Ray Charles’ The Nanny Character Explained
Besides being one of the most important figures in music history, Ray Charles also played a small but pivotal role in the classic sitcom The Nanny.
Music icon Ray Charles was not only important for his contributions to the history of soul and R&B, but he also played a memorable role on the popular sitcom The Nanny. First airing in 1993, The Nanny starred Fran Drescher as a lovable former cosmetics saleswoman who became the nanny to a wealthy widower’s children. Over its six-season run, the show introduced a host of memorable characters and featured many guest stars ranging from modern-day celebrities to timeless figures like Ray Charles. Ultimately, The Nanny elevated itself above other sitcoms at the time for its progressive attitudes and inclusive casting choices.
As a towering figure in the world of music, Ray Charles had already entered the twilight years of his career by the 1990s, but his role on The Nanny was no less powerful. Charles was no stranger to making cameos in film and TV, and he had famously appeared as Ray in the 1980s musical comedy hit The Blues Brothers. Even though many stars appeared on The Nanny, few were as iconic as Ray Charles, and few made a statement with their role quite like he did.
Ray Charles Played Sammy In The Nanny
Making his debut on The Nanny in season 5, episode 8, “Fair Weather Fran,” Ray Charles played Sammy Jones, the new fiancé of Fran’s grandma Yetta (Ann Morgan Guilbert). The mild-mannered and musically gifted Sammy was not unlike Charles’s actual persona, and he had amazing comedic timing in many of his scenes with both Yetta and Fran’s mother, Sylvia (Renée Taylor). The crux of his debut episode was that Sylvia had a hard time accepting Sammy because of their racial differences, and it showed a different side of the family dynamic that had never been explored before.
Sammy returned in three other episodes over the course of seasons 5 and 6, and along with him came his nephew Irwin, who aspired to be a rapper. Real-life rapper Coolio played the role of Irwin, and it represented several generations of music hit makers on one show. Charles got a chance to flash a bit of his own musical brilliance when he played and sang the song “My Yiddishe Momme” along with his beloved Yetta in “Fair Weather Fran,” and again when he sang a Christmas tune in The Nanny season 6 , episode 10, “The Hanukkah Story.”
The Nanny Was A Progressive Sitcom
Not only was The Nanny a vehicle for its comedic star, Fran Drescher, but it was also used as a platform to broadcast a more progressive message than most network series at the time. In a video produced for the official Facebook page for The Nanny, Drescher spoke about the importance of inclusivity when it came to making the show, and Ray Charles was just one of many casting decisions that reflected her modern outlook. Contrasting her own show with the sensibility of the ’90s, Drescher mentioned that hiring LGBTQ+ individuals and people of color was an important part of making The Nanny.
In a time when acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community was rather slim, The Nanny featured queer characters who were never made the butt of the joke or demeaned. Similarly, actors of color were cast in major roles, and the show wasn’t afraid to shy away from touching nerves such as Sylvia’s own racial issues in “Fair Weather Fran.” Even as the show wore on, as Drescher mentioned in her social media video, the door was opened even wider for other communities in order to keep The Nanny a consistently progressive series.
