Rue McClanahan (born Eddi Rue McClanahan) was an Emmy Award-winning American actress, known for her roles on the television sitcoms Maude and The Golden Girls.
Mother of Mark Bish.
Aunt of actress Amelia Kinkade.
In 1997, Rue was diagnosed with cancer. She had a lumpectomy and five months of chemotherapy. She did lectures entitled "Aging Gracefully" for breast-cancer support groups.
She graduated cum laude in the University of Tulsa with a degree in German and theatre arts. She was also the only female member of the schools science club.
Became a sister of Kappa Alpha Theta at the University of Tulsa.
Played the same character, Blanche Devereaux, on four different TV series: "The Golden Palace" , "The Golden Girls" , "Nurses" , and "Empty Nest" .
One of Rues maternal great-great-great-great-grandmothers, SheNiYah, was a Choctaw Native American. Rue also had English, and small amounts of Scots-Irish (Northern Irish), Welsh, German, French-Canadian, Dutch, and remote Portuguese, ancestry.
After her second marriage broke up, she went to New York, and started doing films. She thought her They Might Be Giants part was her best movie part.
When it came to stage performances she had "jitters" for opening nights, about rehearsals and worrying about not having enough time to prepare perfectly.
Betty White was originally considered for the role of the sexpot, Blanche, on "The Golden Girls" . However, Betty had already been the aggressive Sue Ann Nivens on "Mary Tyler Moore" and Rue had played the introverted Vivian on "Maude" . It was thought best not to typecast these two actresses by having them portray similar characters. Therefore, Betty got the part of naive Rose Nylund and Rue played the oversexed Blanche.
Was a vegan and dedicated animal rights activist.
She was an Honorary Director for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
Suffered a minor stroke while recovering from heart bypass surgery, which she had in November 2009 [January 14, 2010].
After moving to New York City, she worked as a file clerk before finding success in the theater.
Was estranged (in 2009) from her sixth husband, Morrow Wilson at the time of her death.
Upon her death, she was cremated.
She was a lifelong liberal Democrat. In 2003 she wrote a letter to presidential nominee John Kerry telling him that he lost both her vote and respect due to pheasant hunting. She endorsed Barack Obama in the 2008 Presidential election.
She modeled her accent for Blanche Deveraux after Rosalynn Carter.
She kept every outfit she wore while on "The Golden Girls" and used a majority of them for her everyday wear away from the show.
Was a supporter, donor, and advocate for Methodist Healthcare and its 15 care services. She even gave a speech about her battle with cancer at the Travis Park United Methodist Church on May 11, 2000 East Travis, Texas.
Was good friends with actress/Comedian Vicki Lawrence , whom she met on the TV show "Mamas Family" .
(June 2005) Portraying Madame Morrible in Broadways Wicked.
(May 2003) Spoke at a press conference at Saratoga Springs, New York protesting the use of diving horses at Magic Forest Theme Park, Lake George, New York.
She was inducted into the 2015 inaugural Closter Hall of Fame in Closter, New Jersey.
During "Ashes to Ashes" filming, on an early morning at Universal Citys studio stage, director Patrick McGoohan blocked and rehearsed the vitriolic murder scene in the stage sets funeral home mortuary complex; in the embalming mortuary laboratory crematorium suite. The scene is between Patrick Prince (Patrick McGoohan) as he strangles his former lover Verity Chandler (Rue McClanahan). The scenes action and motivation involves Verity Chandler - a nasty devious miserably wicked evil tongued Hollywood gossip columnist and the funeral homes owner/mortician Patrick Prince who is seething with resentment, controlled anger with murderous blood thirsty revenge to kill; like two fascinating characters composed of Shaw, Chekov and Shakespeare. The scenes action begins in the funeral homes foyer/viewing chapel when Prince invites his manipulated butterfly Verity into his inner-sanctum preparation laboratory lair. Once inside the lab, Prince locks the entry-door, closing in on his beautiful unprepared victim Verity Chandler like a spider spinning his web. The murder scene (as scripted) had specific dialogue but no staged motivation. Observing the two actors initially block their motivation and movement, after entering the lab, with director/actor Patricks basic plan, was like observing two actors choreographing their pas de deux outcome of a complex sequence of the eventful scene! Interestingly, the lab had a sink wall with a mirror above the sink tub crib. Patrick with McClanahan, together, blocked the scene entirely focused on the cameras point of view, using the mirror as a second camera capturing their facial reactions during their pas de deux denouement. Rehearsing the scene together, with the entire crew standing on the side-line, was fascinating observing the two actors create and develop their confrontation for the scenes climax.
While filming a "Colombo - Ashes to Ashes " (Movie of the Week in the Spring of 1998) at Universal-MCA Film City-Studios, Rue McClanahan performed in a guest role, as Verity Chandler - a nasty devious miserably wicked evil tongued Hollywood gossip columnist - on Peter Falks "Columbo" MOW prime-time-network special. The film was written by, directed, and featured actor Patrick McGoohan - as Eric Prince, seething with resentment of his ex-lover Verity, murderous and bloodthirsty for revenge. During breaks in filming, Rue McClanahan related to Falks production designer Hub Bradens question when asked - "In The Golden Girls series - how much did each of the featured performers contribute, ad-lib, improvise in their first Monday sit-down read of their dialogue for their characters role?" McClanahans response was a matter-of-fact statement to his inquiry! "Not much! Bea Arthur arrived in the rehearsal hall, just sat at the conference table and read her lines. Ditto for Estelle Getty. Betty White and myself would interject comments, and usually, our ad-lib/improv dialogue ideas were noted, accepted by Susan Harris, with our spontaneous line idea interjected into our current script. Bea Arthur performed, reading exactly, what she had been given to say; the same, as well - with Estelle. Betty and myself were usually animated in our dialogue readings, bouncing off with an ad-lib or other flippant dialogue. We all delivered our lines exactly as scripted in our final live television performances. We never improvised in filming. Bea and Estelle were full-filling their acting-job during rehearsals and performances! We were all very professional!".
Friends with Bea Arthur , Betty White , Richard Mulligan , and Esther Rolle.
Compassion is the foundation of everything positive, everything good. If,you carry the power of compassion to the marketplace and the dinner,table, you can make your life really count.
