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John Larroquette
Larroquette attends the 13th Annual Broadway Barks Benefit on July 9, 2011
Born	John Edgar Bernard Larroquette, Jr. (1947-11-25) November 25, 1947 (age 64) New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1966–present

John Edgar Bernard Larroquette, Jr. (born November 25, 1947) is an American film, television and stage actor. His roles include Dan Fielding on the series Night Court, Mike McBride in the Hallmark Channel series McBride, John Hemingway on The John Larroquette Show, and Carl Sack in Boston Legal.

Personal life[link]

Larroquette was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the son of: Berthalla Oramous Larroquette (née Helmstetter), a department store clerk; and John Edgar Bernard, Sr.,^[1] who was in the U.S. Navy.^[2] He grew up in the Ninth ward of New Orleans not far from the French Quarter. He played clarinet and saxophone through childhood but quit when he discovered acting after seeing some actors rehearse the Tennessee Williams play Vieux Carré in 1973.^[3] He moved to Hollywood in 1973 after working in radio and the record business.

Larroquette met his wife Elizabeth Ann Cookson in 1974 while working in a play called Enter Laughing.^[4] They have three children; one of his sons, Jonathan Larroquette, co-hosts a popular comedy podcast called Uhh Yeah Dude.

In the seventies and eighties, Larroquette battled alcoholism. On The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on March 10, 2007 he joked, "I was known to have a cocktail or 60".^[5] He had also revealed that he'd suffered from blackouts when drinking, a condition he describes as "horrible".^{[citation needed]} To illustrate the severity of these blackouts, he told Leno about one experience he had while drinking in which he woke up from a nap, realizing he was on a plane and had no idea where it was headed, and was too embarrassed to ask. (He eventually found out the plane was headed from Los Angeles to his hometown of New Orleans.)^[6] He stopped drinking in February 1982.^[3]

Hobbies and interests[link]

Larroquette enjoys collecting rare books. Authors whose works he has focused on include Samuel Beckett, Charles Bukowski, Anthony Burgess, William Burroughs and Robinson Jeffers.^[7]

Career[link]

Early career[link]

Larroquette's first role was uncredited, as a U.S. soldier in Follow Me, Boys! (1966). He also provided the opening voiceover narration for The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974). His most memorable non-comedy role was in the 1970s NBC program Baa Baa Black Sheep where he portrayed a WWII U.S. Marine Corps fighter pilot named 2nd Lt. Bob Anderson. Larroquette first broke into TV on the soap opera Doctors' Hospital. In a 1975 appearance on Sanford and Son, Larroquette plays Lamont's counterpart in a fictitious sitcom based on Fred and Lamont called "Steinberg and Son". During the filming of Stripes (1981), his nose was nearly cut off in an accident. He was running down a hall into a door which was supposed to open, but it didn't, and his head went through the window in the door.^[7]

[edit] Night Court (1984-1992)

Larroquette attending the Emmy Awards in 1988

Larroquette is perhaps best known for his role as boorish, sex-obsessed attorney Dan Fielding on Night Court; the character was initially rather conservative but changed after the show's creator Reinhold Weege came to learn more about Larroquette's sense of humor.^[3][4] The role won him Emmy Awards in 1985, 1986, 1987, and 1988. In 1989, he asked not to be considered for an Emmy.^[8] His four consecutive wins were, at the time, a record. Night Court ran on NBC from 1984 until 1992. Only Larroquette, Harry Anderson (as Judge Harry Stone), and Richard Moll (as Bull Shannon) appeared in every episode of the series. There was talk of spinning Dan Fielding off into his own show, but Larroquette said no to the idea.^[3]

[edit] The John Larroquette Show, other roles

Larroquette later starred on The John Larroquette Show as the character John Hemingway. The show was lauded by critics and enjoyed a loyal cult following. In 1998, he guest-starred on three episodes of the legal drama The Practice. His portrayal of Joey Heric, a wealthy, wisecracking, narcissistic psychopath with a habit of stabbing his gay lovers to death, won him his fifth Emmy Award. He reprised the role for one episode in 2002, for which he was once again Emmy-nominated. He also appeared in an episode of The West Wing as Lionel Tribbey, White House Counsel.

His starring roles include the 1989 movie Second Sight, with Bronson Pinchot, and Madhouse, with Kirstie Alley. Other movies Larroquette had significant roles in include: Blind Date, Stripes, Meatballs Part II, Summer Rental, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, JFK, and Richie Rich.

[edit] McBride, Boston Legal, and other roles

In 2003, Larroquette reprised his narration for the remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. From 2004 to 2006, he played the title role in the McBride series of American TV movies. In 2007 he joined the cast of Boston Legal playing Carl Sack, a serious, ethical lawyer (the polar opposite of his more famous lawyer character, Dan Fielding). He also guest starred in the drama House where he played a previously catatonic father awakened to try to save his son, and on Chuck as veteran spy Roan Montgomery.^[9] He has also made two voice roles in Phineas and Ferb for Bob Weber, for a lifeguard as well as a man to marry his wife and the boy's aunt Tiana Weber in another episode. Most recently, Larroquette has been seen on CSI: NY as Chief Carver, making his first appearance on November 12, 2010.

Theatre[link]

Larroquette made his musical stage debut in the Los Angeles production of How the Grinch Stole Christmas! as Old Max in 2009. He made his Broadway debut in the 2011 revival of How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying as J. B. Biggley^[3] alongside Daniel Radcliffe. He won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical for his performance in the show.^[10]

He will next appear on Broadway in a revival of Gore Vidal's The Best Man; the all-star cast also includes James Earl Jones, Angela Lansbury, Candice Bergen, Michael McKean, Eric McCormack, and Jefferson Mays. The play will be directed by Michael Wilson and is scheduled to open in Spring 2012.

Filmography[link]

Larroquette has made many appearances on the The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and on both of David Letterman's shows. He has hosted Saturday Night Live twice. He also won another Emmy Award for his guest spot on The Practice. He has also done commercials for Holiday Inn, Delissio pizza and American Express.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: John Larroquette

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: John Larroquette

• John Larroquette at the Internet Movie Database
• John Larroquette at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)
• The Onion A.V. Club Random Roles interview

Craig Ferguson
Performing stand-up in New York City, 2007
Born	(1962-05-17) May 17, 1962 (age 50) Glasgow, Scotland
Medium	Stand-up, television, film, music, books
Nationality	Scotland; United States
Years active	1980–present
Genres	Observational comedy, satire/political satire/news satire
Subject(s)	Everyday life, popular culture, self-deprecation, politics
Spouse	Anne Hogarth (1983–86) (divorced) Sascha Corwin (1998–2004) (divorced) 1 child Megan Wallace-Cunningham (2008–present) 1 child
Notable works and roles	Host of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson Nigel Wick on The Drew Carey Show Glaswegian in One Foot in the Grave Gobber in How to Train Your Dragon
Website	The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

Craig Ferguson (born 17 May 1962^[1]) is a Scottish-American television host, stand-up comedian, writer, actor, director, author, and producer. He is the host of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, an Emmy Award-nominated, Peabody Award-winning late-night talk show that airs on CBS. In addition to hosting that program and performing stand-up comedy, Ferguson has written two books: Between the Bridge and the River, a novel, and American on Purpose, a memoir. He became a citizen of the United States in 2008.^[2]

Before his career as a late-night television host, Ferguson was best known in the United States for his role as the office boss, Nigel Wick, on The Drew Carey Show from 1996 to 2003. He also wrote and starred in three films, directing one of them.

Early life[link]

Ferguson was born in the Stobhill Hospital in the Springburn district of Glasgow, Scotland to Robert and Janet Ferguson, and raised in nearby Cumbernauld, growing up "chubby and bullied".^[3][4] When he was six months old, he and his family moved from their Springburn apartment to a council house in Cumbernauld. They lived there as Glasgow was re-housing many people following damage to the city from World War II.^[4] Ferguson attended Muirfield Primary School and Cumbernauld High School.^[5] At age sixteen, Ferguson dropped out of Cumbernauld High School and began an apprenticeship to be an electronics technician at a local factory of American company Burroughs Corporation.^[6]

His first visit to the United States was as a teenager to visit an uncle who lived on Long Island, near New York City.^[7] When he moved to New York City in 1983, he worked in construction in Harlem.^[8][9] Ferguson later became a bouncer at a nightclub, Save the Robots.^[10]

Career[link]

British career[link]

Ferguson's experience in entertainment began as a drummer in a rock band called Exposure. He then joined a punk band called The Bastards from Hell.^[11] The band, later renamed "Dreamboys", and fronted by vocalist Peter Capaldi, performed regularly in Glasgow from 1980 to 1982.^[12] Ferguson credits Capaldi for inspiring him to try comedy.^[3]

After a nerve-wrecking, knee-knocking first appearance, he decided to create a character that was a "parody of all the über-patriotic native folk singers who seemed to infect every public performance in Scotland."^[3] The character, "Bing Hitler" (actually coined by Capaldi as Ferguson started with the monogram of "Nico Fulton" but admittedly later stole the name for his "own nefarious ends"),^[12] premiered in Glasgow, and subsequently became a hit at the 1986 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. A recording of his stage act as Bing Hitler was made at Glasgow's Tron Theatre and released in the 1980s;^[13] a Bing Hitler monologue ("A Lecture for Burns Night") appears on the compilation cassette Honey at the Core.

Ferguson's first television appearance was as Confidence on BBC sitcom Red Dwarf during the episode "Confidence and Paranoia".

Ferguson made his starring television debut in The Craig Ferguson Show, a one-off comedy pilot for Granada Television, which co-starred Paul Whitehouse and Helen Atkinson-Wood.^[14] This was broadcast throughout the UK on 4 March 1990, but was not made into a full series.

He has also found success in musical theatre. Beginning in 1991, he appeared on stage as Brad Majors in the London production of The Rocky Horror Show, alongside Anthony Head, who was playing Dr. Frank-N-Furter at the time.^{[citation needed]} In 1994, Ferguson played Father MacLean in the highly controversial production of Bad Boy Johnny and the Prophets of Doom at the Union Chapel in London. The same year, he appeared again at the Edinburgh Fringe, as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple, opposite Gerard Kelly as Felix and Kate Anthony as Gwendolin Pidgeon, who is now much better known as Aunty Pam in Coronation Street; the play, which was relocated to 1990s Glasgow, later toured Scotland.^[15]

After enjoying success at the Edinburgh Festival, Ferguson appeared on Red Dwarf, STV's Hogmanay Show,^[16] his own show 2000 Not Out, and the 1993 One Foot in the Grave Christmas special One Foot in the Algarve.

In 1993, Ferguson presented his own series on Scottish archaeology for Scottish Television entitled Dirt Detective.^[17] He travelled throughout the country examining archaeological history, including Skara Brae and Paisley Abbey.

U.S. career[link]

After cancellation of his show The Ferguson Theory, Ferguson moved to Los Angeles in 1994. His first U.S. role was as baker Logan McDonough on the short-lived 1995 ABC comedy Maybe This Time, which starred Betty White and Marie Osmond.

His breakthrough in the U.S. came when he was cast on The Drew Carey Show as the title character's boss, Mr. Wick, a role that he played from 1996 to 2003. He played the role with an over-the-top posh English accent "to make up for generations of English actors doing crap Scottish accents." In his comedy special "A Wee Bit O' Revolution", he specifically called out James Doohan's portrayal of Montgomery Scott on Star Trek as the foundation of his "revenge". (At the end of one episode, though, Ferguson broke the fourth wall and began talking to the audience at home in his regular Scottish accent.) His character was memorable for his unique methods of laying employees off, almost always "firing Johnson", the most common last name of the to-be-fired workers.^[18] Even after leaving the show in 2003, he remained a recurring character on the series for the last two seasons, and was part of the 2-part series finale in 2004.

During production of The Drew Carey Show, Ferguson devoted his off-time as a cast member to writing, working in his trailer on set in-between shooting his scenes. He wrote and starred in three films: The Big Tease, Saving Grace, and I'll Be There, which he also directed and for which he won the Audience Award for Best Film at the Aspen, Dallas and Valencia film festivals. He was named Best New Director at the Napa Valley Film Festival. These were among other scripts that, "... in the great tradition of the movie business, about half a dozen that I got paid a fortune for but never got made."^[19] His other acting credits in films include Niagara Motel, Lenny the Wonder Dog, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Chain of Fools, Born Romantic, The Ugly Truth, How to Train Your Dragon, Kick-Ass and Winnie the Pooh.

Ferguson has been touring the United States and Canada with a stand-up comedy show, and performed at Carnegie Hall on 23 October 2010.

[edit] The Late Late Show

In December 2004, it was announced that Ferguson would be the successor to Craig Kilborn on CBS's The Late Late Show. His first show as the regular host aired on 3 January 2005. By May 2008, Ben Alba, an American television historian and an authority on U.S. talk shows, said Ferguson "has already made his mark, taking the TV monologue to new levels with an underlying story. But he is only just starting ... He is making up his own rules: It's the immigrant experience."^[18]

The Late Late Show averaged 2.0 million viewers in its 2007 season, compared with 2.5 million for Late Night with Conan O'Brien.^[20] In April 2008, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson beat Late Night with Conan O'Brien for weekly ratings (1.88 million to 1.77 million) for the first time since the two shows went head-to-head with their respective hosts.^[21]

By the end of 2009, Craig Ferguson topped Jimmy Fallon in the ratings with Ferguson getting a 1.8 rating/6 share and Fallon receiving a 1.6 rating/6 share.^[22]

Ferguson's success on the show has led at least one "television insider" to say he is the heir apparent to take over David Letterman's role as host of The Late Show.^[18]

Television and appearances[link]

Craig Ferguson has made guest appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Rachael Ray, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, The Howard Stern Show, The Daily Show, The View, Loveline, Real Time with Bill Maher, The Soup, The Talk and The Dennis Miller Show. He also co-hosted Live with Regis & Kelly with Kelly Ripa.

On 4 January 2009 Ferguson was a celebrity player on Million Dollar Password.

Ferguson in April 2008

In 2009, Ferguson made a cameo live-action appearance in the episode "We Love You, Conrad" on Family Guy. Ferguson hosted the 32nd annual People's Choice Awards on 10 January 2006.^[23] TV Guide magazine printed a "Cheers" (Cheers and Jeers section) for appearing on his own show that same evening.^{[citation needed]} From 2007 to 2010, Ferguson hosted the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular on 4 July, broadcast nationally by CBS. Ferguson was the featured entertainer at the 26 April 2008 White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington, DC.^[24]

Ferguson co-presented the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama with Brooke Shields in 2008. He has done voice work in cartoons, including being the voice of Barry's evil alter-ego in the "With Friends Like Steve's" episode of American Dad; in Freakazoid! as Roddy MacStew, Freakazoid's mentor; and on Buzz Lightyear of Star Command as the robot vampire NOS-4-A2. Most recently, he was the voice of Susan the boil on Futurama, which was a parody of Scottish singer Susan Boyle. He makes stand-up appearances in Las Vegas and New York City. He headlined in the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal and in October 2008 Ferguson taped his stand up show in Boston for a Comedy Central special entitled A Wee Bit o' Revolution, which aired on 22 March 2009.

British television comedy drama Doc Martin was based on a character from Ferguson's film Saving Grace – with Ferguson getting writing credits for 12 episodes.^[25] On 6 November 2009 Ferguson appeared as himself in a SpongeBob SquarePants special titled SpongeBob's Truth or Square.^[26] He hosted Discovery Channel's 23rd season of Shark Week in 2010. Ferguson briefly appeared in Toby Keith's "Red Solo Cup" music video released on 10 October 2011. ^[27]

Literature[link]

Ferguson's novel Between the Bridge and the River was published on 10 April 2006. Ferguson appeared at the Los Angeles Festival of Books, as well as other author literary events. "This book could scare them", Ferguson said. "The sex, the violence, the dream sequences and the iconoclasm. I think a lot of people are uncomfortable with that. I understand that. It was very uncomfortable to write some of it."^[28] Publishers Weekly called it "a tour de force of cynical humor and poignant reverie, a caustic yet ebullient picaresque that approaches the sacred by way of the profane."^{[citation needed]} His novel Between the Bridge and the River is dedicated to his son and to his grandfather, Adam. Ferguson revealed in an interview that he is writing a sequel to the book, to be titled "The Sphynx of the Mississippi".^[29] He also stated in a 2006 interview with David Letterman that he intends for the book to be the first in a trilogy.^[30]

Ferguson signed a deal with HarperCollins to publish his memoirs.^[31] The book, entitled American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot, focuses on "how and why [he] became an American" and covers his years as a punk rocker, dancer, bouncer and construction worker as well as the rise of his career in Hollywood as an actor and comic. It went on sale 22 September 2009 in the United States.^[32][33] On 1 December 2010 the audiobook version was nominated for a Best Spoken Word Album Grammy.^[34]

In July 2009, Jackie Collins was a guest on The Late Late Show to promote her new book Married Lovers. Collins said that a character in her book, Don Verona, was based on Ferguson because she was such a fan of him and his show.^[35]

Personal life[link]

As mentioned on The Late Late Show on 3 August 2009, Ferguson holds an FAA Private Pilot's License issued 31 July 2009.^[36] Ferguson announced on the 8 April 2011 broadcast that he is pursuing an instrument rating.

Ferguson is a fan of Scottish football team Partick Thistle F.C.^[12] as well as the British television show Doctor Who. He has three tattoos: his latest, the Join, or Die political cartoon on his right forearm;^[37][38] a Ferguson family crest with the Latin motto Dulcius ex asperis ("Sweeter out of [or from] difficulty") on his upper right arm in honour of his father;^[39] and the Ingram family crest on his upper left arm in honour of his mother. He has often stated that his Join, or Die tattoo is to signal his patriotism.^[37]

Family[link]

In an episode of The Late Late Show that aired 8 December 2008, a somber Ferguson talked about his mother, Janet (3 August 1933 – 1 December 2008). He ended the program by playing her favourite song, "Rivers of Babylon" by Boney M.^[40]

Ferguson has two sisters (one older and one younger) and one older brother.^[41] His elder sister's name is Janice and his brother's name is Scott. His younger sister, Lynn Ferguson Tweddle, is also a successful comedienne, presenter, and actress, perhaps most widely known as the voice of Mac in the 2000 stop-motion animation film Chicken Run. She is currently a writer on The Late Late Show.

Ferguson has married three times and divorced twice as a result of what he describes as "relationship issues". His first marriage was to Anne Hogarth from 1983 to 1986, during which time they lived in New York. From his second marriage (to Sascha Corwin, founder and proprietor of Los Angeles' SpySchool), he has one son, Milo Hamish Ferguson, born in 2001. He and Corwin share custody of Milo, and live near each other in Los Angeles. On 21 December 2008, Ferguson married art dealer Megan Wallace-Cunningham in a private ceremony on her family's farm in Chester, Vermont.^[42] Ferguson announced 14 July 2010 on Twitter that they were expecting a child. He wrote: "Holy crackers! Mrs F is pregnant. How did that happen? ... oh yeah I know how. Another Ferguson arrives in 2011. The world trembles."^[43] The child, a boy named Liam James, was born 31 January 2011.^[44]

Alcoholism[link]

A recovering alcoholic, Ferguson has been sober since 18 February 1992.^[45] Because of this, he declared he wouldn't mock Britney Spears' much-publicized alcohol problems in 2007.^[46] He said he had considered committing suicide on Christmas Day 1991, but when offered a drink by a friend for celebrating the holiday, he was distracted from jumping off Tower Bridge in London as he had planned.^[3]

Citizenship[link]

Holding dual citizenship, Ferguson is both a naturalized citizen of the United States and a British citizen.

During 2007, Ferguson, who at the time held only British citizenship, used The Late Late Show as a forum for seeking honorary citizenship from every state in the U.S. He has received honorary citizenship from Nebraska, Arkansas, Virginia, Montana, North Dakota, New Jersey, Tennessee, South Carolina, South Dakota, Nevada, Alaska, Texas, Wyoming, Pennsylvania and Indiana, and was "commissioned" as an admiral in the tongue-in-cheek Nebraska Navy.^[47] Governors Jon Corzine (New Jersey), John Hoeven (North Dakota), Mark Sanford (South Carolina), Mike Rounds (South Dakota), Rick Perry (Texas), Sarah Palin (Alaska) and Jim Gibbons (Nevada) sent letters to him that made him an honorary citizen of their respective states. He received similar honors from various towns and cities, including Ozark, Arkansas; Hazard, Kentucky; and Greensburg, Pennsylvania.

Ferguson became an American citizen on 1 February 2008^[2] and broadcast the taking of his citizenship test as well as his swearing in on The Late Late Show.

Filmography[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Between the Bridge and the River. Chronicle Books. 2006. ISBN 978-0-8118-5375-0. 
• American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot. HarperCollins. 2009. ISBN 978-0-06-171954-7. 

Comedy specials[link]

• A Wee Bit o' Revolution. Comedy Central. 2009.
• Does This Need to Be Said? EPIX, Comedy Central. 2011.

Discography[link]

• Live At The Tron (as Bing Hitler). Jammy Records. 1986. Catalogue number JRLP 861.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Craig Ferguson

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Craig Ferguson

• Craig Ferguson at the Internet Movie Database
• Craig Ferguson on Twitter
• Craig Ferguson Interview on The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos
• Craig Ferguson and Megan Wallace Cunningham
• The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

Fran Drescher
Drescher at the Vienna Life Ball in 2009
Born	Francine Joy Drescher (1957-09-30) September 30, 1957 (age 54) Flushing, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actress, comedian, producer, screenwriter, director, author, activist, political lobbyist, singer-songwriter
Years active	1977–present
Spouse	Peter Marc Jacobson (m. 1978–1999) «start: (1978)–end+1: (2000)»"Marriage: Peter Marc Jacobson to Fran Drescher" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Fran_Drescher)

Francine Joy "Fran" Drescher (born September 30, 1957) is an American film and television actress, comedian, producer, and activist. She is best known for her role as Fran Fine in the hit TV series, The Nanny.

Drescher made her screen debut with a small role in the 1977 blockbuster film Saturday Night Fever prior to appearing in films such as the biopic American Hot Wax (1978), and Wes Craven's horror film Summer of Fear (1978). In the 1980s, she gained recognition as a comedic actress in the films 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. She received further recognition for her performances in Jack (1996) and The Beautician and the Beast (1997) and reinforced her reputation as a leading sitcom star with Living With Fran (2005–2006) and Happily Divorced (2011–present).

A uterine cancer survivor, Drescher is an outspoken healthcare advocate and LGBT rights activist, and is noted for her work as a Public Diplomacy Envoy for Women's Health Issues for the U.S. State Department. Divorced from writer and producer Peter Marc Jacobson, she currently lives in Malibu, California.

Early life[link]

Drescher was born in Flushing, Queens, New York,^[1] the daughter of Sylvia, a bridal consultant, and Morty Drescher, a naval systems analyst.^[2] Her Ashkenazi Jewish family is of South-East Central European origin. She has an older sister, Nadine.

Drescher was a first runner-up for "Miss New York Teenager" in 1973, as revealed in her first autobiography "Enter Whining" released December 29, 1995, and on her interview on William Shatner's Raw Nerve, which first aired on January 27, 2009. She attended Hillcrest High School in Jamaica, Queens, where she met her future husband, Peter Marc Jacobson, whom she married in 1978, at age 21. They divorced in 1999.^[3] Jacobson was Drescher's constant supporter in her show-business career, and he wrote, directed and produced her signature television series, The Nanny. Drescher graduated from Hillcrest High School in 1975; one of her classmates was comedian Ray Romano.^[4] Drescher's character Fran Fine on The Nanny and Romano's character Ray Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond met at a 20th high school reunion.^[5]

Career[link]

Early careers[link]

Her first break was a small role as the dancer Connie in the blockbuster 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. A year later, she began to gain more attention in films such as American Hot Wax (1978), and Wes Craven's Summer of Fear (1978). She also took on a rare dramatic role in the Milos Forman 1981 film, Ragtime.

During the 1980s, Drescher found moderate success as a character actress with memorable roles in films such as The Hollywood Knights, Doctor Detroit, The Big Picture, UHF, Cadillac Man, and memorably in This is Spinal Tap as publicist Bobbi Fleckman. She also made an appearance in a second season episode of Who's the Boss in 1985 as an interior decorator.

[edit] The Nanny and later film roles

Drescher and Jacobson created their own television show, The Nanny in 1993. The show aired on CBS from 1993 and ended in 1999, and Drescher became an instant star. In this sitcom, she played a charming and bubbly woman named Fran Fine who casually became the nanny of Margaret ("Maggie"), Brighton ("B"), and Grace ("Gracie") Sheffield; with her wit and her charm, she endeared herself to their widower father: stuffy, composed, proper British gentleman, and Broadway producer Maxwell Sheffield (played by British actor Charles Shaughnessy).

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 also was the voice of "Pearl" in Shark Bait (2006).

Return to television[link]

In recent years, Drescher has 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 to TV 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 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.^[6] She also appeared in an episode of the series 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."^[7] The sitcom failed to materialize however.^[7] 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.^[8][9] 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.^[10] 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 will debut later in 2012.

Personal life[link]

After separating in 1996, Drescher and Jacobson divorced in 1999. They did not have any children. Drescher stated, "I would have been able to conceive but not hold on".^[11] Drescher and Jacobson remained friends, and she has worked to support LGBT rights issues after her ex-husband came out.^[12] Drescher has stated that the primary reason for the divorce was her need to change directions in life. After her divorce, Drescher dated a man 16 years her junior. She credits the relationship with helping her through cancer and used it as inspiration for her sitcom Living with Fran.^[13] Drescher and Jacobson remain friends and business partners. She has stated that "...we choose to be in each others’ lives in any capacity. Our love is unique, rare, and unconditional; unless he’s being annoying.”^[14]

1985 robbery and rape[link]

In January 1985, two armed robbers broke into Drescher and Jacobson's Los Angeles apartment. While one ransacked their home, the other raped Drescher and her friend 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 admit this 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." Her rapist, who was on parole at the time of the crime, was returned to prison and sentenced to two life sentences.^[11]

Cancer battle[link]

After two years of symptoms and misdiagnosis 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 given a clean bill of health and no post-operative treatment has been ordered.

She wrote about her experiences in her second book, Cancer Schmancer.^[11] Her purpose for this book was to raise consciousness for men and women "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."

Drescher at a press conference for the Austrian charity 'Dancer Against Cancer', 2010.

Cancer Schmancer Movement[link]

On June 21, 2007, the seventh anniversary of her operation, Drescher announced the national launch of 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.

Fran says:

Her goal is to live in a time when women's mortality rates drop as their health care improves and early cancer detection increases. More information can be found on her website at cancerschmancer.org.

Her efforts as an outspoken healthcare advocate in Washington DC helped get unanimous passage for H.R. 1245 (also known as Johanna's Law) and she is acknowledged in the Congressional Record.

Politics[link]

Life Ball 2009; Bill Clinton, Fran Drescher and Elke Winkens

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 is Public Diplomacy Envoy for Women's Health Issues. In traveling throughout the world, she will support 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 Romania, Hungary,^[16] Kosovo and Poland.^{[citation needed]}

U.S. Public Diplomacy Envoy Fran Drescher and Goli Ameri

In 2008, Drescher supported Senator Hillary Rodham 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 Rodham Clinton, but ultimately decided against it.^[17][18]

Music[link]

On September 28, 2009, she released a single entitled "Eye For An Eye".

Awards[link]

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.

Most recently 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.^[19]

In popular culture[link]

She is portrayed in the episode The Tan Aquatic with Steve Zissou from the US television cartoon series Family Guy as being the result of Peter Griffin having fed a mogwai after midnight; in a reference to the film Gremlins where mogwais turn into gremlins if fed at that time.

Filmography[link]

Film[link]