Taylor dished to The Post<\/a> while celebrating the show\u2019s 30th anniversary. \u201cThey wanted someone who was Episcopalian; they wanted Sheila MacRae to be the Jewish mother. Those were in the days when they didn\u2019t want Jews to play Jews.\u201d<\/p>\nFran Drescher, Charles Shaughnessy reunite in \u201cLiving with Fran.\u201d \u00a9Warner Bros\/courtesy Everett Co<\/p>\n
But\u00a0Drescher\u00a0and Jacobson were fans of Taylor and her\u00a0husband, Joe Bologna. The pair often worked together over the years, and garnered a 1970 Best Screenplay Oscar nomination for \u201cLovers and Other Strangers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFran had seen my [1971] movie, \u2018Made for Each Other,\u2019 with me and Joe,\u201d she continued. \u201cShe and Peter were fans from when they were in high school and they used to call themselves \u2018Renee and Joe.\u2019 Fran said to me, \u2018Renee, someday you\u2019re going to play my mother.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Nanny\u201d characters Sylvia and Mort Fine were based on Drescher\u2019s real-life parents. Steve Lawrence portrayed Mort Fine while Drescher played Sylvia in flashbacks early on in the series.<\/p>\n
Charles Shaughnessy star as Fran Fine Sheffield and Maxwell Sheffield on \u201cThe Nanny.\u201d CBS via Getty Images<\/p>\n
CBS made it clear they were vying for MacRae to land the role of Sylvia, but Drescher took matters into her own hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said, \u2018Here\u2019s what we\u2019re going to do,\u2019\u201d Taylor recalled. \u201c\u2018We\u2019ll bring you on the show as a guest [star] and let\u2019s just say, \u2018Hey, she might be good as the mother!\u2019 And that\u2019s exactly what happened. It was like [the network suits] \u2018discovered\u2019 me, like, \u2018Oh, yeah, she might be good.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The Sheffield household also featured butler Niles (Daniel Davis), Maxwell\u2019s business associate CC Babcock (Lauren Lane) and Fran\u2019s Grandma Yetta (Ann Morgan Guilbert).<\/p>\n
The Nanny\u201d cast Charles Shaughnessy, Benjamin Salisbury, Ren\u00e9e Taylor, Fran Drescher, and Lauren Lane pose for portrait at the LA Premiere of Renee Taylor\u2019s \u201cMy Life On A Diet.\u201d Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was like a real family even though we were playing a family [on the show],\u201d Taylor confessed. \u201cWe were all madly in love with Mr. Sheffield and wanted to run away with him and be happily married.\u201d<\/p>\n
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