By Ahad Sanwari
Copyright hellomagazine
Fran Drescher is set to enter a new echelon of Hollywood glory, with her own deserved star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Coincidentally and touchingly, the ceremony is set to take place on Tuesday, September 30, which happens to be her 68th birthday. The star is another cap in the actress and comedienne’s career, marking nearly 50 years in the industry, spanning all the way back to her very first appearance on screen in 1977, and a legacy impacted significantly by her tenure as the president of SAG-AFTRA.
She got her first break with a small one-line part in the hit 1977 musical Saturday Night Fever, which was released when she was just 20 years old. She parlayed that into appearances in movies like American Hot Wax (1978), Gorp (1980), Ragtime (1981), and the cult classic This is Spinal Tap (1984), for which she reprised her role in its 2025 sequel.
After also finding a footing in TV, however, in 1993, Fran and then-husband Peter Marc Jacobsen created and produced the sitcom The Nanny, telling the story of Fran Fine (played by Fran), a former bridal shop consultant from Queens who finds a home with the Sheffields as their nanny, eventually winning over family patriarch Maxwell Sheffield (Charles Shaughnessy) with her warmth, humor and eclectic sense of style.
The show was an immediate success and made Fran a household name, running for six seasons, inspiring many international versions, and becoming a ratings juggernaut for a majority of its run. The show won a Primetime Emmy as well, with Fran herself earning two nominations, plus two Golden Globe nods, and earning significantly as one of the show’s executive producers.
Since then, her biggest success has come from sitcoms like Living with Fran and Happily Divorced, plus the popular Hotel Transylvania film series, spanning four movies from 2012 to 2022. Her most notable coming credit is the sports dramedy Marty Supreme, starring Timothée Chalamet and Gwyneth Paltrow. She is also a two-time New York Times bestselling author, with her books Enter Whining and Cancer Schmancer, turning the latter into a nationwide movement and support group inspired by her own cancer journey.
All of this, plus her popular tenure as the president of SAG-AFTRA from 2021-25, where she led the actors during their five-month strike in 2023 and helped negotiate better deals for them amid growing tensions over the use of AI, have helped contribute to her significant net worth of an estimated $25 million, per Celebrity Net Worth and other reports.
Ahead of her Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony, Ana Martinez, a producer with the Hollywood Walk of Fame, shared a statement celebrating her legacy, which reads: “Fran has not only brought laughter and joy to millions through her unforgettable work on screen, but she has also shown tremendous strength and dedication as a leader for her fellow performers. We are thrilled to honor her with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for both her artistic achievements and her tireless advocacy as SAG-AFTRA President.”
