A Distinctive Voice For Women

May 12, 2008

No introductions are necessary for actress and comedian Fran Drescher. All she has to do is say something with her signature nasal voice and Queens accent and you know who's talking.

Best known for her role as Fran Fine on the television show she created, "The Nanny," Drescher considers herself a survivor with a positive attitude. More than 20 years ago, she was raped during a burglary at her home. Eight years ago, she was diagnosed and successfully operated on for uterine cancer.

Drescher, a health advocate who is leading the fight for cancer-testing legislation in California and in 2005 received the Jewish Women's Organization's Marlene Marks Morningstar Woman of Inspiration Award, is coming to Connecticut Wednesday . She will be the guest speaker at Voices, the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford's annual Women's Philanthropy gala event at Emanuel Synagogue, 160 Mohegan Drive, West Hartford. Although best known for comic appeal, Drescher was serious and smart with some funniness thrown in as she Spilled the Beans with Java.

Q: Your most well-known character is ditzy Fran Fine in "The Nanny." Yet you are anything but as the driving force behind California's legislation that would require that insurance companies cover the cost of testing for ovarian and uterine cancer. Is there a political future on your horizon?

A: It's very possible I would consider a political career. Our whole mission [of] the California legislation is to diagnose stage-one cancer. I am going to be appointed a special envoy [on women's health issues, by the U.S. Department of State] and will be taking that message globally. I want to get my Cancer/Schmancer nonprofit movement on solid ground. I'm a bit of an overachiever who has always turned lemons into lemonade and when I take on something, I take it on full speed ahead.

Q: A new television sitcom starring you and Rosie O'Donnell is all the buzz. And the rumor is that you two will be the new Lucille Ball and Ethel Mertz. Who will be Lucy and who will be Ethel?

A: I think we will probably be more "The Odd Couple" and I will be Oscar and she will be Felix. The show is called "The New 30" and we are former high school friends who now end up living in the same building in Manhattan. It's kind of "Sex and the City" but we ain't getting any!

Q: How's your love life?

A: Pretty much on par with the new character. But this is my year for romantic love.

Q: Rosie has a bit of a reputation concerning getting along with others. Any concerns about working with her?

A: The deal is not sealed yet, but Rosie and I have been friends for probably two decades. We know each other and to anyone who says she is difficult to work with, I would just say she is ethical and honest ... sometimes to a fault.

Q: What do you plan to talk to a room full of Jewish woman about when you come to Connecticut?

A: We are going to have a lot of fun. First, I'm meeting the big donors and posing for pictures and then speaking to a room full of women about what it was like being a Jewish woman playing a Jewish woman on "The Nanny." It was quite a breakout at the time, the Yiddish, talking about temple. And I'll be talking about my cancer survival and taking control of your body, navigating your way through the medical community. I am another great life lesson. You try to make choices thinking you are guiding yourself to a future. But you don't know what is going to happen in the next 5 minutes, so you better be able to shift gears.

Q: Why do we still need to talk to woman about taking control of their health? Did you?

A: I learned a lot when I was diagnosed with uterine cancer. It took me 2 years and eight doctors to get a correct diagnosis. Too many women still subscribe to the Victorian sensibility that you can just grin and bear it. That your family members come first. If you put your family first, you are hurting them if you end up 6 feet under. The best gift you can give your family is you. So learn to take control of your bodies and your health.

Q: You are an actor, an author and now a Broadway star. So what is that all about?

A: It's exciting. I am playing Morgan La Fey in a production of "Camelot" to benefit the Lincoln Center. Any chance to support that institution is right up my alley.

Q: Any other benchmarks coming up?

A: I am being honored by the Friars Club [Thursday], and [today] I am the commencement speaker at New York University School of Nursing. My sister is a nurse at NYU.

Q: Your laugh is your trademark. Are you really that happy?

A: I see no other way to be. Life is an amazing, fleeting, wonderful learning experience and even the bad stuff has a silver lining. I'm not glad I had cancer but I am better for it. When you go through something bad, how you digest it and what becomes of you is what makes the difference in your life.

The cost to attend Voices is $70, plus a minimum tax-deductible gift of $365 to the 2008 Women's Philanthropy Campaign. For more information and reservations, visit www.jewishhartford.org or contact Debra Glassman at 860-727-6125.