Allan Rich played several different one-off roles on "The Nanny." He is a pawnbroker in the Christmas episode, when Fran sells her grandmother's watch in order to pay for the Sheffield's presents. In Season 3, he plays a judge when Fran is charged with running an unlicensed business. And finally, he is Uncle Ray in the Season 5 Fine family reunion episode, "From Flushing with Love."
Beyond frequent "Nanny" cameos, Rich is best remembered as D.A. Tauber in "Serpico." It was his first film role, at age 47. Rich had been a Broadway actor in the '40s and early '50s, until he was blacklisted for being an alleged Communist in 1953. "At first he had no choice but to take menial jobs to support his family," Rena Dictor LeBlanc wrote of Rich in the LA Times. "Later, he detoured and became a Wall Street broker, followed by a sharp U-turn to become proprietor of the Allan Rich Art Gallery in Manhattan." Eventually Rich found his way back to acting, and "The Nanny."
Allan Rich died on August 22, 2020 of progressive dementia. He was 94. Rich's wife was Fran Drescher's manager. "He lived large and was quite heroic to many including me when faced with the depths of despair," Drescher said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. "He had a great intellect and excelled in everything he set his mind to. He was always on the side of good and right."
