After the SAG-AFTRA president announced the “heartbreaking” news on Instagram Friday she opened up about the “profound pain” she continues to feel in the days since her father’s death
Fran Drescher is mourning the loss of her father.
The Nanny alum, 66, initially shared the news of her 94-year-old father’s death on Instagram Friday as she wrote, “It still feels untenable how permanent the loss of this great man is.”
Drescher said her father Morty “passed away gently in his sleep” on March 20 in the company of her and her mother, Sylvia, his wife of “71 wonderful years.” He also leaves behind Drescher’s sister, Nadine.
In a follow-up post shared Tuesday, the actress continued to reflect on the profound loss as she shared a sweet throwback photo of her parents. “My father is gone. My tears come often. My mom is so broken its heartbreaking when the love was so great to have to say goodbye at age 90 to the love of her life since age 16.”
Calling life a “series” of “moments,” Drescher said this one is “a hard one but my life has taught me we do climb out of the pit of despair and continue living, loving & laughing again but baring [sic] the new and recent scars of profound pain. 🙏💔🥲.”
In her first post announcing her father’s death, Drescher referenced her father’s shared love of acting as she highlighted his “several appearances on The Nanny and The Rosie O’Donnell Show.”
“His values were always in the right place. He honored and respected everyone equally,” Drescher wrote. “He understood the important things in this life, love of family, simple pleasures and living in gratitude. He passed these values onto his children and lived an exemplary life.”
Her father was “always the life of the party” and “a good friend to many people both at work and within his community,” the actress said.
“He was an amazing father who taught my sister and I to swim, ride a bicycle and drive a car. He was the best husband to my mom and remained madly in love with her until his last breath,” she continued.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
“He was so very proud of both his daughters’ accomplishments. My sister who raised two daughters of her own while achieving her doctrine in nursing. And a systems analyst, I inherited his analytical mind which I referenced throughout my leadership as sag-aftra president, especially during the strike.”
She concluded the post, “I am so happy he got to see me not only achieve success as an actor but even more important as a labor leader because doing volunteer work on behalf of the greater good was the ethics by which he raised me. If there is a heaven, he’s there now because he lived purely, honestly and lovingly.”
Streisand admitted she knew this about the sitcom but never watched a single episode because it felt “egotistical,” yet she told Drescher that she would love to watch some episodes with her. (Isn’t it thrilling to just imagine them both watching old episodes of “The Nanny” together? Maybe while noshing on some of Streisand’s favorite coffee ice cream?)
Drescher also added that she can’t stop telling people to get Streisand’s “unbelievable” biography, especially the audiobook because “you get so much value for your money… you get 48 hours with you!” She also gushed about the delightful music that accompanies each chapter.
“It’s amazing, you’re amazing,” she summarizes, then gets to her questions, which are all about what Barbra loves about acting and directing, but also what it means to be a woman in Hollywood.
The two spent a lot of time talking about “Yentl.” Drescher praises Streisand for being the first woman director to win a Golden Globe, and Streisand shares that she was surprised at winning the award, having been nominated with some movie industry giants, like Ingmar Bergman.
When Drescher remarks that it took Streisand 15 years to get the movie made, Streisand responds, “Exactly. Because who wanted to do a movie about, you know, a Jewish girl who wanted to study Talmud, and she has to dress as a man in order to get into school?”
“You were breaking the ceiling in filmmaking for women by having the tenacity to say, ‘I can do more than just be in front of the camera,’” Drescher fawned.
“Did you realize, in the moment, that you were doing something even bigger than the sum of its parts, because you were leading women and girls into a future that looked different than the one that you came out of?” Drescher asked.
“I had a responsibility,” Streisand responded, “to women and girls and the movie… It’s all one thing.”
Streisand brought up how dismayed she is by the threat to reproductive rights across America. “What’s happening with women and their bodies is unconscionable,” Streisand lamented. “It should be against the law.”
