Sadly Golden Girls actress Rue McClanahan passed away early this morning at the age of 76-years old (full story), but she will always live on in syndication as Blanche Devereaux on the Golden Girls, Vivian Cavender Harmon on Maude, and Fran Crowley on Mama’s Family.

In celebration of her life here are 10 facts you might or might not have known about Rue:

1. Her birth name was Eddi-Rue McClanahan.
2. She was born in Oklahoma and attended the University of Tulsa where she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority.
3. She was married six times (Tom Bish 1958, Norman Hartweg 1959-1961, Peter DeMaio 1964-1971, Gus Fisher 1976-1978, Tom Keel 1985-1986, Morrow Wilson 1997 until her death).
4. She originally worked with Golden Girls co-star Bea Arthur on Maude. She was Arthur’s best friend on the show Vivian.
5. Her first Broadway acting gig was in 1969 opposite Dustin Hoffman in Jimmy Shine.  It took her 12 years to make it on Broadway.
6. Her character Blanche actually owned the house on the Golden Girls.  She then had Sophie(Estelle Getty), Rose (Betty White), and Dorothy (Bea Arthur) move in with her.
7. She portrayed Madam Morrible in the Broadway hit Wicked during the latter years of her life.
8. She had just one child, a son (Mark Bish), from her first marriage.
9. She was a vegetarian and original backer of PETA.
10. She was scheduled to act in the comedy film One Big Happy with Steve Martin and Diane Keaton this year.

[sources: bumpshack, imdb, wikipedia]