It’s
8
a.m.,
and
Rue
McClanahan
is
lounging
in
the
45-foot
garden
of
her
Upper
East
Side
apartment.
After
some
chit-chat
about
buildings
going
up
in
her
neighborhood
and
garbage
trucks
making
noise,
she
jumps
right
into
the
juicy
stuff.
“I
think
Blanche
might
have
been
a
little
bit
of
sex
addict,”
McClanahan
says.
“Sex
to
her
is
as
natural
as
drinking
water.”
Of
course
she’s
describing
Blanche
Devereaux,
the
character
she
played
on
the
TV
series
“The
Golden
Girls”
and
spin-off
“The
Golden
Palace”
from
1985
to
1993.
For
many
years,
McClanahan
wondered
why
gay
audiences
loved
Blanche
so
much.
Then
one
night
in
the
Village,
she
finally
asked
a
young
man.
“He
looked
at
me,”
McClanahan
recalls,
“and
said,
‘I
thought
you
knew;
we
all
want
to
be
Blanche.’”
That
made
sense
to
McClanahan.
“Blanche
is
a
role
model.
She’s
free.
She
follows
her
own
rules
and
moves
to
her
own
drummer,”
McClanahan
says.
“She
had
a
wonderful,
optimistic
outlook.
She
was
sort
of
like
Scarlett
O’
Hara,
saying,
‘Oh,
well,
tomorrow
is
another
day.’”
LAST
WEEK,
GAY
AUDIENCES
FELL
in
love
with
another
colorful
television
character
played
by
McClanahan.
On
July
23,
“Sordid
Lives:
The
Series”
debuted
on
Logo.
The
show
—
set
in
the
small
town
of
Winters,
Texas,
and
in
Los
Angeles
—
is
a
prequel
to
Del
Shores’
play
and
the
cult-classic
film,
“Sordid
Lives.”
Series
producer
Damian
Ganczewski
says
the
“show
is
funny
and
has
heart.
It
has
something
for
everyone
—
gay
or
straight.”
McClanahan
plays
Peggy
Ingram,
a
church-going
matriarch
having
an
affair
with
a
man
half
her
age
who
wears
prosthetic
legs.
The
character
has
just
died
in
the
play
and
movie,
so
it's
the
one
role
that
was
wide
open
when
the
prequel
idea
came
about.
“The
script
was
well
thought
out
and
well
constructed,”
McClanahan
says.
"It
was
funny,
and
that
always
appeals
to
me.
I
loved
all
the
characters.”
The
series
is
populated
with
a
plethora
of
oddballs
brought
to
life
by
Olivia
Newton-John,
Caroline
Rhea,
Bonnie
Bedelia,
Beth
Grant
and
Leslie
Jordan.
The
latter
—
best
known
as
Karen
Walker’s
nemesis
Beverly
Leslie
on
“Will
&
Grace”
—
reprises
his
role
as
a
Tammy
Wynette-obssessed
gay
man
trying
to
be
“dehomosexualized.”
Yes,
the
series
is
quirky
and
outrageous.
McClanahan
says
one
of
her
favorite
scenes
was
straddling
her
co-star
David
Stern,
who
plays
her
lover
G.W.,
while
making
love
in
Peggy’s
children’s
old
playhouse
in
the
backyard.
As
thrilling
as
that
romp
was,
it
couldn’t
compare
to
the
thrill
the
actress
got
having
a
say
in
Peggy’s
wardrobe.
“I
dress
really
ugly,”
McClanahan
says.
“They
got
me
clothes
from
Wal-Mart
that
were
on
sale
for
$1.29.
But
I
got
to
make
all
of
Peggy’s
hats.
They
are
little
pillbox
hats
with
flowers
on
the
top.
It’s
just
about
the
most
unattractive
hat
that
you
could
ever
put
on
me.
I
made
five
of
them
that
I
wear
in
the
series.”
MCCLANAHAN
IS
NO
STRANGER
to
modest
neighborhoods
such
as
Peggy’s.
Born
in
Healdton,
Okla.,
on
Feb.
21,
1934,
McClanahan
first
came
to
New
York
when
she
was
15,
fell
in
love
with
the
city
and
immediately
“recognized
it
as
home.”
In
addition
to
the
“The
Golden
Girls,”
throughout
her
career
McClanahan
also
played
starring
roles
on
“Another
World,”
“Maude”
and
“Mama’s
Family.”
In
2001,
she
starred
in
Broadway’s
“The
Women.”
McClanahan
was
also
no
stranger
to
Gotham’s
queer
nightlife,
even
hosting
a
few
rounds
of
the
game
show
Faggot
Feud
at
local
bars.
But
no
matter
what
role
she
plays,
she’s
a
constant
animal
rights
activist
and
an
outspoken
supporter
of
the
Democratic
Party.
Today,
she
can’t
say
enough
about
Barack
Obama.
“This
is
the
damnedest
election
I’ve
ever
lived
through,
and
Obama
is
the
most
amazing
candidate
I’ve
ever
bumped
into,”
McClanahan
says.
“The
man
has
unshakable
integrity.
He’s
the
nearest
thing
to
Lincoln
we’ve
seen.”
One
comparison
you
won’t
find
McClanahan
endorsing
is
“The
Golden
Girls”
being
hailed
as
the
original
“Sex
and
the
City.”
“‘The
Golden
Girls’
has
infinitely
more
substance,”
McClanahan
says.
“I
never
enjoyed
the
characters
on
‘Sex
and
the
City,’
and
I
could
never
watch
it
for
more
than
a
few
minutes.”
WHAT
ABOUT
COMPARING
BLANCHE
TO
RUE?
Both
have
had
their
share
of
men.
McClanahan
has
been
married
six
times.
She
documented
each
marriage
and
divorce
in
her
autobiography
“My
First
Five
Husbands.”
“I’ve
learned
not
to
rush
in
and
to
stand
back
and
give
it
some
consideration
when
someone
proposes
marriage”
McClanahan
said.
“You
don’t
really
know
what
a
guy
is
like
—
...
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