It’s been more than 27 years since The Nanny first aired on the 3rd of November 1993. From that day on, fans came to know and love the ‘flashy girl from Flushing’, Miss Fran Fine and the Sheffield Family. The Nanny, produced by Fran Drescher and her then-husband Peter Marc Jacobson, centered around a quirky woman who, after losing her boyfriend and her bridal shop job, lands a gig taking care of the three children of a rich English widower.
The comedy aired for six seasons on CBS from 1993 to 1999; after a rough first year, it quickly became one of the highest-rated sitcoms of the late ’90s. The Nanny earned 12 Emmy Award nominations, winning only one for Fran Fine’s “outstanding” costumes. Beyond the awards, the show has infiltrated pop culture thanks to its on-point humor, memorable characters, and of course, Fran’s ’90s high-fashion aesthetic. We tracked down the stars of the popular sitcom to find out what they are up to now;
Fran Drescher (Fran Fine): Before landing the role as the unforgettable Fran Fine, Drescher appeared in movies like Saturday Night Fever (1977) and Wes Craven’s Stranger In Our House (1978). The actress stepped into comedy during the ’80s when she appeared in films like UHF (1980) and The Hollywood Knights (1980), starring alongside Michelle Pfeiffer and Tony Danza.
During her run as The Nanny, Fine’s career reached new heights and landed her two Emmy Award nominations and two Golden Globes for Best Actress in a Comedy Series. In 1996, the actress made the film Jack alongside Robin Williams; in the 2000s, Drescher returned to sitcoms, playing two very similar roles in Living with Fran and Happily Divorced, both of which only lasted two seasons. Drescher created the latter with her ex-husband Jacobson. Most recently, the actress made her Broadway debut as the wicked stepmother in Cinderella opposite Carly Rae Jepsen; she also voices Eunice in the Hotel Transylvania film series and in 2017 made a memorable guest appearance as Ilana’s aunt on the fourth season of Broad City.
Charles Shaughnessy (Max Sheffield): The British actor was born into show business — his father was a TV writer (Upstairs, Downstairs) and his mother, Jean Lodge, was an actress. Charles Shaughnessy got his big break when he played Shane Donovan on Days of Our Lives from 1984 to 1992. After The Nanny, Shaughnessy appeared in shows like The Mentalist, Mad Men, Hannah Montana, with especially plum roles on series like Saints & Sinners and the animated series Stanley.
In 2005, he reunited with Drescher to play her character’s ex-husband on Living with Fran. Most recently, Shaughnessey landed major roles on Masters of Sex and The Magicians, and even brief returned to his soap roots and reprised his role as Shane on Days.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1csFlS5L_vs
Lauren Lane (C.C. Babcock): Lauren Lane began appearing in films around 1984, but her television career didn’t begin until 1991 when she landed the role of Sgt. Chris Novak on NBC’s crime drama, Hunter. After The Nanny ended in 1999, Lane would retire from television two years later. She has since dedicated her life to theatre and teaching; she is now a full-time lecturer at Texas State University.
Daniel Davis (Niles): Daniel Davis first appeared on television in 1980 and racked up credits on Texas, Dynasty, and Star Trek: The Next Generation; Niles the butler became his most famous role, however, thanks to his on-point faux English accent and hilarious one-liners. After The Nanny, the actor appeared on Frasier, Ugly Betty, and The Practice, as well as Christopher Nolan’s magician film The Prestige. In 2000, Davis turned to the stage and landed a Tony Award nomination for his role in David Hirson’s Wrong Mountain. Most recently, the actor has made guest appearances on shows like Gotham and The Blacklist.
Nicholle Tom (Maggie Sheffield): Prior to gracing the small screen as the preppy Maggie Sheffield, Tom had appeared in Beverly Hills 90210, and in 1992 landed the role of Ryce Newton in the Beethoven series. After her breakthrough as Maggie in The Nanny, Tom collected a handful of film roles but, perhaps most importantly, she became Supergirl, voicing the character in the DC animated TV universe in shows like Superman and Justice League Unlimited. Her last decade has included guest roles on any number of popular shows like Master of Sex, Gotham, Survivor’s Remorse, Castle, The Mentalist, Criminal Minds, Without a Trace, and Burn Notice.
Now 38, she still acts regularly, recently starring in the Lifetime movie I Didn’t Kill My Sister. She’ll next appear as a high school principal in a film called F*&% the Prom, which stars The Originals actor (and Louis Tomlinson girlfriend) Danielle Campbell and is being produced by The Fine Brothers, aka those guys who make modern teens try stuff we loved from the ’90s to make us feel old. She also keeps fairly active Twitter and Instagram accounts, where she recently posted photos from the Women’s March in Los Angeles with Lance Bass.
Benjamin Salisbury (Brighton Sheffield): Before playing the mischievous middle child on The Nanny, Salisbury’s career started in 1992 with the movie Captain Ron (opposite Kurt Russell and Mary Kay Place). After his role as a Sheffield kid, the actor has stayed out of the public eye, save for an appearance on the show Numb3rs in 2005. His last acting gig was the short film On the Brink in 2006.
Now Salisbury has disappeared from the public eye, a huge hockey fan, the last article we could find on Salisbury is from 2010, when he was quoted in a Los Angeles Times sports piece as supervisor of game presentation and events for the Los Angeles Kings.
Madeline Zima (Grace Sheffield): After playing the youngest and smartest Sheffield child for six seasons, Zima made appearances in shows like Gilmore Girls, 7th Heaven, and Grey’s Anatomy. Her most notable role after The Nanny was Mia Lewis, a precocious 16-year-old on Showtime’s drama series, Californication. This role put Madeline Zima back into the spotlight. Zima also starred on the short-lived fantasy series Heroes and Betas. Most recently, she returned to the network when she played the ill-fated Tracey on the 2017 revival of Twin Peaks.
Renee Taylor (Sylvia Fine): Taylor had a long and successful career prior to playing Fran Fine’s mother. Taylor and her husband, Joseph Bologna, were nominated for an Oscar for writing the 1970 film adaptation of their Broadway comedy, Lovers and Other Strangers. The actress’ early credits also included Last of the Red Hot Lovers, The Producers, Made for Each Other, Lovesick, and The End of Innocence. In 2001, Taylor returned to Broadway with Bologna in their two-man show, If you ever leave me…I’m going with you!.
Over the past two decades, Taylor has guest-starred on How I Met Your Mother, Everwood, Bob’s Burgers, Disney Channel’s Shake It Up, and of course, Fran Drescher’s Happily Divorced. She also appeared in Netflix’s The Do-Over (opposite Adam Sandler) and recently starred in the 2017 comedy, How to Be a Latin Lover.
Ann Morgan Guilbert (Grandma Yetta): Guilbert gave life to one of the most memorable characters from The Nanny. The actress started her career as a singer in the 1950’s, launching to fame after her portrayal of neighbor Millie Helper on The Dick Van Dyke Show. The actress appeared in shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm, Seinfeld, Love, Law & Order: SVU, and The Andy Griffith Show, as well as HBO’s Getting On. Her final role came with CBS’s Life in Pieces, where she played the mother of Dianne Wiest’s character; an episode was centered around the passing of Guilbert’s character when the actress herself passed away in 2016 at the age of 87.
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