Arts & Entertainment
Remembering Rue
‘Golden Girls’ actress wanted fans to have a chance to own her belongings
The late Rue McClanahan with her gay best friend, Michael J. LaRue. (Photo courtesy Nik Pressley)
Some people can’t stand having stuff around they don’t use. Rue McClanahan was not one of them.
The “Golden Girls” actress, who died at age 76 in 2010 of a brain hemorrhage, wanted fans to have a chance to have her many personal belongings. Her best gay friend, Michael J. LaRue, has organized her items in a series of sales. The two met at Studio 54 of all places (for an animal charity event) about 10 years before she died and quickly became the closest of friends, LaRue says.
“For some reason, we could just crack each other up all the time,” LaRue says. “We just became really good friends. She always joked about marrying me so she could be Rue LaRue, but of course that wouldn’t have worked.”
LaRue, who was collaborating with the actress on a stage adaptation of her memoirs, says McClanahan was a keeper and collector.
“Let me tell you, that woman was a shopper and she saved everything,” he says. “She had this sprawling urban oasis in mid-town Manhattan … she had 13 closets in the house and five external storage areas and you couldn’t fit a paperclip in any one of them.”
As per McClanahan’s instructions, after family and friends had their pick, the rest goes to auction. Some was sold in Beverly Hills. A large sampling, including several scripts, costumes and collectibles from “The Golden Girls,” are available for purchase at estateofrue.com. The items are direct purchase and some are available for about $100.
“She really wanted the fans to have a chance to have what they wanted,” he says. “This isn’t about generating a zillion dollars. It’s about getting the stuff out there.”
LaRue says he’s “not a stuff person.” He has a drawing McClanahan made for him, her ashes and her Emmy. Her only child, her son Mark who lives in Texas, also took many items he wanted. In all, McClanahan named 22 beneficiaries in her will.
LaRue says McClanahan was a great pal. In addition to the work on the autobiography adaptation (“It was tight and really coming together when she got sick,” he says), a film crew followed the actress around for two years while she worked on it. Of the 150 hours they shot, a documentary is being made LaRue hopes will be finished within 18 months or two years.
LaRue says McClanahan was completely unguarded with him and had high regard for her fellow actresses, Betty White and the late Bea Arthur, though Arthur didn’t particularly care for White.
“Betty and Rue were friends and Rue and Bea were friends, and they all loved Estelle (Getty),” he says. “Susan Harris told Rue, ‘Thank God you’re here to play mediator. This show would never work without you.’”
The actresses, though, were always professional with each other, LaRue says. On taping nights, they would wait until all four were ready to go to the commissary. A reunion in which their segments were filmed separately was done because of logistics, not animosity LaRue says.
“She used to say she was nothing like Blanche, but that was such bullshit,” LaRue says of his pal. “I mean come on, she had six husbands … she was like Blanche in a lot of ways.”
The ultimate, LaRue says, was watching “Golden Girls” reruns with McClanahan, who also had starring roles on “Maude” and “Mama’s Family” in addition to the 70 movies and 250 theatrical plays she was in over her lifetime.
“We’d sit there watching and she’d say, ‘Listen to that, listen to that.’ It wasn’t about her performance. She was always pointing out how brilliant the writing was.”
The fourth annual Equality Prince William Pride was held at the Harris Pavilion in Manassas, Va. on Saturday, May 17.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
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In some fowl fiction foreshadowing, a gay-owned chicken joint has come home to roost on U Street, taking a page from the chicken window subplot on the HBO show “Looking.”
Last Friday, Lucky Pollo – much more than just a takeout window – stretched its wings atop the busy nightlife corner of 14th and U Streets NW.
Behind the poultry production place is Zach Renovátes, a D.C.-based nightlife operator and managing partner of LGBTQ venues Bunker and District Eagle, as well as the LGBTQ event production company KINETIC Presents.
Renovátes opened Bunker in February 2023 and District Eagle in January of this year. Lucky Pollo is the third in his growing gay empire, though this time there are noshes.
“Lucky Pollo was meant to be fun and a little provocative,” Renovátes said.
Based around its Peruvian-style rotisserie chicken, Lucky Pollo is a quick-service restaurant boasting a small menu of poultry and sides. Renovátes says that the dishes are deeply rooted in Peruvian culinary tradition, “a playful experience alongside seriously good food.”
Lucky Pollo’s signature chicken is steeped in a dozen-plus-spice marinade for 24 hours. The meat is then slow-roasted, rotisserie-style, over oak-wood charcoal. Chicken options include quarter, half, and whole.
Helming the kitchen at Lucky Pollo is Chef Luis Herrera, who brings Peruvian recipes passed down through three generations, including his grandmother Laura’s original creations.
Beyond the full bird, the menu features Peruvian-inspired sides like yuca fries (“I personally love these,” says Renovátes) and fried plantains, as well as comfort classics such as mac and cheese and mashed potatoes, and bowls, wraps, and salads. Herrera oversees development of the multiple sauces (including staff favorite, the “secret green sauce”), crafted in-house using traditional Peruvian ingredients.
Lucky Pollo, in its streetside perch, is an independent concept from District Eagle, open to the public and staying open late (3 a.m. on weekends) to serve both nightlife guests and the wider U Street crowd hungry for late-night bites. However, just beyond the kitchen, tucked in the back lies a vintage 1950s candy machine—labeled “Out of Order,” which serves as the door leading to subterranean District Eagle.
Renovátes notes that when District Eagle is open, security staff will maintain a strict two-line policy, ensuring that those seeking meat to eat will not get entwined with those looking to gain access to District Eagle.
Lucky Pollo unites the need for sustenance with the idea of a bit of fortune, given its motto, “Get Lucky” and the whimsical brand mascot: a leather-booted chicken perched on a horseshoe. Renovátes and his District Eagle business partner had always been interested in opening a restaurant, and the Lucky Pollo space was indeed lucky: It already came with a functional kitchen. Plus, he says, the nearby fast-casual places around 14th and U streets “don’t offer a lot of quality options,” so opening the chicken spot “was a no-brainer.”
The space, designed by NYC creative Jasin Cadic, blends theatrical street-art-style vibes with Keith Haring-inspired wall prints, neon signs, and ceiling-hung chicken figurines —”some edgy, some sweet,” says Renovátes —creating an immersive, playful atmosphere. Lucky Pollo and District Eagle maintain separate amenities for their respective customers.
Lucky Pollo opened last week with a competition to devour a whole rotisserie chicken in the fastest time, with the winner earning $1,000 and a framed spot on the restaurant’s “Wall of Fame.” The opening also featured other games and prizes, and a full crowd spilling out the door.
“We want it to be a great place to eat, but also serve as a playful front for something completely unexpected.” Renovátes says.
On weekends especially, he jokes, the motto will be, ‘Come for the chicken, stay for the cock.’”
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