Happy 75th Birthday to Rue McClanahan...

As the saucy, slutty Blanche for seven seasons on "The Golden Girls" (and don't forget the one season of "The Golden Palace"), Rue McClanahan became an Emmy winner and a gay icon for playing waaaay against type. Betty White had played the slutty Sue Ann Nivens on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" while Rue was to play sweet and childlike Rose. But in the end, thankfully, they switched roles and the rest is history.
She currently stars in "Sordid Lives: The Series" as Peggy Ingram and previously starred with her "Golden Girls" co-star Bea Arthur for six seasons on the classic 70s sitcom "Maude."

When I spoke with Miss Arthur a few months back, she shared a funny anecdote about her friend: "When we started 'Golden Girls' and Rue, my darling Rue, suddenly found herself a so-called TV star. I remember she couldn't believe that I did my own grocery shopping! But I did and would usually meet Angela (Lansbury) in produce."

Here's one of her funniest "Golden" scenes as a delirious Blanche who has not slept in days. It is, an absolute a scream: