43. Fran Drescher

Fran Drescher’s voice is instantly recognisable. She played the loveable central character on popular sit-com, The Nanny, with a thick New York accent that became as distinctive and famed as the actress herself.Fran established a moderately successful comedic acting career in the 1980s with roles in various movies, including This Is Spinal Tap. She only achieved widespread fame however, as Jewish nanny Fran Fine in the hit 90s show that she wrote and produced alongside her then-husband.

Today, Drescher is an outspoken LGBT supporter and highly visible healthcare advocate, who survived her own battle with uterine cancer in the early 2000s.

She is acknowledged too for her work as a Public Diplomacy Envoy for Women’s Health for the U.S State Department.

The beloved actress has always been loud and proud when it comes to her cultural identity. She resisted the pressures of powerful industry members who early on tried to make Fran Fine Italian instead of Jewish and was happy to tell reporters in later years that:

“I was the first Jewish actress to play a Jewish character in a starring role in prime time since Molly Goldberg in 1948.”