"Thank you for being a friend..." - R.I.P. Golden Girl Rue McClanahan

" ...travelled down the road and back again, your heart is true you're a pal and a confidant".

Photo from http://barbiesdreamhouse.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/golden-girls-2.jpg

Betty White is now the last living Golden Girl. Rue McClanahan, who made Blanche Devereaux such a beloved T.V. character despite being an odd mix of absolute vanity and insufferable self-obsession, passed away early Thursday morning 3rd June, at the New York City Hospital after suffering a massive stroke. "Rue was a close and dear friend. I treasure our relationship," White, 88, said in a statement. "It hurts more than I ever thought it would, if that's even possible." This is pretty devastating news... especially for people like yours truly who grew up with the Girls. Rue's sad passing follows way too closely the deaths of her co-stars Bea Arthur (who played straight-shooter Dorothy) last year at age 86, and Estelle Getty (the inimitable Sophia) Estelle Getty in 2008  at age 84.  My heart is breaking...

Gary Coleman on Diff'rent Strokes DVD cover It has been a sad sad sad last week. What with Diff'rent Strokes' Gary Coleman passing away at age 42 on Friday May 28, pulled from life support after being hospitalised for a brain hemorrhage, and actor-writer-director Dennis Hopper leaving us at  age 74 on Sat May 29, after a painful battle with prostate cancer. Flick Chick has long admired counter-culture hero Hopper's classic, if a tad eclectic body of work- from Rebel Without a Cause to Blue Velvet, from True Grit to Apocalypse Now, from Easy Rider to Giant, from True Romance to Speed. And who can forget Super Mario Brothers? True classics from one mad, mad genius.

Dennis Hopper in Easy Rider R.I.P.  you three. Hope you're happy in that big ole playground in the sky. You're sorely missed way down here. XOXO, G