Clockwise from top: Rue McClanahan stars in Logo’s new series ‘Sordid Lives, along with: Ann Walker (left) and Beth Grant, Olivia Newton-John and Caroline Rhea (right). (Photos courtesy of Logo)
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Dustin Fitzharris
Friday, July 18, 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
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
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
Wednesday,
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
an
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.”
The
series
is
populated
with
a
plethora
of
oddballs
brought
to
life
by
Olivia
Newton-John,
Caroline
Rhea,
Bonnie
Bedelia
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
for
McClanahan,
it
couldn’t
compare
to
the
thrill
she
got
for
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
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,”
McClanahan
could
be
seen
in
Gotham’s
queer
nightlife
scene,
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
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
—
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
married
in
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”
was
the
recipient
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.”
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