Longtime Malibu resident and comic actress Fran Drescher hosted the LA launch of her book “N is for The Nanny” at Malibu’s Little Beach House last Thursday.
Although her publisher had described the event beforehand as an “intimate reception,” it turned out to be a crowded, star-studded event.
Fran wrote the foreword for “N is for Nanny,” but the picture book itself was actually the creation of Australian author Rebecca Kelly. The two joined forces to use all of the proceeds from the book sales to benefit Fran’s nonprofit organization “Cancer Schmancer Movement.”
The book was written with hardcore fans of “The Nanny” in mind. The show was a hit 1990s TV sitcom in which Fran starred as Fran Fine, a Jewish fashionista from Flushing, Queens, New York. Like a child’s A-to-Z alphabet book, the book goes A to Z with each letter of the alphabet representing a character, inside joke or storyline of the show. “B is for Butler” is for Niles the butler — a character in the show; or “X” is for X – boyfriend.
“I thought it was utterly charming and really captured the tone of the show,” Drescher said of the book in a USA Today interview.
Even though “The Nanny” ran from 1993 to 1999, and had been off the air for over 20 years, it’s been experiencing a resurgence in popularity ever since HBO Max began offering the complete series for streaming in April 2021.
Fran told USA Today that fans who watched the show as adolescents may not have gotten all the jokes; but today, as adults, “They get to really appreciate all the double entendres, the gay humor and, of course, the costumes. Now [Gen Z] has picked it up and it’s all over social media.”
The Cancer Schmancer Movement nonprofit was started by Fran after she survived a battle with uterine cancer.
“I got famous, then I got cancer, and now I live to talk about it,” she writes on her website. She’d been misdiagnosed and mistreated for the disease for two years, and saw eight different doctors; until one finally got it right.
Following her ordeal, the cancer inspired her to write what became the NY Times bestselling book “Cancer Schmancer” in 2002. She then started her nonprofit, whose mission is to “save lives by educating, motivating, and activating people to prevent disease through a healthy, nontoxic lifestyle.” The organization also emphasizes the early detection of cancer through regular screenings, and advocates for legislation to keep the planet green and rid food and consumer products of harmful chemicals.
Drescher received two Emmy and two Golden Globe nominations for her portrayal of Miss Fine on “The Nanny.” She created and executive produced that show as well as the later sitcom “Happily Divorced,” and went on to star in the 2020 NBC sitcom “Indebted.” She appeared in various films over the years, including “This is Spinal Tap,” “Beautician and the Beast,” and the SONY animated film “Hotel Transylvania (2012).”
In addition to Cancer Schmancer, Fran also wrote the New York Times Best Selling book “Enter Whining” and children’s book “Being Wendy.”
“N is for Nanny” is available for purchase on www.thenannybook.com and Amazon.
