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Rue-ful musings
Published: 9/19/2008 3:51 PM
Last Modified: 9/19/2008 3:51 PM




I love Rue McClanahan.

Hopefully, I didn't tell her SOOO much the other day that I freaked her out. It was while we chatted by phone about her book, "My First Five Husbands … And the Ones Who Got Away," which recently came out in paperback.

Anyway, there were some things I couldn't get into my Sunday, Sept. 21, story (look on page G5) about Ms. McClanahan – things I thought you might find interesting. She really is a hoot, especially when I asked her what the sexiest thing is to her about the opposite sex.

"His brain," she said. Not that "looks and sex appeal" aren't important.

She mentioned an encounter with actor Hume Cronyn – not exactly known as a good-looking man, she said. But in the '80s, when she saw him out with a "blonde bombshell" on his arm, "Darned if he wasn't awfully sexy that evening. … Ooh, he was sexy."

Certain late-night talk show hosts, however, don't do it for her.

"I don't find David Letterman sexy," she said. Keith Olbermann? Different story.

The same definitely goes for Barack Obama, for whom she "would direct traffic."

"He's very sexy," she said. "And Lord knows Bill Clinton is just sex on a stick. He's just a knock-out."

I also asked if she watched reruns of "Golden Girls" – that would be a "no," as I tell y'all in my Sunday story.

Ms. Rue frequently watches Turner Classic Movies, with actors like Jimmy Stewart ("wonderful actor, very versatile") and James Cagney.

"They don't make 'em like that anymore," she said. "But Clooney's good, Matt Damon. The current crop's pretty good. But I still love DeNiro and Al Pacino. … And Ed Norton. There's an actor, whew."

But back to her fellow "Golden Girls."

For the most part, she wasn't "palsy-walsy" with Bea Arthur (Dorothy) or Betty White (Rose). Each had her own separate groups of friends. But Estelle Getty (Sophia) frequently kept her in stitches on the set, cracking wise.

Did y'all know Ms. Rue was originally asked to play the part of Rose, and Betty the part of Blanche? She writes in the book that she just KNEW she was perfect for Blanche. Thankfully, they asked her to read Blanche's lines and, well, the rest is laugh-out-loud TV history.

Oooh, I have to tell y'all the embarrassing moment during my interview with her. But you'll have to wait 'til Tuesday's column for that.

Peace, love and Emmy-winning Oklahoma natives … xoxo


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Living Wright

While other kids were watching "The Smurfs," Scene Writer Jason Ashley Wright was tuned in to "Style with Elsa Klensch." By fourth grade, he knew he wanted to write, and spent almost three years publishing a weekly teen-oriented magazine, Teen-Zine -- circulation: 2. After earning a degree in journalism from the University of Southern Mississippi, he became the medical reporter and teen board coordinator for the Hattiesburg (Miss.) American, a Gannett newspaper. Eight months later, with visions of Elsa dancing in his head, he applied for the fashion writer position at the Tulsa World, where he began working on Aug. 3, 1998. He is now a general assignment reporter for Scene.

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