Francine Joy Drescher is an American actress, comedian, writer, activist, and trade union leader, currently serving as the third national president of the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). She is known for starring in the lead role as Fran Fine in the television sitcom The Nanny (1993–1999), which she created and produced with her then-husband Peter Marc Jacobson.
Drescher made her screen debut with a small role in the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever and later appeared in American Hot Wax (1978) and Wes Craven's horror film Stranger in Our House (1978). In the 1980s, she gained recognition as a comedic actress in the films Gorp (1980), The Hollywood Knights (1980), Doctor Detroit (1983), This Is Spinal Tap (1984), and UHF (1989) while establishing a television career with guest appearances on several series. In 1993, she achieved wider fame as Fran Fine in her own sitcom vehicle The Nanny, for which she was nominated for two Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress in a Comedy Television Series during the show's run. In the 2000s, Drescher starred in the sitcoms Living with Fran and Happily Divorced. From 2012 to 2022, she starred in the animated Hotel Transylvania film series. In 2014, Drescher made her Broadway debut in Cinderella as stepmother Madame. In 2020, she starred in the NBC sitcom Indebted.
The national members of the trade union SAG-AFTRA, representing actors and other media professionals, elected Drescher as their president on September 2, 2021. Drescher has led the union during the actors' strike that began on July 14, 2023, concurrently with the writers' strike that began in May.
