I know this was brought up several times before, but it's been so long there aren't any threads left on the subject.
I think I figured out her age. In "Educating Fran" she tells Steve that she was born in 1970, give or take a year "or six." So from that you could put her as being born in 1964.
Which would make her 33 in 1997, the year that episode is from. And it would make her 29 when it started in 1993, and 35 when it ended in 1999.
I figured she was in her late 30s probably 39 or hitting 40. She was so secretive about her age.
shareI also thought she was in her late 30s, maybe even early 40s. But in an episode from Season 2, I believe, Fran stops Val when she starts to say, "Here I am, 33 years old..." Which would mean Fran was probably no older than 33 when the show started in the previous season, since it's possible she could be in the same grade as Val but be almost a year older.
I believe Fran herself was in her late 30s when the show started, and it's not as though she looks old, it's more just her heavy makeup and whatnot that make her seem older (ironically, given how she's supposed to wear so much because she's trying to snag a man).
Well, in the first or second season, they celebrate her 30th birthday. Of course, I think she's supposed to be the same age as Val, so like the other poster said, she was probably actually at least 32-or-33-ish when the show started, even though the real Fran was in her late 30's at the beginning of filming.
Once upon a time there was a magical place where it never rained. The end.
You are right, she was 29 when the show came on, and 35 when it ended. There were several times where her real age is revealed. Such as the episode where Maggie wants to date the 25 year old and Fran wants to date his friend, she tells Maggie "You are not dating him he is 25 and you are 17." Maggie then replies "So? You are dating (Mike?) and he's 25 and you are 33." Fran was appalled "I am not 33!" to which Maggie replies "Yes, you are. We celebrated your 30th birthday here 3 years ago." Of course I am paraphrasing the actual dialogue, but the numbers are correct. There were also other times such as the one you mentioned with Professor Steve, then at the end of that episode when he dumps her because he was supposed to meet an "older woman", she goes "What if I told you I was really 34?" So yes I do believe you are correct.
shareWhile Fran Drescher was between the ages of 36 and 41 when "The Nanny" was on the air, her character, Fran Fine (later Sheffield), always claimed to be 29, making her the young female Jack Benny, who said he was 39. Maybe she was between 29 and 35 on the show, but according to Fran's character profile on Wikipedia, she was born in 1957 (which is her birth year in real life). So, Nanny Fine was between 36 and 41 years old.
shareWikipedia can be updated by anyone so cannot be fully relied on and it seems to me that someone just mistakenly put Fran Dresher's info in the Fran Fine profile. First of all it is never once mentioned on the show what year she was born. Secondly it is very common for actors to play a few years younger on tv. I still believe she was supposed to be 29 at the start of the show and like most vain and insecure women just "stayed" 29, and was really 35 at the end.
shareI just rechecked the Fran Fine profile on Wikipedia's "Nanny" page a few days ago. While the previous Wikipedia article that I printed up back in 2007 or 2008 said that Miss Fine was born in 1957 (which is the real birth year as the actress who played her, Fran Drescher), the updated information read that she was born in 1964. On the Season 3 episode in which Fran dated a college age man, Maggie said that Fran was 33, which makes me think that she was born in either 1963 or 1964. TV shows really do make characters younger than the actual ages of the actors who play them.
shareThat is true
shareWatching the pilot, she had said something about being 29 and still living with her mother, then Niles laughed and said "29..." in a joking way and she responds with "don't start with me, Niles!", so I assumed she was lying then.
share