She was one of the most popular stars of classic sitcom The Golden Girls, so it’s no surprise that news of Rue McClanahan’s death led to an outpouring of grief.
Messages like ‘RIP Rue’ and ‘We Will Miss You’ began appearing on Facebook and Twitter earlier this week as fans learned that the actress had passed away.
Rue, who played Blanche Devereaux, was apparently trending at one stage, which is pretty touching, aside from the fact she actually died five years ago. Awkward!
Apparently the confusion began when a fan shared an old obituary on the star and the article was reposted by others, who didn’t seem to notice that it was dated June 3, 2010, the day of her death.
Cue a barrage of tribute tweets:
oh no!!!! blanch devereaux RIP http://t.co/KrMglblpc0— â ï¸ danamariedior (@itsDANAmarie) June 11, 2015
Blanche from Golden Girls died! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOIOOOOO!!!!! ð©ðððððð ð¢ð¨ð®ð RIP RUE McCLANAHAN AKA BLANCHE!— str8outtalocash (@bretheplaymaker) June 11, 2015
However it wasn’t long before others got wind of the fact that these devastated fans were ridiculously out of date with their info and made sure they knew it.
THE GOLDEN GIRLS – 9/24/85- 9/24/92nRUE MCCLANAHAN, ESTELLE GETTY, BEA ARTHUR, BETTY WHITEn(ABC STUDIOS)
Rue played Blanche in long running sitcom The Golden Girls
Our personal favourite tweet read, ‘Someone on my FB posted: RIP Rue McClanahan, you will be missed. Apparently not, since she died five years ago and you didn’t miss her.’
Someone on FB “really upset” at the death of Rue McClanahan of the Golden Girls. Hope they were that upset in 2010, when she actually died.— John Murphy (@John_murphy1) June 11, 2015
https://twitter.com/BurritoDiaries/status/609335564114853888
This just in: Rue McClanahan, still dead.— Max Weiss (@maxthegirl) June 12, 2015
This has apparently happened a few times before, leading some to suggest that the late actress, who was 76 when she died, is haunting Twitter!
All joking aside, Rue was amazing as the Golden Girls’ Blanche and is definitely missed, regardless of the date of her death.
Watch some of Blanche’s best moments here:
Rue died in 2010 while Bea Arthur (Dorothy) passed away in 2009 and Estelle Getty, who played Dorothy’s mother Sophia, died in 2008.
Betty White, who starred as Rose, is now the only surviving Golden Girl.
THE GOLDEN GIRLS – 9/14/85 – 9/14/92nTop: RUE MCCLANAHAN (Blanche), BETTY WHITE (Rose); BEA ARTHUR (Dorothy), ESTELLE GETTY (Sophia)n(ABC STUDIOS)
Betty White, top right, is the only surviving Golden Girl (Picture: ABC)
The sitcom ran from 1985 to 1992, but it’s been on the air a lot over the years through reruns and the theme tune is still one of our favourites ever.
All this talk is making us want to dig out our old Golden Girls boxsets!
