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Born Eddi-Rue McClanahan on February 21st, in Healdton, Oklahoma, to parents William Edwin and Rheua-Nell McClanahan. She has a sister, Melinda Lou, who is five years younger.

At the age of four, Rue was enrolled in tap-dancing lessons; she was not thrilled at first, but found that she was a natural. Her first dramatic performance was in kindergarten playing Mother Cat in “The Three Little Kittens.” Even at this age she knew there was more to life than living in that sleepy Oklahoma town. At twelve she realized that performing was in her blood. Her junior and senior years in high school she ran her own dance studio, and was voted most likely to succeed. She earned a degree in German and Theatre Arts graduating Cum Laude from the University of Tulsa.

Rue arrived in New York City in January of 1957, auditioned for the renowned acting coach Uta Hagen and was accepted as a first-level student in her eight-week course. That summer she shortened her name to Rue McClanahan. On September 14, 1957 she arrived in Erie Pennsylvania to play the ingénue roles at the Erie Playhouse for the winter season. This is where she met Thomas Lloyd Bish, her first husband and father to her wonderful son Mark. Her first job in New York was playing Hazel in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, which was followed by MacBird, Jimmy Shine, starring Dustin Hoffman, and The Golden Fleece, garnering her a Best Actress Obie Award, a coveted honor for actors.

In 1971 she was cast as Caroline Johnson on the soap opera Another World, a nanny who was secretly trying to kill off her employer’s wife so they could live happily ever after. Her big television break came when she was offered a role on Norman Lear’s All in the Family, which led to a reoccurring role on his new show, Maude, in which she played the loveable airhead Vivian. In 1981 Rue played Aunt Fran on the series Mama’s Family. Aunt Fran met her demise by choking on a chicken bone, allowing Rue to audition for The Golden Girls. Blanche, the vain, over sexed southern belle from Atlanta, earned her an Emmy Award and made her a household name. The series lasted seven years, followed by the Golden Palace, a spin off of The Golden Girls. She followed this success with various television appearances and movies, notably “Out to Sea,” starring Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon, returning to the theatre with The Women, in 2002, and played the role of Madame Morrible in the Broadway musical, Wicked, in 2005-06.

In 1997, while working on a play in New York, she met Morrow Wilson. During this time she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She is now happily married to Morrow and has been cancer free for the last ten years. Her memoir “My First Five Husbands…. and the Ones who got Away” was released on April 10, 2007. It follows the ups and downs, the failures and successes of her life and career with a refreshing openness that is Rue. Coming up in 2008 Rue will play Peggy Ingram in Sordid Lives on LOGO! She is also editing stories for another book, and working on her one woman show!

Rue's latest project coming this summer to LOGO, Del Shores' Sordid Lives: The Series with, Jason Dottley, Olivia Newton-John, Caroline Rhea, Leslie Jordan, Bonnie Bedelia, Newell Alexander, Sharron Alexis, Rosemary Alexander, Katherine Bailess, Sarah Hunley, Ann Walker, Ted Detwiler, Emerson Collins and T. Ashanti Mozelle.