Posted: Fri, 25 Sep 2009 01:48 PM - 9,193 Readers
By: Austinist
photo by Gothamist
“There is a fine line between having a good time and being a wanton slut. I know. My toe has been on that line.”
Thus spoke the irrepressible Blanche Devereaux on Golden Girls, one of the most collectively beloved TV sitcoms of all time. Like the character she played, Rue McClanahan has enjoyed her share of men (see: My First Five Husbands....And The One Who Got Away, a 2007 book and soon-to-be touring musical, and our 2007 interview with her), but has made "a friend and a confidante" out of even more women. In 1997, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and her sister rallied prayer groups all over the country to support her. When McClanahan healed, she emerged an activist for breast cancer awareness, and has taken her message of survival (and trademark sass) all over the country.
This Sunday, McClanahan will be the keynote speaker at Breast Cancer Resource Centers of Texas' "Toast to Sisterhood, Support, and Survivorship" champagne brunch at the Austin Renaissance Hotel. Below, she chats with Austinist about female friendship, her favorite roles over the years, and cats in heat.
Hello, Rue! It's wonderful to speak with you.
Thank you. I am holding the telephone in one hand for this interview, and making coffee with the other hand. I am getting energized for our talk!
What have you been up to in Austin since you've arrived?
Well, Esther's Follies is my favorite. I always make it a point to go when I'm in Austin, visiting my son Mark. I've probably been about 12 times. It is just so lively and entertaining, all the performers there are very talented.
I love Esther's Follies, too. Especially the act where the one woman lip-syncs to Patsy Cline's "She's Got You," and pulls things out of her dress. My mom has a similar act.
Your mother is a lip-syncer?
Yes! She pulls a golf club out of her dress during that song.
That act must require a very special dress construction.
Well speaking of Austin, for this trip, you are speaking at the Toast to Sisterhood, Support and Survivorship champagne brunch on Sunday. What makes this event special
When it comes to these breast cancer events, I find them all special. It is so important to have groups like this one behind you when you are sick, to have people around you providing you companionship and strength. It's a key to survival. Also, in exchange for my talk, they are giving me a couple of days at Lake Austin Spa! So I'm going to get massages, hit up the jacuzzi, swim in the pool. I've never been to Lake Austin Spa before so I think it's going to be a real treat.
Tell us about sisterhood during your own battle with breast cancer.
I had a pretty good support group, I have to say. My sister, who is a biologist, rallied groups around the country to pray for me while I was sick. And I really felt the power of their thoughts, of that support. Even though my own support group wasn't all women - I had my fiance there beside me - women have that power to give enormous care.
I used to have one best girlfriend, and she passed away many years ago, and it's taken me a while to find another person like that...someone who just gets you, you know? I do have a very close girlfriend now, even though she is almost young enough to be my daughter, but she is always there for me. Just so loyal and good. When you're in a crisis situation, it is important to have one true blue, loyal friend like that. And your attitude. Your attitude during cancer is key. My doctor told me he could tell who was going to survive cancer from the moment they walked in the door.
Since we're talking about survival, I'd love to ask you about other areas of activism that are close to your heart. I have read elsewhere that you are a big animal rights supporter?
I work with animal groups all over the country. I love animals! They need our help you know, they can't talk. They need our care. The big causes I work with are PETA, Farm Sanctuary, Best Friends - that wonderful organization out of Utah - North Shore Animal League. A majority of these operations are run by women, you know. Tippi Hedren from The Birds runs The Roar Foundation. A lot of these places have vets working on-site, which is crucial I believe. Vets have to be a part of this effort. When it comes to animals like pets though, cats and dogs, the more important thing is spaying and neutering because then we wouldn't need to rescue so many in the first place.
Do you have any pets?
Yes, a great big black female cat named Kate. Oh, she's very funny. And sweet. She went into her first heat shortly after she came to our home - I do not ever wish to experience that again. [Laughs]
Well with your activism and public speaking, you are so busy these days! You've also had several projects in the entertainment world these days, both TV and on stage. Tell us about My First Five Husbands - your book, now being made into a musical?
My First Five Husbands: And the Ones Who Got Away will open in Chicago soon for a year-long, midwest tour. My son Mark is a jazz guitarist and wrote much of the music in the show - he wrote themes for all of the husbands, the Greek, the Italian, the cowboy. Another husband was a jazzy musician type, and another a brainy, very intellectual man. And then Mark wrote his own theme, and that one touched on his struggle when he was a little boy, while I was off trying to do acting and he would stay with my parents. I am so proud of him. He is playing in the pit with this show, and it's just been a great experience for the both of us. I wrote the lyrics for two of the songs, also.
Now that we're talking about acting, I have to ask a Golden Girls question. Every time I talk about that show, I am amazed how people of different ages all love it - my mom, my husband, gay men the world over. Why do you think that show continues to have such a mass appeal?
Well, because it's funny and it's warm, and that's what everybody likes!
But it's cheeky, too.
Oh yes, that's correct. Also, we would take a whole week to make a segment for Golden Girls, and that's very different from the way television is made these days. It's the writing. Even those lines that seem like they're ad-libbed, I assure you they were not. Every syllable was memorized and performed a dozen times. Those writers are competing for Emmy's, so their words need to be out there. I believe in craftsmanship, and refining the art as much as you can, and you need a lot of time to do that.
I've read in previous interviews that Betty White was originally supposed to play Blanche, and you were supposed to play Rose. How different the show would have been! But you had a connection to Blanche from the beginning, correct?
From the moment I opened the packet to the script, I said: 'I know just how to play Blanche.' Betty White had played the vamp in Mary Tyler Moore, so that's why the show's pilot director, Jay Sandrich, had her in mind for the part. I told my agent I wanted to read for Blanche though, and she said: 'Well you can read Rose or just forget about it.'
Did you ever think you might skip the reading?
Well, I knew I couldn't let this beautiful script pass me by....it would be painful to go in every day and watch someone else play Blanche, but I would do it. When I read for Rose though, Jay saw something - there was a little flicker in his eye - and he asked me to read for Blanche, and Betty to read for Rose. And it all worked out you know.
Do you think Blanche is your favorite character, out of all the roles you've played
I can't say she's my favorite, but can say she's in my top 3 favorites.
Which are?
Viviane from Maude. Blanche, of course. And a role named Fay Precious, from Who's Happy Now? on PBS. Fay was this east Texas waitress, having an affair. I loved her.
Before we wrap up Rue, I just have one more question. Without giving too much away, what is the big message you'd like to impart at the champagne brunch this Sunday?
That's easy! Attitude is the key to your survival.
