Remember MySpace? 10 Questions With… Fran Drescher!

“She was working in a bridal shop in Flushing Queens, ’til her boyfriend kicked her out in one of those crushing scenes…,” sing it!

Guys, I actually got giddy when I received her answers for this Remember MySpace survey, and I don’t get starstruck. (Okay, fine, maybe I did once when I met Ryan Gosling, but I’m a mammal, so that’s completely within the realm of normal expectation.)

Fran Drescher is a friend-of-a-friend of two of my friends who don’t even know each other, which somehow makes my Kevin Bacon number to Fran involve complex algebraic equations, but I’m okay with just knowing that people that I know get to have coffee with her because that’s really what I’ve wanted to do since, like, 1992. It’s like third-party bucket list crossing off complexity sort of stuff and I’m not alone: there are websites and websites and websites of people out there devoted to everything The Nanny.

And The Nanny was great, but here’s the thing: “When she went over the bridge from Flushing to the Sheffield’s door, (she was there to sell make up but the father saw more).” He was so right in seeing more because I’m pretty certain that when Alicia Keys wrote ‘Superwoman’, her “…and all my sisters coming together say: yes I will, yes I can” lyric was written with Fran Drescher in mind.

She’s an accomplished film actress, who won Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe nominations for her portrayal as Miss Fine on the hit CBS series The Nanny (of which we sing), a show she created, wrote, directed and executive produced, and now in syndication on any channel at any given time of day.  Besides The Nanny, she’s starred in a number of hugely successful films, and she currently can be seen acting (and writing and producing) a show she co-created with her ex-husband Peter Marc Jacobson, TV Land’s Happily Divorced.

She’s an accomplished author whose books, Enter Whining and Cancer Schmancer, were New York Times Best Sellers. Cancer Schmancer also won her the prestigious NCCS – National Coalition For Cancer Survivorship – Writer’s Award; Ms. Drescher is a uterine cancer survivor. She’s also written a children’s book.

She’s founder of Cancer Schmancer, both a foundation and a movement, whose mission focuses on early cancer detection and whose belief is that every woman, regardless of age, race or socioeconomic background deserves to have the opportunity of survival. Additionally, by enabling women to want to take control of their bodies and become greater partners with their physicians, the Cancer Schmancer movement aims to have women come together as a single voice to let legislators know that the collective female vote is louder and more powerful than that of the lobbyists.

She’s a leading health advocate and – yep, I’m saying it – a visionary, who was instrumental in getting the United States’ first Gynecologic Cancer Education and Awareness Act passed into law. Now she’s working with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention to use the appropriated funds to best reach all women.

She’s an Envoy.  In fact, a Special Envoy for Women’s Health Issues, appointed by the US State Department. Besides using her celebrity to speak to women globally, especially in emerging third world countries in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, she has now introduced an initiative in the state of California to mandate cancer screening tests as a part of every woman’s basic exam.

Though she’ll always be “the flashy girl from Flushing”, Fran Drescher is also my personal inspiration to “do something” in and for this world.

Please check out her official website, the Cancer Schmancer page, buy her books, follow her on Twitter and Facebook and check out:

10 [Remember MySpace?] Questions With the one-and-only… Fran Drescher

Three items that you will always find in my bag:

A condom, an iPhone and Benadryl

My favorite guilty-pleasure (TV, film, past-time, iPhone app/game, food or otherwise) is:

Younger men

If I could have lunch with anyone – non-fiction or fantasy – it would be:

If we’re going into fantasy, I’m going to say Christian Gray

One thing on my bucket list I haven’t done is:

The first thing is not for public knowledge. The 2nd is the Hermitage in Russia.

My favorite place to be is:

You know I have to say: the bed.

If I were a crayon, the name of my crayon would be:

Come to mamma

I am afraid of:

Greed without compassion

In my first school pageant, I was a:

First runner up of the Miss New York teenager pageant. It was a very exclusive competition. If you had 15 bucks, you were in.

I know, I know… that’s only 8, but I’m gonna give this one to her. Fran’s a busy woman

Featured Photo via Fran Drescher