‘The Nanny’ Actress Elected New SAG-AFTRA Leader
LOS ANGELES — For some, she’s fondly remembered as promoter “Bobbi Flekman” in the 1984 cult classic This is Spinal Tap. Most people know her as “The Nanny.”
Now, she’s succeeding Gabrielle Carteris as President of SAG-AFTRA.
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Fran Drescher has been chosen by the union’s national membership to fill the role, while Joely Fisher will serve as the next Secretary-Treasurer.
Their two-year terms began immediately upon the certification of the ballot count on Thursday (9/2).
It was a tight race, with Drescher seeing a strong competitor for the role that Carteris announced in June she’d relinquish. She’d been SAG-AFTRA President — and a highly vocal one — since her election in April 2016. In the election for president, Drescher received 16,958 votes, followed by Matthew Modine with 15,371 votes.
For the post of secretary-treasurer, Fisher received 18,547 votes, followed by Anthony Rapp with 13,593 votes.
A total of 122,154 ballots were mailed. Of the total number of votes, 32,362 were returned, equating to a return of 26.49%.
Commenting on her election, Drescher said, “Together we will navigate through these troubled times of global health crisis and together we will rise up out of the melee to do what we do best, entertain and inform. We must never forget the important contribution we make to many millions of people each and every day when they buy a ticket to sit in a dark theater or turn on their TVs or streaming devices. Our chosen professions within the SAG-AFTRA membership have literally gotten Americans to laugh, to learn, to momentarily escape that we are all in a pandemic. We members serve an invaluable purpose in the grand scheme of things. We must never forget who we are and what unites us as one union.”
SAG-AFTRA’s National Executive Director is Duncan Crabtree-Ireland.
With her election, Fisher continues a family tradition of union service, a path blazed by her mother, Connie Stevens, who served as secretary-treasurer for the Screen Actors Guild. Fisher’s acting credits include the role of “Paige Clark” on the Ellen DeGeneres sitcom Ellen, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress, Series, Mini-Series or Television Film.
SAG-AFTRA’s executive vice president, as well as the seven category and geographical vice presidents, will be elected by delegates at SAG-AFTRA’s biennial convention.
The event, which will be held October 15–18, will take place virtually, making it the latest affair to forego a live, in-person venue.
— RBR+TVBR West Coast Bureau, in Redondo Beach, Calif.
