Ask American Profile

Fran Drescher, Perry King, Statler Brothers

I love The Nanny with Fran Drescher. She’s great in her role. What can you tell me about her career?
—Pat D., Missouri

While the nasally Fran Fine is Drescher’s best-known role, she made memorable appearances in movies such as Saturday Night Fever and This Is Spinal Tap long before the TV series started. She also starred in a short-lived sitcom called Princesses, alongside model/actress Twiggy. Though that show was canceled, it indirectly led to The Nanny when Drescher flew to England to visit Twiggy, and was struck by the comic contrast between her New York style and the English manners of her hosts. Drescher wrote and produced the show that she starred in. “I pushed the envelope and made a very appealing character who happens to be Jewish and isn’t frightened to admit that, or even speak Yiddish and poke fun at her own ethnicity,” Drescher says. “This show was successful in the Midwest and the Sunbelt long before it was accepted in New York or Los Angeles. It was the Heartland that really loved that little girl in the short skirts and I appreciate and respect that audience.” In 2000, Drescher discovered that she had uterine cancer. It was caught early, she had surgery and is doing very well. She wrote a book about the experience, Cancer, Schmancer, which includes a great deal of her trademark humor. She returned to television recently as a guest star on Good Morning, Miami and currently appears in commericals for Old Navy.

I am a Perry King fan. The last movie I saw him in was The Cowboy and the Movie Star. Is he still acting?
—Vicki S., Nebraska

Yes, although King, 55, says he is currently focusing mostly on raising his 12-year-old daughter, Hannah. Children are one of King’s passions in life and he strongly believes that they need consistency in the family, so he’ll shift his focus back to acting when she’s a little older. You can see King in a summer 2004 release, The Day After Tomorrow, which also stars Dennis Quaid. He plays a supporting role as the president of the United States in the big-budget motion picture about an abrupt climate change with cataclysmic consequences for the planet. King, who you may remember from the TV shows Riptide and Melrose Place, recently completed an independent film, Stranger at the Door, with Linda Purl. The divorced father, who studied at Yale and Julliard, is the grandson of the famous literary editor Maxwell Perkins. In addition to his film and television career, he is an avid motorcyclist involved with the annual Love Ride and Cruise 4 for Kids in Los Angeles. He also is the national spokesperson for Olive Crest Homes for Abused Children in Orange County, Calif. A native of Alliance, Ohio (pop. 23,253), he divides his time between Los Angeles and his 500-acre ranch in northern California.

My absolute favorite singing group is the Statler Brothers. Now that they have retired, how are they keeping busy, and are they well and happy? Any chance they’ll perform again?
—Mary Ann A., New Mexico

Three of the four Statlers—Don Reid, Harold Reid and Phil Balsley—are enjoying the chance to spend more time with their families in Virginia. Jimmy Fortune went on to make a critically acclaimed solo album, appropriately titled When One Door Closes. “I don’t expect I’ll ever retire,” he says with a laugh. Still, going out on his own after so many years as part of a group felt a bit strange. “It’s more scary on stage by yourself,” he says. “My first show alone, I opened for the Oak Ridge Boys. My legs were shaking so bad, it was like butterfly wings fluttering!” Fortune, who is preparing for his second solo album, stays in touch with the other three Statlers, and says they all sound happy. They have no plans to perform together again in the near future, but you can get a CD, DVD or videotape of the Farewell Concert through their website, www.statlerbrothers.com, or by calling (540) 885-7297.

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