娱乐英语新闻:"Golden Girls" Rue McClanahan dies at 76

BEIJING, June 4 (Xinhuanet) -- American actress Rue McClanahan, best known for her portray of a man-obsessed Southerner in the 1985-92 sitcom "The Golden Girls", died of brain hemorrhage Thursday morning at 76.

Her manager, Barbara Lawrence, said McClanahan died in the New York-Presbyterian Hospital with family members by her side, according to U.S. media reports.

The actress had undergone treatment for breast cancer in 1997 and suffered a minor stroke last November while recovering from heart bypass surgery.

McClanahan won an Emmy award for her role as Blanche Devereaux in "The Golden Girls."

Rue McClanahan (L) and Betty White, cast members in the television series "The Golden Girls," interact with photographers at the 6th Annual TV Land Awards in Santa Monica, California, June 8, 2008.

Devereaux's appetite for romance seemed almost insatiable, and the role was viewed by many as groundbreaking for portraying older women as still sexually active.

"Golden Girls" aimed to show "that when people mature, they add layers," she told The New York Times in 1985. "They don't turn into other creatures. The truth is we all still have our child, our adolescent, and your young woman living in us."

In addition to the U.S. television's top honor, McClanahan was also nominated for three Golden Globe honors in the same role.

Borin in Healdton, Oklahoma in 1934, McClanahan began her career on the stage.

She won an Obie - the off-Broadway version of the Tony - in 1970 for "Who's Happy Now," playing the "other woman" in a family drama written by Oliver Hailey. She reprised the role in a 1975 television version.

During her professional life of six decades, she played in more than 100 film, TV and stage roles.

McClanahan was married six times. She published her memoir titled "My First Five Husbands ... And the Ones Who Got Away" in 2007.

She is survived by her current husband, Morrow Wilson, whom she married in 1997.