Zoneboy
10-02-2008, 04:14 AM
MY FIRST FIVE HUSBANDS ... AND THE ONES WHO GOT AWAY
By Rue McClanahan
Broadway Books; $15 trade paperback
Link (http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/ci_10518232)
"People always ask if I'm really like Blanche, and I say, `Well, consider the facts: Blanche was a glamourous, oversexed, self-involved, man-crazy Southern belle from Atlanta - and I'm not from Atlanta!"
Rue McClanahan was born in Oklahoma in 1934. She has a kind and tender heart. This leads her to adopt strays of the canine, feline, and masculine varieties.
I had not realized how much time and effort went into her drama and classical ballet training. She graduated cum laude from the University of Tulsa with degrees in theater arts and German. She studied with Maria Tallchief and at the Actor's Studio. After graduation, she set off for New York and a career on stage.
She made lots of stops back and forth between the East and the West (including the Pasadena Playhouse), and nearly every community theater in between. She had her first and only child right out of college with husband No. 1.
Her big chance came when Norman Lear was seated in the New York audience of 1969's "The Golden Fleece." (This was during the interlude with husband No. 3 or No. 4, the Italian. Not to be confused with the Greek, No. 4 or No. 5? I suppose I could have made notes.)
The book picks up once she became part of the cast of "Maude" and "The Golden Girls." When she talked about Bea Arthur, Estelle
Getty and Betty White, I became very interested as I had faces to put with these names.
McClanahan wrapped up this biography with her 1997 bout with breast cancer and present husband, No. 6, Morrow Wilson. By this time, I felt that this nice, but unconventional lady was a friend and I wish her, her family, and her extended menagerie only the best.
Interestingly enough, this reprinted edition comes with a reader's guide of book club questions at the story's conclusion which leads you to believe that the publishers think groups are likely to select this book for discussion. I should think the conversations might be very juicy, not to mention educational!
By Rue McClanahan
Broadway Books; $15 trade paperback
Link (http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/ci_10518232)
"People always ask if I'm really like Blanche, and I say, `Well, consider the facts: Blanche was a glamourous, oversexed, self-involved, man-crazy Southern belle from Atlanta - and I'm not from Atlanta!"
Rue McClanahan was born in Oklahoma in 1934. She has a kind and tender heart. This leads her to adopt strays of the canine, feline, and masculine varieties.
I had not realized how much time and effort went into her drama and classical ballet training. She graduated cum laude from the University of Tulsa with degrees in theater arts and German. She studied with Maria Tallchief and at the Actor's Studio. After graduation, she set off for New York and a career on stage.
She made lots of stops back and forth between the East and the West (including the Pasadena Playhouse), and nearly every community theater in between. She had her first and only child right out of college with husband No. 1.
Her big chance came when Norman Lear was seated in the New York audience of 1969's "The Golden Fleece." (This was during the interlude with husband No. 3 or No. 4, the Italian. Not to be confused with the Greek, No. 4 or No. 5? I suppose I could have made notes.)
The book picks up once she became part of the cast of "Maude" and "The Golden Girls." When she talked about Bea Arthur, Estelle
Getty and Betty White, I became very interested as I had faces to put with these names.
McClanahan wrapped up this biography with her 1997 bout with breast cancer and present husband, No. 6, Morrow Wilson. By this time, I felt that this nice, but unconventional lady was a friend and I wish her, her family, and her extended menagerie only the best.
Interestingly enough, this reprinted edition comes with a reader's guide of book club questions at the story's conclusion which leads you to believe that the publishers think groups are likely to select this book for discussion. I should think the conversations might be very juicy, not to mention educational!