Rue McClanahan stars with Oliva Newton-John in “Sordid Lives: The Series,” which debuts Wednesday, July 23, on Logo. A special New York screening Tuesday, July 15, benefits the Trevor Project.
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By Dustin Fitzharris
Friday, July 04, 2008
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 Deveraux, the character she played on the TV series “The Golden Girls” and spin-off “The Golden Palace” from 1985-1993.
For many years McClanahan wondered why the gay community 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 said. “She had a wonderful, optimistic outlook. She was sort of like Scarlett O’ Hara, saying, ‘Oh, well, tomorrow is another day.’”
The gay community is about to fall in love with another colorful television character played by McClanahan.
On Wed. July 23, “Sordid Lives: The Series” will debut on Logo. The show—set in both 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 affair with a man half her age who wears prosthetic legs.
“The script was well thought out and well constructed,” McClanahan says. “It was what a good script is. It was funny and that always appeals to me. I loved all the characters.”
And what characters! The series also stars Olivia Newton-John, Caroline Rae, Bonnie Bedelia and Leslie Jordan. The later—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 for McClanahan, it couldn’t compare to the thrill she got for having a say in Peggy’s wardrobe.
“I dress really ugly,” McClanahan said. “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.”
Obama and ‘Sex’
McClanahan is no stranger to modest neighborhood such as Peggy’s. Born in Healdton, Okla. on Feb. 21, 1934, McClanahan first came to New York when she was 15 and fell in love with the city, saying she immediately “recognized it as home.” In addition to the “The Golden Girls,” throughout her career McClanahan also had starring roles on “Another World,” “Maude” and “Mama’s Family.” In 2001, when she starred in Broadway’s “The Women” (a gay favorite), McClanahan was 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 McClanahan 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 said. “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—even if you live with them a while—until after the wedding. That seems to give some men a sense of authority and ownership over your actions.”
She says her sixth husband, Morrow Wilson, whom she’s been married to since 1997, is different from all the others. She calls him the smartest man she’s ever met.
Still, their relationship has had its share of ups and downs. Getting Wilson to overcome his difficult childhood, which has left him sensitive, but also filled with rage, has threatened their marriage. McClanahan is standing by her man the way he stood by her.
“We went through cancer together,” McClanahan said, referring to her bout with breast cancer in the same year she met Wilson. “No relationship is easy. I’ve left Morrow a couple of times and come back because every time I come back to start divorce proceedings, I can’t do it. There’s something there that is worth saving and finding. I’ve always known that under his troubled exterior there was a wonderful human being.”
McClanahan has certainly earned her place in history. In June the “The Golden Girls” were the recipients of TV Land’s special Pop Culture award. And after all of her loves and accomplishments and a life that’s been everything but sordid, she said she’s learned a valuable lesson.
“You can’t be all things to all people. You have to be true to yourself.”
‘Sordid Lives: The Series’ debuts Wednesday, July 23, on Logo. A special screening of the first two episodes Tuesday, July 15, at New World Stages, 343 W. 49th St., benefits The Trevor Project. Tickets range from $50–$500. Rue McClanahan, Olivia Newton-John, Beth Grant, Leslie Jordan and others will appear. (Read The Blade’s recent editorial on The Trevor Project here.) For more information and tickets, visit thetrevorproject.com.
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