LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 11: Fran Drescher attends NBC and Vanity Fair's celebration of the season at The Henry on November 11, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Tibrina Hobson/Getty Images)

Performers’ union Sag-Aftra reached a tentative deal after 118 days of strike action, it was announced yesterday.

Since mid-July the world has seen some of the industry’s biggest names on the picket lines, from Sarah Jessica Parker to Jack Black and Jennifer Coolidge, but none have been more present than Sag-Aftra President Fran Drescher.

Seen leading Hollywood’s first mass walkout since the 1980s, the former The Nanny actress, 66, brought fire, determination and intelligence to the lengthy battle, helping secure her fellow actors, writers and other industry professionals a “historic” deal, which Deadline reported includes big gains in wages and bonuses as well as sweeping AI protections.

And with confronting comments throughout the strike, such as: “Share the wealth, because you cannot exist without us,” it’s easy to see why so many have faith in the star.

Now, with her name making headlines once again, the Herald looks back at Drescher’s career, her multi-million dollar net worth and how it’s given her the freedom to pursue an unpaid Sag presidency, proving her ambitions are fuelled solely by her knowledge and passion to better the industry.

Here’s everything you need to know about Fran Drescher:

Acting

Drescher’s career has spanned decades, making her debut with a small role in the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever, she turned heads by asking co-star John Travolta’s character: “Are you as good in bed as you are on the dance floor?” and quickly went on to book high-profile roles.

Starring in American Hot Wax and Summer of Fear, the actress landed arguably her most iconic role, pre-The Nanny, in 1984 when she appeared as publicist Bobbi Flekman in the mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap. It was such a hit for the star, the character later featured in The Nanny.

But while her career was taking off before the 90s sitcom, The Nanny was the show that perhaps catapulted Drescher onto Hollywood’s A-list. After co-creating it with her husband at the time, Peter Marc Jacobson, the sitcom aired from 1993 to 1999 earning multiple awards along the way.

Landing 12 Emmy nominations, its success was reflected in Drescher’s salary, with the Daily Mail reporting the actress, who played the titular role of Fran Fine, was taking home US$1.5million (NZ$2.53m) an episode in the final season, making her one of the highest-paid actresses in television at the time.

In comparison, the cast of Friends — another hugely successful show of around the same time — was earning an estimated US$1 million per episode in the final season.

Determined not to let herself become stuck under the glass ceiling, Drescher made sure the 90s weren’t defined by her role as Fran, and also starred in multiple films including Francis Ford Coppola’s 1996 movie Jack, and later in the 2000s, she made her return to TV with the daytime talk show, The Fran Drescher Tawk Show.

Her most recent high-profile role was in Adam Sandler’s Hotel Transylvania film series, in which she voices Eunice.

Personal life

Born in Queens, New York in 1957, the star, who was the second child of Morty and Sylvia Drescher, had many dreams growing up.

Speaking to Vanity Fair in 2021, she reminisced on her childhood, confessing she would dream of being an actor, a politician, a writer and at times, even a hairdresser. The latter is one that could have well happened, as Daily Mail reported Drescher dropped out of Queens College, City University of New York, because all the acting classes were filled.

Instead, she opted to take a course in cosmetology — the study and application of beauty treatment — but it seems fate had different plans for the actress, as she still attended auditions and landed a role in Saturday Night Fever.

During her years in the spotlight, Drescher was unconditionally supported by the main man in her life, her high school sweetheart, Jacobson. The pair married in 1978, collaborating on many creative projects together and building their life. However, in 1999, news their marriage had ended made headlines with Jacobson coming out as gay.

Claiming she didn’t know her husband of 21 years was gay, Drescher held no hard feelings, and told the Daily Mail last year the two have decided to never marry again, and to grow old together. “We still love each other,” she told the news outlet, further showing her support by becoming active in multiple LGBTQ charities.

Her unconditional support comes as no surprise, the couple have been through a lot together. From their teen years, to their lengthy relationship and multiple creative endeavours, their marriage also included some devastating moments, including a home robbery.

In 1985, while the couple were at home with one of their friends, two robbers broke in and held the trio at gunpoint before sexually assaulting Drescher and her friend. Speaking to CNN in 2020, the actress recalled the events of the night heartbreakingly, revealing Jacobson was also attacked by the robbers and forced to witness the assault of his wife and friend.

“We had been victims of a violent crime one night, him, me and my girlfriend and it was a very ill-fated night,” she said later telling InStyle that in the years after the attack she “never wanted to come off as ‘weak,’ so I just kind of buried it and got on with life. For the next 15 years, I focused on working extra hard, making everybody else happy and being a caregiver.”

After throwing herself into her career and reaching sky-high success, Drescher faced yet another devastating ordeal, in 2000 she was diagnosed with uterine cancer.

“It was strange — and kind of poetic — that my reproductive organs, of all things, had cancer,’ she told InStyle. “But it was also an amazing affirmation that pain finds its way to exactly the right place in the body if you don’t deal with it. Since I hadn’t been paying attention to my own vulnerabilities, my pain from the rape lodged itself in my uterus. No one else around me had cancer. That was a rude awakening.”

In the years after her cancer diagnosis, Drescher launched her charity — the Cancer Schmancer Movement — which aims to raise awareness about the early signs of the disease.

As for her personal relationships, she informally re-married Indian-American engineer Shiva Ayyadurai in 2014, however, the couple separated two years later. Drescher is now largely focused on advocating for political and cultural change.

Journey to the Sag

Drescher’s interest in politics is nothing new, while they most notably became known in 2005 with her outspoken support for Johanna’s Law — also known as the Gynecologic Cancer Education and Awareness Act, a bill promoting women’s education of cancer — signs of her political beliefs have been sprinkled throughout her work for years.

In an iconic episode of The Nanny, Drescher’s character refused to cross a picket line at a dinner she was attending with her employer.

“My mother had three rules,” she said in the show. “Never make contact with a public toilet; never, ever, ever cross a picket line, what was the third one? Oh yeah —never wear musk oil to the zoo.”

In the lead up to her run for the role of Sag-Aftra president, the actress has had many political engagements, including being appointed a diplomat for Women’s Health Issues by the Bush administration and supporting multiple Democratic Party presidential nominations, including Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden.

Drescher has also been vocal about her anti-capitalist views. In 2020, amid the Covid pandemic, she supported a general strike against the wealthy ordering their employees to return to work tweeting, “I agree. Capitalism has become another word for Ruling Class Elite!”

In 2021, the actress took on her biggest role of all, Sag union president and chairwoman of the Sag-Aftra’s negotiating committee. After what the BBC described as a “vicious election” against actor Matthew Modine, it was perhaps Drescher’s unwavering support for the everyday worker that landed her the win with 52.5 per cent of the votes.

At first, some were sceptical of what the star could bring to the table, but it seems in the lead-up to the historical strike, and especially during the 118-day battle, she has won over many with her human touch, vulnerability and strong work ethic.

She has now assisted in securing a tentative deal, which Deadline reports includes “extraordinary scope” and is full of “unprecedented provisions.” While the deal is not anticipated to be made public until the board representing 160,000 guild members votes later this week, it reportedly includes increases in minimum rates, a streaming participation bonus, new health and pension caps, diversity guardrails, and hard-fought AI protection provisions.

Of the deal, Drescher’s exclusive statement to Deadline said: “We know that generations from now they’ll be talking about this seminal contract and reaping the benefits of it in the way that we have been for the last 65 years with a contract that was negotiated when Ronald Reagan was in my position.”

Drescher’s net worth

While holding an impressive title with the Sag, Drescher receives no income for her role. The Hollywood Reporter states, “As the union president and the chair of SAG-AFTRA’s negotiating committee, she is a volunteer and unpaid, at once a leader in the group and also just one voice out of many.”

However, there is a loophole. Deadline reported that Ken Howard, a past Sag president who died in 2016, was given US$42,097 “in reimbursed expenses”. It’s expected the same policy will stand for Drescher.

With this in mind, her net worth comes mostly from shows and films she has both starred in and helped co-create, as well as property, including her Malibu beachfront home which is estimated to be worth US$6 million, according to the Daily Mail.

According to Celebrity Net Worth — a celebrity wealth website — Drescher is estimated to be worth between $25 million ($42.3m) and $30 million ($50m).

Lillie Rohan is an Auckland-based reporter covering lifestyle and entertainment stories who joined the Herald in 2020. She specialises in all things relationships and dating, great Taylor Swift ticket wars and TV shows you simply cannot miss out on.

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