Fran Drescher: podcast appearances and interviews

Francine Joy Drescher, born on September 30, 1957, is an American actress, writer, comedian, producer, and former trade union leader. She made her screen debut with a small role in the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever and appeared in American Hot Wax and Wes Craven's Stranger in Our House in 1978. Throughout the 1980s, Drescher worked as a comedic actress in films such as Gorp, The Hollywood Knights, Doctor Detroit, This Is Spinal Tap, and UHF, and she made guest appearances on various television series. Her career gained widespread recognition in 1993 when she portrayed Fran Fine in her own sitcom The Nanny, which she created and produced with her then-husband Peter Marc Jacobson. The show earned her two Emmy Award nominations and two Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress in a Comedy Television Series. In subsequent years, Drescher starred in sitcoms including Living with Fran and Happily Divorced, and from 2012 to 2022 she was a voice in the Hotel Transylvania animated film series. She made her Broadway debut in 2014 as Madame in Cinderella and starred in the NBC sitcom Indebted in 2020. Drescher was elected president of SAG-AFTRA in 2021, representing actors and media professionals. She led the union during a significant actors' strike that began in 2023 and was involved in another strike against major video game publishers in 2024, which concluded in 2025.