Rue McClanahan

Rue McClanahan (born Eddi-Rue McClanahan, February 21, 1934 – June 3, 2010) was an American Actress, Model, and Author. She was best known to TV audiences as Vivian Harmon on the CBS sitcom Maude (1972–78), Fran Crowley on the NBC version of the sitcom Mama's Family (1983–85), and (her most notable role) Blanche Devereaux on the NBC sitcom The Golden Girls (1985–92). She once appeared as a celebrity guest on The $20,000 Pyramid in the mid-1970s.

Born Eddi-Rue McClanahan in Healdton, Oklahoma. The daughter of Dreda Rheua-Nell (née Medaris), a beautician, and William Edwin "Bill" McClanahan (July 4, 1908 – February 20, 1999), a building contractor. She and her family were Methodists. McClanahan was also of Irish and Choctaw ancestry. Her Choctaw great-grandfather was named Running Hawk according to her 2007 autobiography My First Five Husbands... and the Ones Who Got Away. She grew up in Ardmore, Oklahoma and graduated from Ardmore High School. Rue later earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Tulsa, where she majored in German and Theater and joined the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority. She was also a National Honor Society member.

A life member of the Actors Studio, McClanahan made her professional stage début at Pennsylvania's Erie Playhouse in 1957, in the play Inherit the Wind. She began acting off-Broadway in New York City that same year but did not make her Broadway début until 1969, when she portrayed Sally Weber in the original production of John Sebastian and Murray Schisgal's musical, Jimmy Shine with Dustin Hoffman in the title role.

Rue then transitioned into television as her very first appearance came in June 1970 when she played the role as Caroline Johnson on the NBC soap opera Another World, she continued with this role until September 1971. Playing the role of Caroline Johnson brought her notice, on the program, while taking care of twins Michael and Marianne Randolph, TV viewers saw McClanahan's character Caroline fall in love with their father, John and began poisoning their mother, Pat in the process. The short-term role was extended to more than a year before Caroline was finally brought to justice after kidnapping the twins. Once her role on Another World ended, McClanahan went on to join the cast of the CBS soap Where the Heart Is, in which she played Margaret Jardin.

After her stints in the soap opera world, Rue went on to flex her comic chops in a number of TV comedies. She first appeared on the CBS sitcom Maude (starring her future Golden Girls cast mate Bea Arthur) as Vivian Harmon, the wife of Dr. Arthur Harmon (played by future Diff'rent Strokes actor Conrad Bain) and best friend of Maude Finlay (played by Arthur), McClanahan remained with the series throughout it's entire run on CBS (September 12, 1972-April 22, 1978).

In 1983, she co-starred alongside Vicki Lawrence on the sitcom Mama's Family (debuting on January 22, 1983 on NBC). Her character on the series the uptight spinster sister Frances "Fran" Crowley to Lawrence's character Thelma Crowley "Mama" Harper. The character of Fran worked as a journalist for the local Raytown newspaper. McClanahan appeared on the series for the first two seasons before the show was cancelled by NBC due to a drop in the ratings.

During the hiatus period of Mama's Family, McClanahan and Betty White, who also appeared on the show as Ellen, both went on land their signature and most notable roles to TV audiences: man-crazed southern belle Blanche Devereaux and St. Olaf Minnesota-native Rose Nylund on the NBC sitcom The Golden Girls (debuting on September 14, 1985). Mama's Family was able to breathe new life in syndication as it returned to the airwaves on September 27, 1986. McClanahan was unable to return due to The Golden Girls as her character on Mama's Family was killed off as it revealed in the season three premiere opener titled "Farewell Frannie" that Fran died after choking on a toothpick at the local Raytown pub called the Bigger Jigger. Betty White however did return for one final appearance as Ellen two episodes later in the episode titled "Best Medicine" where Ellen stops by with a gift for Mama Harper & attempts to apologize for missing Fran's funeral but Mama refuses her gift and throws her out but they later reconcile after learning Ellen was admitted to the hospital.

Over on The Golden Girls, TV viewers fell in love with McClanahan as the sassy man-hungry southern belle Blanche Deveraux. In 1987, she won the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series (Betty White won the Emmy a year earlier & Bea Arthur won the Emmy in 1988). After seven seasons on NBC, The Golden Girls ended its run on May 9, 1992. A short time later, Rue, along with White and Estelle Getty reprised their roles in a new spinoff series titled The Golden Palace (Bea Arthur appeared in a special guest starring role in a two-part episode), debuting on September 18, 1992 on CBS. Ratings for the spinoff were not even close to a ratings powerhouse and the show was cancelled after one season ending on May 14, 1993. In addition, Rue (as did her Golden Girls co-stars) also reprised her Blanche Deveraux character in guest appearances on the NBC spin-off sitcoms Empty Nest and Nurses.

After The Golden Girls, McClanahan went on to appear in a number of guest starring roles on various TV shows which included Touched By an Angel, Law & Order, and Whoopi Goldberg's short-lived sitcom titled Whoopi. She has also appeared in a number of both TV and big screen movies, she appeared alongside Connie Sellecca and Randy Travis in the 1995 TV movie A Holiday to Remember, 1998 TV movie Columbo: Ashes to Ashes, and the Hallmark movie Back to You and Me with Lisa Hartman Black in 2005. She also appeared in the 2003 movie The Fighting Temptations with Cuba Gooding Jr. and pop music superstar Beyoncé Knowles.

She also voice-acted in cartoons, voicing Scarlett in the 1997 Fox Christmas special Annabelle's Wish. She played the role of Steve's grandmother on the children's program Blue's Clues video Blue's Big Treasure Hunt in 1999. In 2007, she voiced a character named Bunny in an episode of King of the Hill ("Hair Today, Gone Today").

She also had a stint on Broadway, she replaced Tammy Grimes as "The Visitor from New York" (Hannah Warren) in the Neil Simon comedy California Suite from April 4, 1977 until the show's closing on July 2 of that same year.

As of now, Rue's only known appearance on the Game Show circuit was appearing as a celebrity guest on The $20,000 Pyramid in the late 1970s.

Aside from all of her acting credentials, McClanahan was also an animal welfare advocate and vegetarian. She was one of the first celebrity supporters of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). McClanahan also supported Alley Cat Allies, a non-profit advocacy organization dedicated to transforming communities to protect and improve the lives of cats, and appeared in a public service announcement for the organization in early 2010.

She was also a registered democrat and in December 2003, she wrote a letter informing Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry that his pheasant hunting had cost him her vote and respect. In a July 2008 interview, she weighed in on the 2008 Presidential campaigns. Regarding Barack Obama, she said: "This is the damnedest election I've ever lived through, and Obama is the most amazing candidate I've ever bumped into. The man has unshakable integrity. He's the nearest thing to Lincoln we've seen".

Rue was also an avid supporter of gay rights, including advocating for same-sex marriage in the United States. In January 2009, she appeared in the star-studded "Defying Inequality: The Broadway Concert – A Celebrity Benefit for Equal Rights".

She has married several times. First she was married to Tom Bish from 1958-1959 and had a son. A short time later, she married Norman Hartweg and their marriage ended in divorce in 1961. In 1964, she married a third time to a man named Peter DeMaio and divorced in 1971. In 1976, she married a fourth time to a man named Guy Fisher and their marriage ended in divore in 1979. A few years later, she married again in 1984 to Tom Keel and divorced a year later. Several years later in 1997, McClanahan married a sixth and final time to a man named Morrow Wilson.

In June 1997, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, for which she was treated successfully. In 2007, she released her autobiography, My First Five Husbands ... and the Ones Who Got Away detailing her numerous marriages.

On November 14, 2009, she was to be honored for her lifetime achievements at an event "Golden: A Gala Tribute to Rue McClanahan" at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco, California but the event was postponed due to McClanahan's hospitalization. She had triple bypass surgery on November 4. It was announced on January 14, 2010, by Entertainment Tonight that, while recovering from surgery, she had suffered a minor stroke. In March 2010, fellow Golden Girls cast member Betty White reported on The Ellen DeGeneres Show that McClanahan was doing well and that her speech had returned to normal.

On June 3, 2010, at the age of 76, Rue passed away at New York–Presbyterian Hospital after she suffered a brain hemorrhage. Her remains were spread between her family farm and Central Park in NYC. Days later, Betty White told Entertainment Tonight that McClanahan was a "close and dear friend" and that her death "hurts more than I ever thought it would" and today, White is the only surviving cast member of The Golden Girls following the deaths of also Estelle Getty in July 2008 and Bea Arthur in April 2009.

McClanahan was survived by her sixth husband, Morrow Wilson, whom she separated in 2009, her son from her first marriage, Mark Bish of Austin, Texas, her sister, Melinda L. McClanahan, of Silver City, New Mexico, nephews, Brendan and Sean Kinkade, and nieces Marcia and Amelia. There were no funeral services for McClanahan so her family created an official memorial page on Facebook to honor her and memorial services were held during the summer of 2010 in New York and Los Angeles. On June 10, 2010, Rue's New York apartment went on the market for $3.95 million.