My First Five Husbands...And the Ones Who Got Away
A Memoir
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4.3 • 81 Ratings
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
Rue McClanahan, best known for her portrayal of Blanche Devereaux on the Emmy-award winning series The Golden Girls reveals her life in and out of the spotlight in a laugh-out-loud funny memoir about love, marriage, men, and getting older that is every bit as colorful as the characters she played.
Raised in small-town Oklahoma in a house “thirteen telephone poles past the standpipe north of town,” Rue developed her two great passions—theater and men—at an early age. She arrived in New York City in 1957 with two-weeks worth of money in her pocket, hustled her way into a class with the legendary Uta Hagen, and began working her way up in the acting world against the vibrant, free-spirited backdrop of the sixties. That’s when she met and married Husband #1—a handsome rogue of an aspiring actor who quickly left her with a young son. Still, she was determined to make it on the stage and screen—and in the years that followed, rose to the top of the entertainment world with a host of adventures (and husbands) along the way.
From her roles on Broadway opposite Dustin Hoffman and Brad Davis, to her first television appearances on Maude and All in the Family, to the Golden Girls era and beyond, My First Five Husbands is the irresistible story of one woman’s quest to find herself. Rue is proof that many things can and do get better with age—and that, if she keeps her wits about her, even a small-town girl can make it big.
People always ask me if I'm like Blanche. And I say, 'Well, Blanche was an oversexed, self-involved, man-crazy, vain Southern Belle from Atlanta—and I'm not from Atlanta!’” —Rue McClanahan
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The youngest Golden Girls star offers a chatty, thoughtful and effervescent tour of her surprisingly turbulent professional and private life. Like her TV alter ego Blanche Devereaux, McClanahan charts her experiences through the men in her life (and isn't shy about assigning ratings to the life in her men she gives enthusiastic "A"s to Benson's Robert Guillaume and Brad Davis, who at the time was nine years older than her son). Days after giving birth, she was abandoned by her first husband and pushed into a second marriage (before her divorce was final). She remembers a photo taken of the event: "We looked happy. Much like smiling travelers waving from the deck of the departing Titanic." Both men continued to play large roles in her life as she navigated through numerous affairs and six marriages. After much stage work, she found success in her late 30s on TV's Maude. Later, "languishing in Love Boat limbo," she was rescued by The Golden Girls, which brought her an Emmy and financial security. Fans will relish her sweet and tart memories of friendships and tensions filming that show. A breast cancer survivor, she ends the book happily celebrating an active career and a decade with husband number six. Photos.
Customer Reviews
Interesting and Enjoyable Read!
I really enjoyed reading Rue McClanahan's memoir. She focused primarily on her beginnings in show business and although some of the references were before my time, I still enjoyed the story. She was very forthcoming with facts but I would have liked a bit more "soul searching". My First Five Husbands is an enjoyable read
Here’s Blanche!
Rue McClanahan was Blanche Deveraux literally and figuratively. Heck, even Betty White said so. This book is a fun read and I am reading it for the second time now. Rue said the only difference between her and Blanche is that she is from Oklahoma and Blanche was from Georgia. If you find yourself reading this book with that southern accent (in your head) it makes it even better.
Rue MCClananhan
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