'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
R. I. P.