The hit television show The Golden Girls has been off the air for a long time now, and out of the four main stars, only Betty White remains alive. Estelle Getty died in 2008. Bea Arthur died in 2009. Oddly enough, Rue McClanahan passed away in 2010, but for some reason, her death notice has gone viral and a lot of people think she just died today.
It isn’t exactly known as to why, but the death report of McClanahan written by the New York Times over five years ago is being passed around. The actress who played Blanche Devereaux on The Golden Girls died of a brain hemorrhage on Thursday, June 3, 2010.
Not only was news of McClanahan’s death trending on Twitter, but it had spread to Facebook as well. People were posting her death notice and stating how sad it was that “another Golden Girl was gone.”
So many talented people passed away today #RueMcClanahan #DustyRhodes #ChristopherLee rest in peace
— Tera Bare (@boodlesmom) June 11, 2015
Goodbye to Golden Girl Rue McClanahan…. #GoldenGirls #RueMcClanahan #Blanche pic.twitter.com/n4f3ONanEt
— Splashlight Studios (@splashlightsoho) June 11, 2015
On Thursday, there were a number of celebrity deaths that actually did rock the world. Actors Christopher Lee and Ron Moody died, as did wrestling icon Dusty Rhodes. They say that bad things happen in threes, and it did again on Thursday with the celebrity deaths.
Rue McClanahan was not one of them.
Strangely enough, this happened last year too, and the Washington Post had caught wind of it. The way it happens is that it’s always around the date of the celebrity’s death, and somehow, someone just sees the original report.
Then, it gets posted by one person and then another person shares it and so on. No one takes the time to read the article or see the date that the piece was written and therefore think it just happened.
This is along the same lines as the celebrity death hoaxes that often times go viral online. Earlier this year, it was Willie Nelson that everyone thought was dead, but he’s still going strong. It’s happened to numerous celebrities on many different occasions.
Sadly, Rue McClanahan is indeed dead and her memory will have to live on in reruns and the LEGO set of The Golden Girls . Those that are sad about her death have every right to be, but simply know that it wasn’t something that just happened as she’s been gone now for five years.
[Image via NBCU Photo Bank – Ron Tom]