Rest In Peace Rue McClanahan

One Response to “Rest In Peace Rue McClanahan”

1. Erik Walton on June 4th, 2010 2:58 am
   

   I was blessed enough to actually meet Rue, Estelle and Bea…. My best friend, Paul Mulder had volunteered to work as tech leader for the Alliance for Gay and Lesbian Artists in the entertainment industry (now GLAAD) awards show in 1986… I was helping him lay wire, and put up lights… about an hour before the show, one of the producers came to me in a panic and asked me “what size tux do you wear?” I said 38 ( I was much thinner then!) why? “well, one of our escorts hasn’t showed up, and we need someone to escort the winners onto the stage.” I was so nervous! I had just moved to LA from Phily two years before… The Golden Girls were nominated for the episode “Isn’t it Romantic” with Lois Nettleton, for a positive portrayal of a lesbian character…. so I got dressed, and they put me in the Green room, Charlotte Rae, Lynn Redgrave, Delta Burke were there as well as Rue, Estelle and Bea…. Bea was lying on the couch cracking jokes, and drinking Tanqueray on the rocks… I was so nervous… they were all chatting with me, asking about where I was from and about myself… They were all so sweet … Bea kept topping off my cocktail… when it came time to get up on stage, I was to escort Estelle on one side, and another friend of mine was to escort Bea… The producers and directors were panicking, saying “How are we going to get her on stage? she can’t even stand up she’s so wasted, I was nervous going out in front of a huge audience much less with celebrities! Rue told me a great dirty joke which put me right at ease, they all were saying “don’t worry, guys everything will be fine! she’s fine! so I got on one side my friend got on the other Rue and Estelle helped us get her off the couch… Rue was so sweet to me and kept telling me not to worry that everything would be just fine… we got out on the stage, and “snap” like flicking a switch Bea turned cold sober and hit every line every mark… later on after the show, we all sat around drinking Tanqueray and tonic in the green room and just shooting the shit… It was truly a highlight of my life to spend time with them. Thats why I shed a tear this morning… They made this little boy from Philly who dreamed of being in Hollywood and spending time with celebrities and being their friend… They made my dream come true… I hope all of their dreams are now coming true… for all the lives they touched…. for all the smiles and laughs… thank you for being a friend, especially mine, if even only for a short time….