The charming but dimwitted Rose asks Blanche in a notable episode of The Golden Girls, “Tell me, is it possible to love two guys at the same time?” Setting the stage, Blanche responds. Have we had any alcohol? Blanche Devereaux enchanted viewers with her feisty, man-eating Southern belle manner throughout the lengthy American comedy. Betty White, Bea Arthur, and Estelle Getty played her best friends Rose, Dorothy, and Sophia in the NBC television series, which aired for seven seasons.
The Blanche actor, Rue McClanahan, is somewhat similar to the Blanche persona she plays on television. The Hollywood star famously quipped, “Oh, Blanche was an oversexed, self-involved, man-crazy, vain Southern belle from Atlanta — and I’m not from Georgia.” Jokes aside, the Golden Girls star doesn’t feel as sexually uninhibited as her TV avatar. In an interview with People, Rue stated, “I was brought up to believe that living with someone was sinful and getting married was the thing to do.”
Yet, the Emmy-winning American actress is renowned for her long list of marriages and hot love affairs, much like Blanche Devereaux. Rue covers her acting career in her biography My First Five Husbands… And the Ones Who Got Away, and she spills juicy details about her relationships, including her six marriages.
First Marriage: Tom Bish
Rue, who was up in Healdton, Oklahoma, attended the University of Tulsa before relocating to New York City. Rue and Bish met while Rue was working as a file clerk and Bish was looking for acting work at a performance at the Pennsylvania’s Erie Playhouse. The pair was married in 1958, and Mark Bish was their son. But the couple were divorced just 17 months after getting married. Rue was left feeling heartbroken and dejected by the event.
Second Marriage: Norman Hartweg
Rue married Norman Hartweg while her divorce was being handled because she was eager to give Mark a father. Hartweg, a friend from college, stayed close even after the couple split up soon after getting married.
Third Marriage: Peter DeMaio
Rue and Peter DeMaio met while performing together in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty off-Broadway. Rue married DeMaio, or “the Italian,” as she refers to him in her book, once more in the hopes of providing her kid with a conventional two-parent family.
Sadly, the irritable DeMaio and the 13-year-old Mark didn’t get along. According to Rue, Mark had made it clear to her that unless she obtained a divorce, he planned to go to Oklahoma. Rue and DeMaio separated in 1971 after seven years, after her son’s advice and that of the couple’s counsellor.
Fourth Marriage: Gus Fisher
In 1996, Rue wed Gus Fisher, a real estate agent whom she dubbed “the Greek.” The actress claims that one reason she entered the relationship quickly was a fear of being abandoned. She added, “I felt I had to be there with someone who was aware of my existence, that I was not alone, abandoned, and unnoticed.” Nevertheless, like the previous marriages, Rue and Gus’ union proved to be “a fluke,” and after just a year, they were talking about divorcing.
Fifth Marriage: Tom Keel
Rue’s Oklahoma-born high school sweetheart was Tom Keel. He went to see her in Los Angeles, California, after not seeing her since high school. We’d been close, and I was seeking for someone to trust, Rue said in an interview with People. During a short period of time, we were wed. It was a really rash thing.”
The couple’s romance ended in a contentious divorce in 1986 not long after they were married in 1984. Keel received a sizable financial payout since Rue had rejected a prenuptial agreement before their wedding.
Sixth Marriage: Morrow Wilson
Rue’s last marriage lasted 12 years and was also her longest. Rue felt that she married him “for the right reasons,” according to her memoir. Wilson expressed his admiration for the celebrity after Rue passed away on June 3, 2010, saying, “I’ve never loved anyone the way I loved Rue.”
