David Nezelek
Cibbuano
TyronneRue McClanahan 1934-2010
June 19th 2010 03:56
Rue McClanahan was Born in Healdton, Oklahoma on February 21, 1934 to William Edwin and Dreda Rheua-Nell McClanahan.
After graduating from the University of Tulsa in 1956, McClanahan started work as a professional actress, getting her start in small stage productions. made her professional stage début at Pennsylvania's Erie Playhouse in 1957, in the play Inherit the Wind.[1] She began acting on off-Broadway in New York City in 1957, 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 made the transition to television in the 1970s. Her role as Caroline Johnson on Another World (from July 1970 to September 1971) brought her notoriety. Once her role on Another World ended, McClanahan joined the cast of the CBS soap Where the Heart Is, in which she played Margaret Jardin. Catching the attention of producer Norman Lear, McClanahan was chosen for a guest spot on the popular sitcom, All in the Family. Impressed by her performance, McClanahan was then cast as the comic foil to actress Bea Arthur in the All in the Family spin-off, Maude.
She also appeared as a leader of Al-Anon in a 1970's informational video called "Slight Drinking Problem," in which Patty Duke played the enabling and eventually self-empowered wife of an alcoholic. In feature films McClanahan starred in 1961's The Rotten Apple, as well as Walk the Angry Beach in 1968. In 1971 she played a vicious fag hag in the film Some of My Best Friends Are..., which was set in a gay bar. In 1990, McClanahan starred as Matilda Joslyn Gage, mother-in-law of L. Frank Baum in the made-for-TV movie The Dreamer of Oz.
McClanahan guest-starred on Newhart, and played Aunt Fran on the first season of Mama's Family. She also voice-acted in cartoons, voicing Scarlett in the 1997 Fox Christmas special Annabelle's Wish. She was Grandma on the Blue's Clues video Blue's Big Treasure Hunt (1999). In the 1994 Spider-Man: The Animated Series episode "Doctor Octopus: Armed And Dangerous", she was Anastasia Hardy.[4] The 2007 King of the Hill episode "Hair Today, Gone Today" cast her as Bunny.
But McClanahan would become best-known for her work on the 1985 hit sitcom The Golden Girls, in which she played the aging, self-absorbed bombshell Blanche Devereaux. Her performance snagged her three Golden Globe nominations, three Emmy nominations, and an Emmy win in 1987.
After The Golden Girls ended in 1992, McClanahan starred briefly in a spin-off of the show, called Golden Palace. The show only lasted one season before its cancelation in 1993. Over then next decade, McClanahan then made a series of special appearances on TV sitcoms and dramas, including Boy Meets World and Law & Order.
In June 1997 she was diagnosed with breast cancer, for which she was treated successfully.
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. 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.
McClanahan died on June 3, 2010 (incidently this date was also the centennial anniverary of actress Paulette Goddard's birth) at 1:00 a.m. in the New York–Presbyterian Hospital after she suffered another stroke and subsequently a brain hemorrhage. She was 76 years old. She died with her son, Mark Bish, her sister and a nephew by her side. According to her rep, "Last week, she told her publicist...she was doing great. She didn't feel well on Monday." Her body was cremated after her death.
McClanahan's longtime friend Betty White, who co-starred with her on both Mama's Family and The Golden Girls, told Entertainment Tonight that Rue was a "close friend and dear friend" and that her death "hurts more than I ever thought it would".
McClanahan is survived by her sixth husband, Morrow Wilson (from 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 and a nephew, Brendan Kinkade. While there will be no funeral service for McClanahan, her family has created an official memorial page on Facebook, and memorial services are planned for summer 2010 in New York and Los Angeles. On June 10, 2010 McClanahan's extravagant New York apartment went on the market for $2.25 million.
Rue McClanahan 1956
After graduating from the University of Tulsa in 1956, McClanahan started work as a professional actress, getting her start in small stage productions. made her professional stage début at Pennsylvania's Erie Playhouse in 1957, in the play Inherit the Wind.[1] She began acting on off-Broadway in New York City in 1957, 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 McClanahan and Dustin Hoffman
Rue made the transition to television in the 1970s. Her role as Caroline Johnson on Another World (from July 1970 to September 1971) brought her notoriety. Once her role on Another World ended, McClanahan joined the cast of the CBS soap Where the Heart Is, in which she played Margaret Jardin. Catching the attention of producer Norman Lear, McClanahan was chosen for a guest spot on the popular sitcom, All in the Family. Impressed by her performance, McClanahan was then cast as the comic foil to actress Bea Arthur in the All in the Family spin-off, Maude.
Rue_McClanahan_book_signing My First Five Husbands.
She also appeared as a leader of Al-Anon in a 1970's informational video called "Slight Drinking Problem," in which Patty Duke played the enabling and eventually self-empowered wife of an alcoholic. In feature films McClanahan starred in 1961's The Rotten Apple, as well as Walk the Angry Beach in 1968. In 1971 she played a vicious fag hag in the film Some of My Best Friends Are..., which was set in a gay bar. In 1990, McClanahan starred as Matilda Joslyn Gage, mother-in-law of L. Frank Baum in the made-for-TV movie The Dreamer of Oz.
McClanahan guest-starred on Newhart, and played Aunt Fran on the first season of Mama's Family. She also voice-acted in cartoons, voicing Scarlett in the 1997 Fox Christmas special Annabelle's Wish. She was Grandma on the Blue's Clues video Blue's Big Treasure Hunt (1999). In the 1994 Spider-Man: The Animated Series episode "Doctor Octopus: Armed And Dangerous", she was Anastasia Hardy.[4] The 2007 King of the Hill episode "Hair Today, Gone Today" cast her as Bunny.
Rue McClanahan
But McClanahan would become best-known for her work on the 1985 hit sitcom The Golden Girls, in which she played the aging, self-absorbed bombshell Blanche Devereaux. Her performance snagged her three Golden Globe nominations, three Emmy nominations, and an Emmy win in 1987.
After The Golden Girls ended in 1992, McClanahan starred briefly in a spin-off of the show, called Golden Palace. The show only lasted one season before its cancelation in 1993. Over then next decade, McClanahan then made a series of special appearances on TV sitcoms and dramas, including Boy Meets World and Law & Order.
Rue McClanahan-Golden Girls
In June 1997 she was diagnosed with breast cancer, for which she was treated successfully.
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. 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.
McClanahan died on June 3, 2010 (incidently this date was also the centennial anniverary of actress Paulette Goddard's birth) at 1:00 a.m. in the New York–Presbyterian Hospital after she suffered another stroke and subsequently a brain hemorrhage. She was 76 years old. She died with her son, Mark Bish, her sister and a nephew by her side. According to her rep, "Last week, she told her publicist...she was doing great. She didn't feel well on Monday." Her body was cremated after her death.
McClanahan's longtime friend Betty White, who co-starred with her on both Mama's Family and The Golden Girls, told Entertainment Tonight that Rue was a "close friend and dear friend" and that her death "hurts more than I ever thought it would".
Rue McClanahan-Golden Girls2
McClanahan is survived by her sixth husband, Morrow Wilson (from 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 and a nephew, Brendan Kinkade. While there will be no funeral service for McClanahan, her family has created an official memorial page on Facebook, and memorial services are planned for summer 2010 in New York and Los Angeles. On June 10, 2010 McClanahan's extravagant New York apartment went on the market for $2.25 million.
Rue_McClanahan-Publicity Photo
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