When Gary Coleman's death was immediately followed by Dennis Hopper's, the rule of threes came in to play. Well, turns out the third is Golden Girl Rue McClanahan, who has died at age 76 :( Her manager has told People magazine, "She passed away at 1 a.m. this morning. She had a massive stroke. [She] had her family with her. She went in peace."
The actress moved to New York at a young age, and was acting in Off-Broadway shows by 1957. Last year she told NY Mag, "When I came to New York I was working Off Broadway making $55 a week, I had no clothing allowance whatsoever. I used to buy material by the yard... and I bought a $40 Singer sewing machine secondhand, and I made my own clothes." At the time of the interview, she was living with her husband in Sutton Place, and declared, "I was 15 when... I saw this city and I said, 'This is home.' I recognized it. I always felt like I had been born into the wrong place, back in Oklahoma."
McLanahan was perhaps best known for her role as Blanche Deveraux on Golden Girls, which she co-starred on with Betty White, Estelle Getty and Beatrice Arthur. With her death, this leaves White as the last Girl standing.
