Renée Taylor | |
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Taylor with her husband Joseph Bologna in 1974.
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Born |
Renée Wexler March 19, 1933 The Bronx, New York, U.S. |
Occupation | Actress, writer |
Years active | 1958–present |
Spouse(s) | Joseph Bologna (m. 1965) |
Children | 1 |
Renée Taylor (née Renée Wexler; March 19, 1933) is an American actress, Academy Award-nominated writer and one-time director, best known for having played Fran Drescher's title character's outspoken mother, Sylvia Fine, on the TV series The Nanny.
Taylor was born in The Bronx, New York to Charles and Frieda (née Silverstein) Wexler. Taylor worked as a comedian in the early 1960s at the New York City nightclub Bon Soir. Her opening act was a then-unknown Barbra Streisand. In 1968, Taylor played Eva Braun in Mel Brooks' feature film The Producers, a role she got while performing the play Luv with Gene Wilder, whom Brooks decided to cast as protagonist Leo Bloom.
Taylor and her husband, Joseph Bologna, co-wrote the Broadway hit comedy Lovers and Other Strangers, and received Oscar nominations for having written the 1970 film adaptation. In 1971, the couple co-wrote and starred in the film Made for Each Other. Their screenplay received a nomination for the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Comedy. Taylor played Arlene Sherwood, co-producer of a television show along with Jerry Orbach and John Candy in the 1991 film Delirious.