When the leaders of Hollywood's actors union announced a strike this week, the most fiery words spoken came from SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher, who drew thunderous applause when she berated movie studios executives for what she called unreasonable and insulting demands.

She decried the studios for "plead[ing] poverty, that they're losing money left and right, when giving hundreds of millions of dollars to their CEOs."

"It is disgusting. Shame on them. They stand on the wrong side of history at this very moment, " Drescher, 65, said.

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Drescher's cutting words were backed by decades of Hollywood experience. She got her start in movies in the 1970s and has worked as an actor, writer and producer on dozens of series. Here's what to know about the 65-year old actor and labor leader.

Where is Fran Drescher from?

Drescher was born in Queens, New York, in 1957, the second child of Morty and Sylvia Drescher, working-class Jewish parents who traced their lineage to Eastern Europe.

Drescher attended Queens' Hillcrest High School, where one of her classmates was comedian and actor Ray Romano (best known for the sitcom, "Everybody Loves Raymond.") She graduated in 1975, having already met the man who would later become her husband,  future actor, writer and producer Peter Marc Jacobson.

The couple married in 1978 and went on to collaborate on many creative projects. They divorced in 1999.

In what movies and shows has Drescher appeared?

In the 1980s, Drescher had small roles in films including "Saturday Night Fever" and the mockumentary "This is Spinal Tap," in which she played a publicist for a heavy metal band. But her best-known role was playing the vivacious title character in the 1990s sitcom "The Nanny," which she co-created with Jacobson.

In The Nanny, Drescher played Fran Fine, a working-class girl "with a face out of Vogue and a voice out of Queens" who stumbles into a job as a live-in nanny to a wealthy English widower's three kids. The show debuted on CBS in 1993 and ran for six seasons, earning Drescher two Emmy and two Golden Globe nominations.

The show pitted Fran's free-wheeling, spirited style against the uptight manners of her employers, with a dose of sentimentality thrown in. In one memorable episode and case of art imitating life, Fran refused to cross a picket line at a fancy dinner she was attending with her employer.