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.”
Sports
Jason Collins dies at 47
First openly gay man to actively play for major sports team battled brain cancer
Jason Collins, the first openly gay man to actively play for a major professional sports team, died on Tuesday after a battle with brain cancer. He was 47.
The California native had briefly played for the Washington Wizards in 2013 before coming out in a Sports Illustrated op-ed.
Collins in 2014 became the first openly gay man to play in a game for a major American professional sports league when he played 11 minutes during a Brooklyn Nets game. He wore jersey number 98 in honor of Matthew Shepard, a gay college student murdered outside of Laramie, Wyo., in 1998.
Collins told the Washington Blade in 2014 that his life was “exponentially better” since he came out. Collins the same year retired from the National Basketball Association after 13 seasons.
Collins married his husband, Brunson Green, in May 2025.
The NBA last September announced Collins had begun treatment for a brain tumor. Collins on Dec. 11, 2025, announced he had Stage 4 glioblastoma.
“We are heartbroken to share that Jason Collins, our beloved husband, son, brother and uncle, has died after a valiant fight with glioblastoma,” said Collins’s family in a statement the NBA released. “Jason changed lives in unexpected ways and was an inspiration to all who knew him and to those who admired him from afar. We are grateful for the outpouring of love and prayers over the past eight months and for the exceptional medical care Jason received from his doctors and nurses. Our family will miss him dearly.”
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Collins’s “impact and influence extended far beyond basketball as he helped make the NBA, WNBA, and larger sports community more inclusive and welcoming for future generations.”
“He exemplified outstanding leadership and professionalism throughout his 13-year NBA career and in his dedicated work as an NBA Cares Ambassador,” said Silver. “Jason will be remembered not only for breaking barriers, but also for the kindness and humanity that defined his life and touched so many others.”
“To call Jason Collins a groundbreaking figure for our community is simply inadequate. We truly lost a giant today,” added Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson in a statement. “He came out as gay — while still playing — at a time when men’s athletes simply did not do that. But as he powerfully demonstrated in his final years in the league and his post-NBA career, stepping forward as he did boldly changed the conversation.”
“He was and will always be a legend for the LGBTQ+ community, and we are heartbroken to hear of his passing at the young age of 47,” she said. “Our hearts go out to his family and loved ones. We will keep fighting on in his honor until the day everyone can be who they are on their terms.”
The Washington Blade will update this article with additional reaction when it becomes available.
Glitterati Productions held the “Studio 69” party at Bunker on Friday, May 8.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Arts & Entertainment
Washington Blade’s Pride on the Pier returns June 13 to kick off D.C. Pride week
Pride on the Pier officially launches Pride Week in D.C.
The Washington Blade’s annual Pride on the Pier celebration returns to The Wharf on Saturday, June 13, 2026 from 4-9 p.m., bringing thousands of LGBTQ community members and allies together for an unforgettable waterfront celebration to kick off Pride week in Washington, D.C.
Now in its eighth year, Washington Blade Pride on the Pier extends the city’s annual celebration of LGBTQ visibility to the bustling Wharf waterfront with an exciting array of activities and entertainment for all ages. The District Pier will offer DJs, dancing, drag, and other entertainment. Alcoholic beverages will be available for purchase for those 21 and older.
“Pride on the Pier has become one of the signature moments of Pride in D.C.,” said Lynne Brown, publisher of the Washington Blade. “There’s nothing like watching our community come together on the waterfront with live music and incredible energy as we kick off Pride week.”
Pride on the Pier is free and open to the public, with VIP tickets available for exclusive pier access to the Dockmaster Building. To purchase VIP tickets visit www.prideonthepierdc.com/vip.
Additional entertainment announcements, sponsor activations, and event details will be released in the coming weeks.
Event Details:
📍 Location: District Pier at The Wharf (101 District Sq SW, Washington, DC)
📅 Dates: Friday, 13, 2026
⏱️ 4-9PM
🎟️ VIP Tickets: www.PrideOnThePierDC.com/VIP
Jason Collins dies at 47
Polish government to recognize same-sex marriages from EU countries
America’s broken pipeline of mental healthcare for trans youth
GLAA releases ratings for 18 candidates running for D.C. mayor, Council, AG
Blade finalist for D.C. Society of Professional Journalists awards
Maren Morris to headline Capital Pride Concert
Va. Supreme Court invalidates Democrat-backed redistricting plan
Celebrate Pride in Lost River, a slice of rural heaven
Learn more about queer love
