jacobson were writing the book for a musical adaptation of The Nanny. Rachel Bloom and Adam Schlesinger of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend were brought on to compose the songs prior to Schlesinger's death in April 2020, while Marc Bruni (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical) was slated to direct. Drescher will not portray the title role, as she joked that if she did "We'd have to change the title to The Granny."{{Cite web|url=http://www.playbill.com/article/fran-drescher-working-on-the-nanny-musical-rachel-bloom-and-adam-schlesinger-to-pen-score|title=Fran Drescher Working on The Nanny Musical; Rachel Bloom and Adam Schlesinger to Pen Score|first=Dan|last=Meyer|work=Playbill|date=January 8, 2020|access-date=January 8, 2020|archive-date=January 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200109003308/http://www.playbill.com/article/fran-drescher-working-on-the-nanny-musical-rachel-bloom-and-adam-schlesinger-to-pen-score|url-status=live}}

In 2021, Drescher began her campaign to become president of the

Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) union, citing both her entertainment and political background (see below). Her candidacy came from the "Unite for Strength" faction, and she ran against actor Matthew Modine.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2021/08/tom-hanks-endorses-fran-drescher-for-president-of-sag-aftra-1234810275/|title=Tom Hanks Endorses Fran Drescher For President Of SAG-AFTRA|website=Deadline Hollywood|date=August 5, 2021|last=Robb|first=David|access-date=August 8, 2021|archive-date=August 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210808010324/https://deadline.com/2021/08/tom-hanks-endorses-fran-drescher-for-president-of-sag-aftra-1234810275/|url-status=live}} On September 2, 2021, SAG-AFTRA announced that Drescher had won the election. On July 13, 2023, after SAG-AFTRA members overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike action a week prior,{{Cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2023-06-05/sag-aftra-strike-hollywood-labor-amptp-strike-authorization |title=SAG-AFTRA members approve strike authorization by overwhelming margin |date=June 5, 2023 |last=Sakoui |first=Anousha |work=Los Angeles Times |access-date=July 13, 2023 |archive-date=July 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230705030759/https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2023-06-05/sag-aftra-strike-hollywood-labor-amptp-strike-authorization |url-status=live }} Drescher announced the SAG-AFTRA strike was to begin at midnight the following day, running alongside the concurrent Writers Guild of America strike (WGA strike) that began just over two months prior.PBS News Hour, July 13, 2023 'Screen Actors Guild president Fran Drescher announces unanimous vote to go on strike' https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/screen-actors-guild-to-vote-on-strike-after-contract-deadline-passes-without-a-deal {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230716072219/https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/screen-actors-guild-to-vote-on-strike-after-contract-deadline-passes-without-a-deal |date=July 16, 2023 }} The strike ended with a tentative deal between the union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers which was approved by the SAG-AFTRA board. On July 25, 2024, ten months after SAG-AFTRA members voted overwhemingly to authorize another strike against the video game industry, Drescher stated that SAG-AFTRA would begin a strike against major video game publishers, with the strike then going into effect the following day at 12:01 am.{{cite news|url=https://www.sagaftra.org/sag-aftra-members-who-work-video-games-go-strike|title=A.I. Protections Remain the Sticking Point|publisher=SAG-AFTRA|date=July 25, 2024|accessdate=July 26, 2024}}{{cite news|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/sag-aftra-calls-strike-against-major-video-game-studios-1235957116/|title=SAG-AFTRA Calls Strike Against Major Video Game Studios|first=Erik|last=Hayden|publisher=The Hollywood Reporter|date=July 25, 2024|accessdate=July 26, 2024}}{{cite news|url=https://variety.com/2024/gaming/news/sag-aftra-video-game-strike-actors-union-1236085195/|title=SAG-AFTRA Calls Strike Against Major Video Game Publishers|first=Jennifer|last=Maas|publisher=Variety|date=July 25, 2024|accessdate=July 26, 2024}}{{cite news|url=https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/atlanta/video-game-voice-actor-members-sag-aftra-go-strike-over-lack-ai-protections-union/KJROSWJI75BG5AKQEXPK3K25DE/|title=Video game voice actor members of SAG-AFTRA go on strike over lack of AI protections for union|publisher=WSB-TV|date=July 26, 2024|accessdate=July 26, 2024}}{{cite news|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/what-the-sag-aftra-video-game-actors-strike-means-for-gamers|title=What the SAG-AFTRA Video Game Actors Strike Means for Gamers|first=Rebekah|last=Valentine|publisher=IGN|date=July 26, 2024|accessdate=July 26, 2024}}

Fran Drescher met Peter Marc Jacobson when she was 15.{{cite AV media| date=March 6, 2012| title=Happily Divorced: Season 1| medium=DVD| url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdBF8uyi0Hw |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/PdBF8uyi0Hw| archive-date=December 12, 2021 |url-status=live| access-date=April 5, 2021| quote=YouTube title:Extended Interview with Fran Drescher and Peter Marc Jacobson}}{{cbignore}} The two were high school sweethearts and married at 21.{{cite web |url=https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/fran-drescher-says-gay-exhusband-and-a-friend-with-benefits-keep-her-happy-im-not-dating-214602149.html |title=Fran Drescher Says Gay Ex-Husband and 'Friend with Benefits' Keep Her Happy: 'I'm Not Dating' |last=Shewfelt |first=Raechal |date=January 23, 2020 |website=Yahoo!Life |access-date=September 2, 2021 |archive-date=April 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416182854/https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/fran-drescher-says-gay-exhusband-and-a-friend-with-benefits-keep-her-happy-im-not-dating-214602149.html |url-status=live }} In January 1985, two armed men broke into Drescher and Jacobson's Los Angeles apartment. While one ransacked their home, Drescher and a female friend were raped by the other robber at gunpoint. Jacobson was also physically attacked, tied up, and forced to witness the entire ordeal. It took Drescher many years to recover, and it took her even longer to tell her story to the press. She was paraphrased as saying in an interview with Larry King that although it was a traumatic experience, she found ways to turn it into something positive. In her book Cancer Schmancer, the actress writes: "My whole life has been about changing negatives into positives." According to Drescher, her rapist, who was on parole at the time of the crime, was returned to prison and given two life sentences.{{cite news|title= LARRY KING LIVE Interview with Fran Drescher|url= http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0205/06/lkl.00.html|date= May 6, 2002|publisher= CNN|access-date= July 23, 2009|archive-date= October 15, 2018|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181015115851/http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0205/06/lkl.00.html|url-status= live}}

After separating in 1996, Drescher and Jacobson divorced in 1999. They had no children. Drescher has worked to support LGBT rights issues after her former husband came out.{{cite web |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fran-dreschers-ex-husband-peter-marc-jacobson-is-gay-shows-support/ |title=Fran Drescher's Ex-Husband Peter Marc Jacobson Is Gay, Shows Support |last=Thomas |first=Devon |date=June 3, 2010 |website=CBSNews Entertainment |access-date=September 2, 2021 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100605070342/http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31749_162-20006739-10391698.html |archive-date=June 5, 2010}} Drescher has stated that the primary reason for the divorce was her need to change directions in life. Drescher and Jacobson remain friends and business partners. She has stated that "we choose to be in each other's lives in any capacity. Our love is unique, rare, and unconditional, unless he's being annoying."{{cite web |url=http://www.guyspy.com/modern-family-peter-marc-jacobson-success-sexuality-and-being-love-fran-drescher |title=Modern Family: Peter Marc Jacobson on Success, Sexuality, and Being in Love with Fran Drescher |last=Toussaint |first=David |date=June 1, 2011 |website=GuySpy |access-date=September 2, 2021 |archive-date=May 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507140646/https://www.guyspy.com/modern-family-peter-marc-jacobson-success-sexuality-and-being-love-fran-drescher/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/fran-drescher-dating-divorce/story?id=14021905&page=2 |title=Fran Drescher on Dating After Divorce |last=Fitzharris |first=Dustin |date=July 7, 2011 |website=ABC News |access-date=September 2, 2021 |archive-date=April 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422122000/https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/fran-drescher-dating-divorce/story?id=14021905&page=2 |url-status=live }} On September 7, 2014, Drescher and Shiva Ayyadurai participated in a ceremony at Drescher's beach house. Both tweeted that they had married and the event was widely reported as such.{{cite news|last1=Saad|first1=Nardine|title=Fran Drescher of 'The Nanny' marries Shiva Ayyadurai|url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/gossip/la-et-mg-fran-drescher-married-wedding-shiva-ayyadurai-20140908-story.html|work=Los Angeles Times|date=September 8, 2014|access-date=February 19, 2016|archive-date=March 7, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307190244/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/gossip/la-et-mg-fran-drescher-married-wedding-shiva-ayyadurai-20140908-story.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url = http://www.people.com/article/fran-drescher-marries-shiva-ayyadura|title = Fran Drescher Marries Shiva Ayyadurai|last = Gabrielle|first = Olya|date = September 9, 2014|work = People|access-date = February 19, 2016|archive-date = June 15, 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160615051911/http://www.people.com/article/fran-drescher-marries-shiva-ayyadura|url-status = live}}{{cite web|title = Fran Drescher Marries Boyfriend Shiva Ayyadurai, aka the Inventor of Email?!|url = http://www.eonline.com/news/576704/fran-drescher-marries-boyfriend-shiva-ayyadurai-aka-the-inventor-of-email|access-date = July 8, 2015|date = September 7, 2014|publisher = E!|last = Vulpo|first = Mike|archive-date = May 29, 2020|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200529192834/https://www.eonline.com/news/576704/fran-drescher-marries-boyfriend-shiva-ayyadurai-aka-the-inventor-of-email|url-status = live}} Ayyadurai later said it was not "a formal wedding or marriage," but a celebration of their "friendship in a spiritual ceremony with close friends and her family."{{cite web |title=Interview with Dr. V.A. Shiva Ayyadurai, The Inventor of Email and Systems Scientist |url=http://tamilnadu.com/entertainment/personalities/interview-with-dr-v-a-shiva-ayyadurai-the-inventor-of-email-and-systems-scientist.html |website=Tamil Nadu |date=November 25, 2014 |last=Kumar |first=Vipin}}{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{cite web|title = About Dr. V.A. Shiva Ayyadurai – V.A. Shiva Ayyadurai, Inventor of Email|url = http://vashiva.com/about-va-shiva-ayyadurai/|access-date = July 9, 2015|website = VA Shiva|publisher = V.A. Shiva Ayyadurai|archive-date = June 17, 2020|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200617165837/https://vashiva.com/about-va-shiva-ayyadurai/|url-status = live}} The couple separated two years later.{{Cite news|url=http://komonews.com/news/entertainment/actress-fran-drescher-splits-from-husband|title=Actress Fran Drescher splits from husband|date=September 4, 2016|work=Komonews.com|agency=World Entertainment News Network|access-date=October 5, 2016|archive-date=August 2, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200802133540/http://komonews.com/error|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=https://www.instagram.com/p/BJ6hrMPh81L/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/s/instagram/BJ6hrMPh81L |archive-date=December 26, 2021 |url-access=registration|title=Instagram photo by Fran Drescher • Sep 4, 2016 at 12:49 am UTC|last=Drescher|first=Fran|date=September 4, 2016|website=Instagram|access-date=October 1, 2016}}{{cbignore}} In March 2024, Drescher's father died at the age of 94.{{cite news|url=https://people.com/fran-drescher-mourns-death-of-father-morty-8623615|title=Fran Drescher Says Her 'Tears Come Often' as She Continues to Mourn Death of Her Father Morty|first=Julia|last=Moore|publisher=People|date=April 2, 2024|accessdate=May 23, 2024}}

File:Fran Drescher, dancer against cancer press conference 2010 (2).jpg

After two years of symptoms and misdiagnoses by eight doctors, Drescher was admitted to Los Angeles's Cedars Sinai Hospital on June 21, 2000, after doctors diagnosed her with uterine cancer. She had to undergo an immediate radical hysterectomy to treat the disease. Drescher was declared cancer-free and no post-operative treatment was ordered. Drescher wrote about her experiences in her second book, Cancer Schmancer. Her purpose for this book was to raise consciousness for people "to become more aware of the early warning signs of cancer, and to empower themselves". Drescher says, "I was going to learn what I needed to learn, ask questions, become partners with my doctor instead of having some kind of parent/child relationship."

On June 21, 2007, the seventh anniversary of her operation, Drescher launched the Cancer Schmancer Movement, a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring that all women's cancers be diagnosed while in Stage 1, the most curable stage. She celebrated her tenth year of wellness on June 21, 2010. Drescher says:

{{cquote|We need to take control of our bodies, become greater partners with our physicians and galvanize as one to let our legislators know that the collective female vote is louder and more powerful than that of the richest corporate lobbyists.{{cite web |url=http://www.cancerschmancer.org/ |title=Welcome |publisher=Cancer Schmancer |access-date=2016-11-07 |archive-date=February 15, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130215224856/http://www.cancerschmancer.org/ |url-status=live }}}}

She says her goal is to live in a time when women's mortality rates drop as their healthcare improves and early cancer detection increases. Her efforts as an outspoken healthcare advocate in Washington, D.C., helped get unanimous passage for {{USBill|109|hr|1245}} (also known as Johanna's Law) and she is acknowledged in the Congressional Record.

File:AmeriDrescher.jpg in 2008]]

In September 2008, Drescher, a Democrat, was appointed as a U.S. diplomat by George W. Bush administration's Assistant Secretary of State Goli Ameri. Her official title was Public Diplomacy Envoy for Women's Health Issues. In traveling throughout the world, she supported U.S. public diplomacy efforts, including working with health organizations and women's groups to raise awareness of women's health issues, cancer awareness and detection, and patient empowerment and advocacy. Her first trip was in late September and included stops in Serbia, Hungary, as well as her ancestral Romania and Poland.{{cite web|url=http://hungary.usembassy.gov/event_10092008.html|title=U.S. Public Diplomacy Envoy Fran Drescher Raises Awareness of Women's Cancer During Visit to Budapest|access-date=May 16, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111016072313/http://hungary.usembassy.gov/event_10092008.html|archive-date=October 16, 2011}}

In 2008, Drescher supported Senator Hillary Clinton for the Democratic Party presidential nomination. She attended a Super Democrat rally for Clinton. Drescher said that she had been considering a run for the United States Senate in 2008 to succeed Hillary Clinton, but ultimately decided against it.{{cite news|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/12/09/ap/national/main4658877.shtml |title='Nanny' state? Drescher eyes Clinton's Senate seat |access-date=January 7, 2009 |work=Yahoo News |date=December 9, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211000840/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/12/09/ap/national/main4658877.shtml |archive-date=December 11, 2008 }}{{cite news |url=http://blogs.reuters.com/fanfare/2008/12/09/fran-drescher-looks-to-graduate-from-nanny-to-us-senate/ |title=Fran Drescher looks to graduate from "Nanny" to U.S. Senate |author=Alex Dobuzinskis |access-date=January 7, 2009 |agency=Reuters Blogs |date=December 9, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120725225333/http://blogs.reuters.com/fanfare/2008/12/09/fran-drescher-looks-to-graduate-from-nanny-to-us-senate/ |archive-date=July 25, 2012 }} She endorsed Barack Obama for re-election in 2012.{{cite web |url=http://www.hulu.com/watch/395745 |title=Fran Drescher on Working with Obama |publisher=Hulu.com |access-date=October 30, 2012 |archive-date=October 25, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025205259/http://www.hulu.com/watch/395745 |url-status=live }} In 2017, she said in an interview she was explicitly anti-capitalist and was happy to see the Green Party gaining some traction.{{cite web |url=http://www.vulture.com/2017/06/fran-drescher-how-to-be-more-fabulously-radical-in-2017.html |title=How to Be More Fabulously Radical in 2017, According to Fran Drescher |date=June 8, 2017 |access-date=June 8, 2017 |archive-date=June 10, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170610073551/http://www.vulture.com/2017/06/fran-drescher-how-to-be-more-fabulously-radical-in-2017.html |url-status=live }} In 2018, Drescher attended a fundraiser gala for Friends of the Israeli Defense Forces (FIDF), which raised $60 million.{{Cite web |last=Sippell |first=Margeaux |date=2018-11-02 |title=Friends of the Israel Defense Forces Gala Raises Record $60 Million for Soldiers |url=https://variety.com/2018/scene/news/friends-of-the-israel-defense-forces-gala-pharrell-williams-1203018108/ |access-date=2024-11-04 |website=Variety |language=en-US}} Drescher received the COVID-19 vaccine but opposes vaccine mandates.{{Cite web |last=Maddaus |first=Gene |date=February 9, 2023 |title=SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher on Contract Talks, the Case Against Alec Baldwin and Her Views on COVID Vaccines |url=https://variety.com/2023/biz/news/fran-drescher-sag-aftra-contract-talks-alec-baldwin-vaccines-1235517073/ |access-date=June 16, 2023 |website=Variety |archive-date=May 14, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230514062122/https://variety.com/2023/biz/news/fran-drescher-sag-aftra-contract-talks-alec-baldwin-vaccines-1235517073/ |url-status=live }}

In April 2014, Drescher presented at Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Easter Bonnet Competition with Bryan Cranston, Idina Menzel and Denzel Washington, after raising donations at her Broadway show Cinderella.{{cite web |url=http://www.queerty.com/photos-james-franco-idina-menzel-and-fran-drescher-get-into-the-easter-bonnet-competition-20140428 |title=PHOTOS: James Franco, Idina Menzel, and Fran Drescher Get Into the Easter Bonnet Competition / Queerty |website=Queerty.com |date=April 28, 2014 |access-date=November 7, 2016 |archive-date=October 21, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021183416/http://www.queerty.com/photos-james-franco-idina-menzel-and-fran-drescher-get-into-the-easter-bonnet-competition-20140428 |url-status=live }} Drescher became an ordained minister with the Universal Life Church Monastery so that she could legally officiate LGBT wedding ceremonies.{{cite news |author=Linda Maxmarch |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/11/fashion/weddings/fran-drescher-strives-to-wed-gay-couples.html |title=Fran Drescher Strives to Wed Gay Couples |newspaper=The New York Times |date=March 9, 2012 |access-date=November 7, 2016 |archive-date=July 1, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160701032027/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/11/fashion/weddings/fran-drescher-strives-to-wed-gay-couples.html |url-status=live }}

Image:Life Ball 2009 (opening) Bill Clinton, Fran Drescher and Elke Winkens.jpg, Fran Drescher and Bill Clinton at the Life Ball, 2009]]

Drescher has been the recipient of the John Wayne Institute's Woman of Achievement Award, the Gilda Award, the City of Hope Woman of the Year Award, the Hebrew University Humanitarian Award, and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine's Spirit of Achievement Award. In 2006, she was honored with the City of Hope Spirit of Life Award, which was presented to her by Senator Hillary Clinton. On April 10, 2010, she was guest of honor at the "Dancer against Cancer" charity ball held at the Imperial Palace, Vienna, Austria, where she received the first "My Aid Award" for her achievements in support of cancer prevention and rehabilitation.{{cite web |url=http://madonna.oe24.at/Society/So-war-der-Dancer-Against-Cancer-Ball/1284900 |title=So war der 'Dancer Against Cancer'-Ball |date=April 12, 2010 |access-date=April 13, 2010 |archive-date=July 11, 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120711190037/http://madonna.oe24.at/Society/So-war-der-Dancer-Against-Cancer-Ball/1284900 |url-status=live }} In 2021, Drescher was awarded the LifeSaver Award by ELEM/Youth in Distress.{{cite web |url=https://elem.org/news/lifesaver-award/ |title=Lifesaver Award |website=ELEM |access-date=August 28, 2021 |archive-date=August 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210805001606/https://elem.org/news/lifesaver-award/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=https://www.instagram.com/p/CSoneDWMtjG/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/s/instagram/CSoneDWMtjG |archive-date=December 26, 2021 |url-access=registration|title=Congrats to our groundbreaking Founder & Visionary... |date=August 16, 2021 |website=Instagram |access-date=August 28, 2021}}{{cbignore}}

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• [http://www.cancerschmancer.org/ Cancer Schmancer Movement website]
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• [http://www.democracynow.org/2010/7/21/actress_and_cancer_survivor_fran_drescher Fran Drescher Speaks Out in Support of New Bill Seeking Stricter Cosmetics Rules] – video by Democracy Now!

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