Charles Shaughnessy was popularly known as Maxwell Beverly Sheffield on the sitcom
The Nanny. He portrayed a wealthy widowed father of three who took in the nasal-voiced Fran Fine (Fran Drescher), who was fresh out of her job and peddling cosmetics, as his children's nanny. He worked as a Broadway theatrical producer and was often preoccupied with work, leaving his children under the care and supervision of the nanny. Fran's offbeat nurturing and no-nonsense honesty eventually captured Maxwell's and his children's hearts. Despite the apparent mutual attraction, Maxwell and Fran restricted their emotions and kept their relationship professional. But after many stumbling attempts, he finally professed his love for her, resulting in marriage and twins. This gave a happy closure to the fairytale-like story of blue-collar meets blue blood. At present, the 52-year-old actor remains active in the entertainment world with his regular soap opera and an upcoming movie.
Slated for release this year is the movie
Permanent Vacation, in which the former
Nanny actor plays Dr. Wilkinson. Based on a novel of the same name, the comedy-drama plot centers on mild-mannered Frank Harper who takes his family on what he believes is a happy holiday. Instead of the peaceful vacation, he finds himself in a world of sexual decadence, headless corpses, vicious policemen and one wise old man. The cast also includes David Carradine and Gina Bellman.
Meanwhile, Charles Shaughnessy currently stars on the telenovela
Saints & Sinners. He plays August Martin, the father of the lead character Roman Martin (Scott Bailey) in a modern-day Romeo and Juliet story.
During his time on
The Nanny, Shaughnessy also appeared on the soap
Days of Our Lives as Shane Donovan. Subsequently, he worked on a couple of movies and made guest appearances on shows like
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,
Veronica Mars and
Young Blades among others. Moreover, he was able to reunite with his former onscreen love interest, Drescher, on her sitcom
Living with Fran, in which he played her philandering ex-husband, Ted Reeves.
-Kris De Leon, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
(Image courtesy of Starpulse)