Rue McClanahan was an American actress, best known for her roles on television as Vivian Harmon on Maude, Fran Crowley on Mama's Family, and Blanche Devereaux on The Golden Girls, for which she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in 1987. McClanahan was born Eddi-Rue McClanahan in Healdton, Oklahoma, the daughter of Dreda Rheua-Nell , a beautician, and William Edwin "Bill" McClanahan a building contractor. She and her family were Methodists She was of Irish and Choctaw, Native American ancestry. Her Choctaw great-grandfather was named Running Hawk according to her autobiography... My First Five Husbands and the Ones Who Got Away . She grew up in Ardmore, Oklahoma; she graduated from Ardmore High School. McClanahan earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Tulsa, where she majored in German and Theater and joined the woman's sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta. She was also a National Honor Society Member. McClanahan made her professional stage début at Pennsylvania's Erie Playhouse in 1957, in the play Inherit the Wind.
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| Birthdate: | February 21, 1934 |
| Birthplace: | Healdton, Oklahoma |
| Date of death: | June 3, 2010 |
| Height: | 5' 3" |
| Education: | University of Tulsa |
| Religion: | United Methodist Church |
| Also known as: | Eddi Rue McClanahan, Rhue McClanahan, Patty Leigh |