‘The Nanny’ Cast Relationships: Who Fran and Mr. Sheffield Married
The Nanny is beloved for its fabulous ’90s fashion and Fran Drescher’s signature sassy humor, delivered in her inimitable voice. While her plucky character, Fran Fine, ultimately ended up with her wealthy boss, Maxwell Sheffield, in a delightful opposites-attract pairing, her love life offscreen has been decidedly different, and you might be surprised to learn which Nanny cast members have been married for decades and which ones are happily single.
Read on for a look at the real-life relationships of The Nanny cast, and some of the juicy drama behind the scenes of the sitcom.
Fran Drescher
Fran Drescher, who starred as the bold and stylish nanny Fran Fine, created and produced The Nanny with her then-husband Peter Marc Jacobson. Drescher and Jacobson were high school sweethearts and married in 1978. They divorced in 1999, and in 2010, he revealed he was gay. Drescher supported him as he came out of the closet, and the former spouses remain close friends.
Fran Drescher and Peter Marc Jacobson in 1990
Fran Drescher and Peter Marc Jacobson in 1990
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In 2014, Drescher had a non-official marriage ceremony with her boyfriend, Shiva Ayyadurai, an entrepreneur who claimed to have invented email and courted controversy by promoting scientific conspiracy theories. The couple split in 2016.
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Charles Shaughnessy
Charles Shaughnessy, the real-life British Baron who played Fran’s boss turned love interest, the posh Maxwell Sheffield, has been married to actress Susan Fallender since 1983. They have two daughters, Jenny and Maddy.
In an interview, Shaughnessy said that when his daughters were growing up, they didn’t like seeing their dad kissing Fran, saying, “I came home one day, and Maddy was very upset. She had seen the show that night and said, ‘Daddy, don’t kiss the girl.’ She wasn’t very keen on all the Fran and Maxwell chemistry.”
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Daniel Davis
While the sarcastic butler, Niles, played by Daniel Davis, eventually married his nemesis, Sheffield’s business associate C.C. Babcock, the actor never got married in real life. He also admitted to having negative feelings about his onscreen relationship, saying, “C.C. and I had been so oil and water—I didn’t buy that we would end up married. But I had to play it, because that’s what they wrote.”
Lauren Lane
Lauren Lane, best known as Fran’s antagonist, the obnoxious C.C. Babcock, was married to businessman David Wilkins from 1998 to 2009. They have a daughter, Kate. Lane was pregnant during the filming of The Nanny and revealed that it was very challenging getting back to work after giving birth, saying, “I had my daughter, and I was back on set in two weeks. It felt like an obligation. So, that was hard because I’m a new mom. I had postpartum depression. I was trying to be funny and feeling like a whale.”
Nicholle Tom
Nicholle Tom played Maggie, Maxwell Sheffield’s oldest child. She never married and keeps a low profile. In a recent interview, she looked back at when she was cast in the show, saying, “I was 15 at that time and it was such a growing experience, being that young . . . It was an interesting childhood.”
Benjamin Salisbury
Benjamin Salisbury, who played the mischievous middle Sheffield child, Brighton, was married to Kelly Murkey from 2006 to 2013. They have three children. Salisbury left the entertainment industry for good in 2006.
Madeline Zima
Grace, the youngest Sheffield child, and the one closest to Fran, was played by Madeline Zima. The actress has never married. She had mixed feelings about her experience on The Nanny, saying, “They treated me more like a prop than like a human being. At a certain point I can’t pretend like it was some great experience anymore.”
