'Golden Girl' Rue McClanahan dies at 76
Posted: 04 June 2010 0824 hrs
From left: 'The Golden Girls' actresses Betty White, Bea
Arthur and Rue McClanahan.
LOS ANGELES : Actress Rue McClanahan, who found fame in
the long-running US television sitcom "Golden Girls", died Thursday
at age 76, People magazine reported on its website.
McClanahan, who played the man-hungry Blanche Devereaux in the
popular series which ran for seven years from 1986 to 1992, passed
away after suffering a massive stroke, her manager Barbara Lawrence
told People.
Lawrence was not immediately available for comment.
McClanahan, who had suffered a minor stroke earlier this year
following heart surgery, died surrounded by her family, Lawrence
told People.
"She went in peace," she told the magazine.
McClanahan's death leaves Betty White, 88, as the only one
surviving member from the cast of the, which centered around four
elderly women sharing a Miami home.
McClanahan's costar, Beatrice Arthur, died from cancer in 2009, one
year after the death of Estelle Getty in 2008.
McClanahan's acting career spanned six decades, beginning in
off-Broadway theater in 1957 before her television debut in the
early 1970s.
She had a recurring role on the sitcom Maude between 1972 and 1978,
where she starred alongside Bea Arthur, but it was "Golden Girls"
which catapulted her into the big-time.
The colourful backstory of McClanahan's character on the show was
mirrored by her own personal life -- she was married no fewer than
six times.
- AFP/il