Story by Veronica Rowe and Kel Laurence
Pictures by: Cesare Bonazza
From Australian Woman's Day, November 1, 1999
A sultry breeze ruffles the palm fronds, whipping at the beauty's barely buttoned shirt. The tropical Tahitian sunlight colours her cheeks, giving her a glow far healthier than the limelight she usually basks in.
This is the new Fran Drescher, relaxed, refreshed and resolutely alone -- for the first time in her life.
Since The Nanny found fame in 1993, busy Fran has tried to take a break at this time of year -- usually to cram in making the odd movie between series. But now, she candidly admits, the end of the hit comedy has left her without commitments -- and without a connection to her business partner and husband of 18 years, Peter Marc Jacobson.
"Now is really the time I would be going back to work, so this is a new experience for me," explains 42- year-old Fran, as she lazes on the deck of her Tahitian holiday bungalow.
"I don't have the kind of structure in my life that I normally do, and it's a refreshing change."
Change is the key word in Fran's new life. She's embracing it, although not without difficulty. She sees a therapist several times a week, to help her deal with the split from childhood sweetheart, Peter. While she was in Tahiti, the Los Angeles home they had shared was sold, giving the break a sense of finality.
"I never really thought I would sell that house," she says, wistfully. "We put a lot of love into it. It's a gorgeous little cottage and it's sort of sweet, but I think that things change, life goes on, and you have to let go of things and move on. You have to find new things to replace the old ones. That's what makes life interesting and rewarding. You can't get melancholy about inanimate objects.
"The sale was a closure for me. It was just a matter of dealing with the sale of the two homes we owned together. It was an arduous task and I was relieved when it was over.
"It's definitely better now that Peter and I are not working together. It makes it easier on both of us. It's still painful and will probably take a long time until it finds its new place. We're leading separate lives -- happy and more individual ones. That's healthier for both of us."
Fran recently bought a new home on the Malibu oceanfront.
"I make decisions by myself now, without having to ask, 'What do you think, honey?' " she smiles. "I live alone and I'm very comfortable with that. Usually, I travel by myself. I just love going to Europe."
She recently returned from a driving holiday down the Italian coast, flying home to LA via London and Paris. She's planning an African safari next, and last year she visited Barcelona and Australia, adding, "I suppose I'll be back there for the Olympics."
On this Tahiti trip, Fran has made the most of sun and sea. "It's totally another world. The beautiful fish are right there, outside my door!
"I needed a rest, so this holiday was wonderful for me. Wherever I go I can make a good time. It was just nice to lie in a hammock reading -- I got the chance to read a 500-page book. I also went scuba diving, which I'd never done before. I even saw sharks!"
Fran knows there are plenty more fish in the sea, and as an attractive, wealthy and humorous woman, she won't have trouble finding a new companion. But it's too soon for her to think about a serious relationship.
"I date. I think it's too early for me," she says. "I'm still trying to find myself and be comfortable on my own. I think that was a big need of mine -- to be on my own. Since I have never really been on my own, I developed a very co-dependent personality. It's important that I continue down this path of self-discovery."
However, Fran has firm ideas about what attracts her to a man.
"I'd be interested in an intellectual, one who is able to teach me things and stimulate my mind," she says.
"He has to be able to make me laugh. That doesn't mean he has to be rich or gorgeous -- far from it. He has to be someone I can talk to deeply."
Fran has recently enjoyed the company of one of Hollywood's great minds, Woody Allen, featuring in his new film, Picking Up The Pieces. She plays a straight-laced nun, Sister Frida.
That whetted her appetite to get involved in films behind the scenes by developing a movie project of her own -- but not to make megabucks.
"I realised that money is not that much of a motivator for me since The Nanny.
"Now, I have to think of projects that would get my juices flowing and get me motivated. I've came to the conclusion that directing a project and writing a screenplay would be good.
"It's a new frontier for me. I've climbed one mountain and now I'm gearing up to climb a new one."
While many people are looking to the new millennium to bring changes into their lives, Fran shrugs off the coming New Year. "I've never been one to make resolutions and I'm not into dates and numbers," she says.
"I don't even weigh myself -- I can't stand being labelled by any kind of number. It makes it hard to live in the moment when you are thinking about what's ahead or what's behind."
There's one date that's looming large in her life, though. It's the birthday of her most beloved companion, her old Pomeranian dog, Chester.
"He's going to be 18 years old this November," she beams proudly. "I first saw Chester in a pet store in the mall. He was just so unbelievably cute, that I bought him.
"I'd always wanted a dog, but my parents would always say that when I got married I could have a dog. But then I married a man who didn't want a dog -- so I had to give Chester back to the pet store. When I handed him back, Chester gave me this look that said, 'Are you nuts -- we've bonded already!'
"So I went home and spoke to Peter, who finally agreed that I could keep him."
Fran rushed back to the shop to reclaim Chester. She recalls, "The second after I paid for him, he started barking -- and he hasn't stopped since!
"Chester's not a show dog -- he's a shopping mall dog, but the one thing he does have is longevity in his bloodlines. Of course, he eats special food and he's just the best. I keep his life as stress free as possible.
"Every day I just look at him and say, 'Don't go.'"
