[Yana]

I just heard on The View that Rue McClanahan had past away... They didn't say what from and I haven't found any information on the web about it yet...

[SugarB]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. I love her!

Sadly, it is true.


June 3, 2010 | 9:31 am
Rue McClanahan, who played a man-crazy Southern belle in the seminal '80s sitcom "Golden Girls," died early Thursday of a massive stroke. She was 76. McClanahan had suffered a minor stroke in January during recovery from heart bypass surgery, her manager said at the time.

"Golden Girls," which has aired in syndication nearly nonstop since its successful run from 1985 to 1992 on NBC, has been discovered by a whole new generation lately, partly because of costar Betty White and her resurgent popularity.

White is now the sole surviving cast member. Bea Arthur died last year of cancer, and Estelle Getty died in 2008.

McClanahan won an Emmy in 1987 for her portrayal of Blanche Devereaux, an aging beauty who still had an eye for the fellas. The actress' resume stretches back to the '60s and includes some of TV's most memorable shows, such as "All in the Family," "Maude," "The Love Boat" and "Touched by an Angel."

In 2007, she published a memoir with the sassy title "My First Five Husbands ... and the Ones Who Got Away."

— T.L. Stanley

[pinkie]

[Cathy]

So sad to hear she passed away. "Thank You For Being A Friend Rue."

[uvp]

rip golden girl

[Slimcruz]

She was a true original. I am sad that she is gone.

[TV_Paige]

'Golden Girls' Actress Rue McClanahan


Actress Rue McClanahan

NEW YORK, New York – Rue McClanahan, the Emmy-winning actress who brought the sexually liberated Southern belle Blanche Devereaux to life on the hit TV comedy series, "The Golden Girls," died Thursday, June 3, at 1 a.m. of a stroke, according to her manager, Barbara Lawrence. She was 76.

She had undergone treatment for breast cancer in 1997 and later lectured to cancer support groups on "aging gracefully." In 2009, she had heart bypass surgery.

McClanahan had an active career in off-Broadway and regional stages in the 1960s before she was tapped for TV in the 1970s for the key best-friend character on the hit series, "Maude," starring fellow future "Golden Girls" Beatrice Arthur.


Bill Macy, Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan and Adrienne Barbeau in 'Maude'

But her most loved role came in 1985 when she co-starred with Arthur, Betty White, and Estelle Getty in "The Golden Girls," a runaway hit that broke the sitcom mold by focusing on the foibles of four aging — and frequently eccentric — women living together in Miami.

"Golden Girls" aimed to show "that when people mature, they add layers," she told The New York Times in 1985. "They don't turn into other creatures. The truth is we all still have our child, our adolescent, and your young woman living in us."

Blanche, who called her father "Big Daddy," was a frequent target of roommates Dorothy, Rose and the outspoken Sophia (Getty), who would fire off zingers at Blanche such as, "Your life's an open blouse." McClanahan snagged an Emmy for her work on the show in 1987.


'Golden Girls' Co-Stars (top clockwise, left to right) Estelle
Getty as Sophia, Rue McClanahan as Blanche, Betty White
as Rose and Bea Arthur as Dorothy

In an Associated Press interview that year, McClanahan said Blanche was unlike any other role she had ever played. "Probably the closest I've ever done was Blanche DuBois in 'A Streetcar Named Desire' at the Pasadena Playhouse," she said. "I think, too, that's where the name came from, although my character is not a drinker and not crazy."

Her Blanche Devereaux, she said, "is in love with life and she loves men. I think she has an attitude toward women that's competitive. She is friends with Dorothy and Rose, but if she has enough provocation she becomes competitive with them. I think basically she's insecure. It's the other side of the Don Juan syndrome."

After "The Golden Girls" was cancelled in 1992, McClanahan, White and Getty reprised their roles in a short-lived spinoff, "Golden Palace." McClanahan continued working in television, on stage and in film, appearing in the Jack Lemmon-Walter Matthau vehicle, "Out to Sea" and as the biology teacher in "Starship Troopers."


Broadway Actress Rue McClanahan (far left) in a scene from 'Jimmy Shine' with Dustin Hoffman in
1969 and (far right) as Madame Morrible in 'Wicked' in 2005

She stepped in to portray Madame Morrible, the crafty headmistress, for a time in "Wicked," Broadway's long-running "Wizard of Oz" prequel.

In 2008, McClanahan appeared in the Logo comedy, "Sordid Lives: The Series," playing the slightly addled, elderly mother of an institutionalized drag queen. During production, McClanahan was recovering from 2007 surgery on her knee. It didn't stop her from filming a sex scene in which the bed broke, forcing her to hang on to a windowsill to avoid tumbling off.

McClanahan was born Eddi-Rue McClanahan in Healdton, Oklaholma, to building contractor William McClanahan and his wife, Dreda Rheua-Nell, a beautician. She graduated with honors from the University of Tulsa with a degree in German and theater arts.


Actress Rue McClanahan through the early years from (left) her high school photo in 1952 to (center) glamour shot to (right) acting on stage in 1967

McClanahan's acting career began on the stage. According to a 1985 Los Angeles Times profile, she appeared at the Pasadena (California) Playhouse, studied in New York with Uta Hagen and Harold Clurman, and worked in soaps and on the stage.

She won an Obie — the off-Broadway version of the Tony — in 1970 for "Who's Happy Now," playing the "other woman" in a family drama written by Oliver Hailey. She reprised the role in a 1975 television version; in a review, The New York Times described her character as "an irrepressible belle given to frequent bouts of 'wooziness' and occasional bursts of shrewdness."

She had appeared only sporadically on television until producer Norman Lear tapped her for a guest role on "All in the Family" in 1971. She went from there to a regular role in the "All in the Family" spinoff, "Maude," playing Vivian, the neighbor and best friend to Arthur in the starring role.


Actress Rue McClanahan turned Author with her
2007 memoir, 'My First Five Husbands . . . And the
Ones Who Got Away'

When Arthur died in April 2009, McClanahan recalled that she had felt constrained by "Golden Girls" during the later years of its run. "Bea liked to be the star of the show. She didn't really like to do that ensemble playing," McClanahan said.

After that series ended in 1978, McClanahan landed the role as Aunt Fran on "Mama's Family" in 1983. In recent years, McClanahan turned her interests toward charity into becoming an author. She called her 2007 memoir, "My First Five Husbands . . . And the Ones Who Got Away."

McClanahan was married six times: Tom Bish, with whom she had a son, Mark Bish; actor Norman Hartweg; Peter D'Maio; Gus Fisher; and Tom Keel. She married husband Morrow Wilson on Christmas Day in 1997.

[ElleNaturelle]

This is very sad news. She was an amazing actress and did a lot to make people comfortable with talking about sex and a woman owning their own bodies. I can't believe there's only one Golden Girl still standing. This is really really sad. Comedy and talent like this seems scarce today.

What a huge loss. I'm posting to send out my deepest respect and sympathies and to say thanks for the many laughs over the year and still today through reruns.