‘The Nanny’ Star Passes Away At 83

An iconic actor who appeared alongside Hollywood heavyweights like Robin Williams, Danny DeVito, and Fran Drescher, has died at 83.

“The Nanny” star Zack Norman’s daughter shared the news in a statement on social media located by the New York Post. Lori Zuker Briller, who runs the Hollywood headhunting firm The Grapevine Agency, credited her father with living to the fullest and enriching the lives of his family members. “Wherever you drifted off to, I know everything just got livelier. You were the most enigmatic person wherever you went. The best father husband, grandfather and friend, you brought so many laughs and so much enrichment to all of our lives. There are no words to ever explain how much we will miss you. Go do your thing. Cheers to you always! I love you forever,” she wrote on Facebook.

Born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1940, Howard Jerrold Zuker was as sharp in his career as he was brilliant with a microphone. The actor attended Vanderbilt University and later Harvard Business School before kicking off his career as a stand-up comedian. He produced off-Broadway hits like 1965’s “Live Like Pigs” while finding time to join the U.S.O. tour performing for overseas troops. His time in London catapulted him to fame back across the pond, and soon he was booking appearances on top-billed programs like “The Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson.

Some of Norman’s credits include “Tracks” (1977), “Sitting Ducks” (1980) and “Babyfever,” all done in partnership with director Henry Jaglom. He became well known for playing the role of Cousin Ira in 1984’s “Romancing the Stone,” which tells the story of a romance novelist who travels with Danny DeVito’s character to Colombia in order to save her sister from criminals demanding a ransom. DeVito’s character Ralph, an antiquities smugger, is buoyed by Cousin Ira’s support for his criminal ventures and brings an affinity for crocodiles to their adventure.

‘The Nanny’ and ‘Romancing the Stone’ actor Zack Norman dead at 83 https://t.co/Paz3WxaYTM pic.twitter.com/mpDtosZODm

— New York Post (@nypost) April 29, 2024

In 1990 Norman landed a role alongside Robin Williams and Fran Drescher with “Cadillac Man” and parlayed his credits into reliable guest appearances as Uncle Jack in Drescher’s hit comedy series “The Nanny.” Other hit series landed by Norman included “The A-Team” and “Baywatch.” Never leaving Broadway, Norman also appeared in or produced more than 20 plays over the course of his career, according to Deadline.

Other credits to Norman’s name include “Ragtime” (1981), “America” (1986), “Chief Zabu” (1986), “Venice/Venice” (1992), “Festival in Cannes” (2001), “Hollywood Dreams” (2006), and “Ovation” (2015).

“My most proud movie was 1975’s Academy Award [winner] for the Best Documentary called ‘Hearts and Minds’, which is really a very, very, very important and part of the reason that the Vietnam War was stopped,” he told the “Not Real Art” podcast in January 2023. “What a life.”

Not content to produce his own art, Norman became a patron himself. In the 1970s, he began his own collection which included works by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol and Keith Haring.

Norman is survived by his wife, Nancy; sister Jane; daughters Lori and Tracy; sons Stephen and Michael; and grandchildren Sascha, Addison, Benjamin, Henry, Liliana, Jonathan, Justin, Jayden, Jackie, Gabrielle, Rachel, Susie, Joseph and Seth.