S8 E2 Extra Sugar - Golden Girls: Rue McClanahan

Rue McClanahan once said, “People always ask me if I’m really like Blanche. And I say, ‘Well, Blanche was just Rue with the volume turned up.’” In this week’s “Extra Sugar”, we’re raising a slice of cheesecake to Rue, learning about her five-decade career, some of the diverse roles she had after Golden Girls, AND how she got that name: Rue.

Here are some of the things Nikki read in preparation for this week’s episode, if you want to dive in: 

• The New York Times’ tribute to Rue McClanahan 

• A summary of the Oklahoma Museum of Pop Culture’s Rue exhibit

• The Farm Sanctuary’s tribute to Rue

• PETA’s tribute to Rue 

• My First Five Husbands…And the Ones Who Got Away: A Memoir

And, as always, thank you for being a friend!

Or listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music.

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Transcript

Extra Sugar is all about the fabulous, the talented, the magnificent Rue McClanahan

Nikki: Hi, Salina.

Nikki: Hey, Nikki.

Nikki: And hey, everyone. Welcome to this week's Extra Sugar. So it's hard to pinpoint exactly When Eddie Rue McClanahan ceased being a girl from Oklahoma and. And became an entertainment legend, but somewhere between the small schoolhouse plays of her childhood and Blanche Devereaux's boudoir, the transformation happened. This week's Extra Sugar is all about the fabulous, the talented, the magnificent Rue McClanahan.

Rue was born in Oklahoma, not Georgia, like Blanche

So I think the first question I always have about, actors who are really known for playing a particular character is how much do they actually identify with that character in real life? so I shared kind of a silly quote that Rue shared. Shared about, Blanche in our main Blanche episode, but she also said this about Blanche. People always ask me if I'm really like Blanche, and I say, well, Blanche was just Rue with the volume turned up. I, would add to that. It's the volume turned up and the Southern accent turned on, because Blanche Devereaux Scarlett o' Hara draw wasn't really authentic. Rue was born in Helton, Oklahoma, not Georgia, like Blanche. So she may have had a little of a Midwest south accent, you know what I mean? But it wasn't the deep, Georgia accent that, Blanche had. She was also born in 1934, which made her 51 when the Golden Girls first aired, not 40 like Blanche often tried to claim. And while Blanche's backstory gave her just one true love, her husband George. Rue's personal life was more, let's say, eventful. She was married six times.

Nikki: I did see that. I only saw one. I was like. But it was her last marriage, and it was, like, just the last couple years of her life.

Nikki: And I was like.

Nikki: She was like, wow, that's really late. And then I hit show more. And I was like, oh, okay.

Nikki: Yeah, love, is a battlefield. I've heard that somewhere. So, personally, I would have thought it would have been maybe a little more on Brand if Blanche had racked up a few more marriages of her own. Because it feels so, like, I don't know, glamorous. Like old Hollywood. All of the old Hollywood. Yeah. That sort of thing.

Nikki: Okay.

Nikki: but no, it was Rue with their big romantic resume, not Blanche. That said, there were some threads connecting the two women. Both loved the spotlight. Rue was performing from a very young age and eventually went on to study German and theater at the University of Tulsa. And those sorority stories that Blanche loved to tell, well, Rue really did serve as vice president of her sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta. While Blanche might have bragged about her Social life. Rue could brag about her resume. She was an accomplished working actor with a career that spanned decades and a wide range of roles. I thought we'd highlight a couple of those today. So in preparation for this extra sugar, I did a speed read of Rue's autobiography. My First Five Husbands and the Ones who Got Away. Lord of mercy. I meant to read that a long time ago. And then I think it was a couple weeks ago, when you reminded me that we were recording today, I was like, oh, I guess I should read that book now. It's a speed read. I still think there could be room to do a sweet tea and TV book club on that if we wanted to. It was super juicy.

Nikki: Yeah, you got me with the title. It sounds great.

Nikki: It was, m. Juicy. In a way. That's a celebrity memoir. Should be. I don't think we got it from Dixie Carter's memoir, and I don't think we really got it from, Delta Delta Burks. This one was.

Nikki: I'm down. you've already read it.

Nikki: I have. I'll read it again. Because it was a speed read, so.

Nikki: I can't borrow M. It is what you're saying.

Nikki: no, because it was digital. Ah. Yeah. but it was easy to. It's like $4 on Amazon or something.

Nikki: Okay.

Nikki: If I paid for it, I don't remember. We'll find it. Okay.

Nikki: We'll find it.

How did Rue Rue get the name Eddie Rue

Nikki: the first two or three chapters of the book focused on our childhood, so I wanted to share a couple of interesting tidbits. Sort of rapid.

Nikki: You mean spoilies.

Nikki: Spoilies.

Nikki: Okay.

Nikki: Spoil season. So this is where we can decide. Do you still want to do the book club after hearing all this? So how did she get the name that I mentioned at the top of the segment? Eddie Rue. Her aunt Winona sue, her father's sister, begged Rue's mother to let her name Rue. Her mom agreed, but she drove a hard bargain. She also had to be able to name Winona's firstborn. So Eddie Rue is a combination of Rue's mother's name and Rue's father's name. So her father was named William Edwin and her mother was named Rua Nell. So Eddie Rue was a composite of both names. And so, not to leave you hanging, Rue's mother, Rue Nell, did follow through on her plan to name her niece. she named her Irla sue with no hyphen. So sue dropped Erla when she was 14 and just went by sue the rest of her life. Yeah. So Rue lived through the Depression. but she said the only marker of it having been the depression for her family was that they had beans, incorporated into every dinner at night. she said she only realized when she made it to college that pinto beans weren't a dinner table requirement. she did say a special dinner treat for them was cornbread and a glass of sweet milk, which I thought was very Southern, because that used to be one of my favorite things to have at my grandmother's house.

Nikki: essential, one might say.

Nikki: Absolutely. Her father, whom she called Bill, never hugged her. And I think that left a really huge impression in her book. She wrote, quote, as Bill walked toward me, my arms and body ached so deeply for him to stop and hug me hello that my skin hurt. But he said only a weary hello, Frosty, which was his nickname for her. And I said, hi, Bill, as he trudged past me, leaving me feeling empty and alone.

Nikki: Jeez.

Nikki: So she said she became a lifelong hugger, starting in ninth grade when her friend taught her how to. She said to that point, she never knew how. So I think that there's layers to that, and I think that you might be inclined to unpack the six marriages in that context.

Nikki: Oh, I thought you were going to say you might be inclined to understand. Oh, well, I learned to hug at.

Nikki: Like, 39, and she still doesn't. Yeah. she was of Choctaw ancestry on her mother's side. Her great grandfather was named Running Hawk. She moved a lot as a child to support her father's career in construction and construction adjacent exploits. I didn't really understand. The family lived in Texas and Louisiana for short stints and bounced around a couple of Oklahoma towns while she was growing up. In sixth grade, she dressed in a scarlet o' Hara themed costume. I thought that was interesting, given the blanche of it all.

Nikki: Yeah, very.

Nikki: And then, I loved this quote, talking about her childhood quote. Growing up with the eccentricities of Southerners prepared me for the eccentricities of theater folk. The word culture means something very different down Oklahoma way. And I thought that was kind of interesting, given that we've talked about Southern eccentrics and eccentricity and sort of just putting her life in that context, I thought was fascinating.

Nikki: Big. Everything is big.

Nikki: Everything is big Theater South.

Nikki: Yeah, I can see it.

Nikki: So, as a child, Rue took part in various dance and acting lessons. In late high school and college, she taught dance lessons. She transitioned into her professional entertainment career as a stage actor, which I think probably made the transition to sitcom somewhat seamless, since you have your marks and you have Your spot on the stage and you're speaking out to an audience. Very similar to theater. She made her professional stage debut in Pennsylvania at the erie Playhouse in 1957 in a play called Inher the Wind. After that, she began acting off Broadway in New York City more than a decade later, 1969. It shocked. It absolutely shocked me at how long. 10 years is a long time. That's a lot of hustle and grind. so I just imagine she worked so much during that time. but in 1969, she made her Broadway debut as Sally Weber in the play Jimmy Shine. fun fact, she acted alongside Dustin Hoffman, who, who was the title character, Jimmy Shine.

Nikki: Very cool.

Nikki: so that's pretty cool that she worked off Broadway and all these playhouses for so long and finally made her debut alongside the Dustin Hoffman. That's pretty cool. shortly after this, she made the jump into tv. But it would be years before she joined the Golden Girls cast. as influential and iconic as she was as Blanche Devereaux. She had a series of kind of iconic roles before that, and then some not so iconic roles. So first up, she appeared in another world from 1970 to 1970, 1971, as Caroline Johnson. When that role ended, she moved to where the Heart Is, a CBS soap opera playing Margaret Jardin. And she talked about soap operas in her book. Not in a terribly flattering way. I, think she was grateful it got her there, but she did not particularly enjoy her time there. After her tour of soap opera, she jumped into situational television, appearing in a 1972 episode of all in the Family. She played one half of a swinging couple who met the unsuspecting bunkers.

Nikki: I would like to see this episode.

Nikki: There were swingers on TV in 1972. Just let that process.

Nikki: Yeah, it was a big time for.

Nikki: Swinging M. It's a big time for a lot of things, I think. So after that, she'd work with Bea Arthur for the first time on Maude, which was a spin off of all in the Family. Rue played Maude's best friend, Vivian, who eventually married Maude's next door neighbor. Obviously having played an entirely different character on all in the Family, Rue wasn't intended to play Vivian initially. In fact, Doris Roberts was supposed to play Vivian, but something wasn't working out. So Norman Lear called Rue and the rest is history.

Norman Lear created a show just for Rue McClanahan called Apple Pie

following her time on Maude, Norman created a show just for her. The Norman Lear created a show just for Rue McClanahan called Apple Pie. But only two episodes aired before it was Canceled Sultan.

Nikki: What was it about? Oh, sorry.

Nikki: is it a waitress? Okay, maybe I feel like waitress in a small town. It's just two episodes, so don't go falling in love.

Nikki: Okay? No love Got.

Nikki: Seems like it took another couple of years before she found herself back on television. but her reappearance on television was, as we've talked about already, a touchstone for Nicki Mays Mama's Family. She played Aunt Fran Crowley, spinster's sister to Mama, who was played by Vicki Lawrence. Betty, White was also in that cast. The show was canceled after two seasons and then moved into syndication. And I really kept meaning to look up what it means to, like, I thought syndication was just when the, like, first airing of a show is re. Aired. I thought they were just re errors. But with Mama's Family, they had two original seasons, then they were canceled. They moved into syndication, but they just kept doing the show for another couple of seasons. I can't remember how long, but it was like new episodes. So there aren't just two seasons. Right.

Nikki: So that's weird.

Nikki: I kept meaning to look into it, but I never did.

Nikki: I'm looking at apple pie now.

Nikki: Is it about a waitress?

Nikki: It is about a hairdresser. Ginger Nell Hollyhock's way to cure loneliness is using a newspaper ad to recruit her family. Filling the positions were con artist hubby Ed Murtaugh, tap dancing daughter Anna, a son named Junior, and an elderly grandfather.

Nikki: It's not familiar to me at all.

Nikki: This hair is like. She looks older here than on Golden Girls.

Nikki: Hair can do a lot.

Nikki: That's true. Apple pie.

Nikki: so I was really sad to read, that Rue didn't enjoy her time on Mama's Family because, again, I love the show so much. but she said it's because the character of Fran was originally conceived as assertive and boss. Bossy, but had to be reworked as the show progressed. And the character ended up being fussy and uptight, which she really didn't like. She had played that character before, and she wanted a chance to play someone assertive and bossy. So she was really sad she didn't get to do that, and she was really glad that she got off the show.

Nikki: Right.

Nikki: oh, and by the time the show, ah, came, was syndicated and came back, she had signed on to Golden Girls, and that's really where we start the Golden Girls era of her life.

We talked quite a bit in the main episode about the character of Blanche

so we talked quite a bit in the main episode about the character of Blanche. So I wanted to kind of err on the side of trivia for this piece of extra sugar, because there's some fun stuff out there. So, like, we all know that Rue eventually brought Blanche Devereaux to live to life on screen in 1985. However, only the real ones know that originally she was asked to read for Rose. Conversely, Betty was asked to read for Blanche since she had played a saucy type character on the Mary Tyler Moore Show. As Rue told it, she read the role of Blanche and just knew it was meant for her. She even implied that she's the one who suggested they swap the roles, which, of course, they ultimately did. I don't think. I think I took it out of here and maybe it'll come up in our Bea Arthur episode. But also, B didn't want to do Golden Girls because, like I said, Betty White had played a saucy type character on the Mary Tyler Moore show. And, Rue had played sort of a, a Rose type character on Maude and Bea Arthur told Blanche, I don't want to just play a show where we're all playing characters we've played before. And Blanche was like, no, here's the twist. We're swapping places, me and Betty. And, Bea was like, well, now that's interesting. I'll do that. So that's how she got Bea Arthur to do it.

Nikki: Okay.

Nikki: Okay. Another fun fact is that Rue loved Blanche's wardrobe so much that she put a clause in her contract stating that she got to keep Blanche's cloth clothes. According to one thing I read, McClanahan turned a kitchen in her New York City apartment into a closet to house her expanded work. wardrobe.

Nikki: Yes, yes.

Nikki: Maybe you can get on board with that.

Nikki: Yeah, I think, you know, I can, let less, maybe impressive in New York.

Nikki: Yeah.

Nikki: You know, but maybe more impressive because I assume she had some coin in the bank, you know?

Nikki: Yeah. I also loved reading that Rue and Betty White were honest to goodness friends in real life. They like to play word games together.

Nikki: Okay.

Nikki: following the Golden Girls, of course, Rue moved on to golden palace, which was the short lived Golden Girl spin off in which Rose, Blanche, and Sophia invest in a Miami area hotel. but once that show ended, Rue didn't really slow down at all. She continued, in fact, acting in what I figured to be about a show a year. So some of the highlights I saw in her filmography tinged with elder millennial. She was on Boy Meets World, Touched by an Angel, Blues Clues, King of the Hill, which is my new emotional support TV show.

Nikki: Really?

Nikki: It's Very Good and Law and Order. And she appeared on Broadway and Wicked as Madame Marie. Bla morrible moribla.

Nikki: Not the right person.

Nikki: I know. I watched it, and then I forgot how to pronounce it. Madam Morrible. That sounds right.

Nikki: Like, horrible.

Nikki: Yeah. Okay. during this time, she also wrote the book that I referenced at the top of this segment, My First Five Husbands and the Ones who Got Away, which was published in 2007. this is the part of the story we have to, we have to talk about it, but it is a bummer.

Rue McClanahan passed away on June 3, 2010 following brain hemorrhage

So. Rue passed away on June 3, 2010, at the age of 76, after having been on life support for several days following a brain hemorrhage. in the previous year, she had also experienced a triple bypass surgery and a minor stroke. Work she left behind her sixth husband, Morrow Wilson, from whom she was separated, her son from her first marriage, Mark Bysshe, her sister, Melinda Lou McClanahan, and other family members, including a niece, Amelia Kincaid, who is also an actor. so I've gone through so much about her career, which was impressive and long, but I didn't want to skip over the person part of her legacy, the philanthropy part, the mom part, the sister part. So. Rue was a longtime supporter of animal rights. In a statement after her death, the president and co founder of the Farm Sanctuary said, our hearts go out to Rue McClanahan's family and friends. In this difficult time, she inspired countless others to start thinking about farm animals as, sentient beings who deserve to be treated with respect. Through her involvement with Farm Sanctuary and our Legacy Society, Rue's compassion for animals will live on. Along with the other Golden Girls, she was also a PETA supporter. Rue was also an outspoken advocate for LGBT plus rights, including gay marriage. In fact, the year before her death, she took part in the February 2009 benefit defying inequality, a celebrity concert for equal marriage rights for the LGBT community. so Rue died 15 years ago, but here we are, 17 minutes into a tribute about her, and I could probably keep going. That's how far and wide her influence reached. She elevated the voice of women in entertainment. She unapologetically embraced her own sass and femininity and channeled it into Blanche, one of the most enduring female sitcom characters of all time. So we will raise a slice of cheesecake to Blanche and Rue here in a couple minutes.

Sam concludes our extra sugar tribute to Rue with this lovely quote from her sister

But before we do, I'll end our extra sugar tribute to Rue with this lovely quote from her sister, Melinda. Let me tell you, she worked hard and she paid her dues before she became the great and glorious actress that she was. We were just two little kids from southern Oklahoma. We were middle class, actually lower middle class during the depression. And yet she did it. So I love this quote because it touches on something that struck me so many times in preparing for this segment. Just how much work Rue put into her nearly five decade career. 50 years of travel and sleeplessness and sheer joy that she gave the world. It was a pleasure for me to learn more about her and her legacy. And I hope you enjoyed the ride. So y' all know how we do. We're on Instagram and Facebook. You can email us@sweettvpodmail.com we'd love to hear if there's something we missed about Rue or any other fun facts you'd like to share, or if you just thought this segment was pitch perfect and you want to share the joy, we'll take that too.

Nikki: Maybe you'll get an email from me.

Nikki: Oh, wouldn't that be fun? be nice, wouldn't it? So that's been this week's extra sugar.