Mary Ann Mobley and Danny Cooksey are still alive, as well.
I heard that when Danny learned his wife was expecting Conrad and Charlotte gave him this lovely old locket filled with tannis root. And Mary Ann Mobley is married to Gary Collins who keeps getting into DUI related accidents. Bain and Rae are part of a coven, I tell ya, a coven! That’s why I saw them naked that time yelling “The year is one!” when I was at a Japanese steak house in Pensacola.
You’ve triggered a memory…I’m remembering Charlotte Rae dressed as a witch. Possibly something like a headmistress at a witch school or something. I have no idea where that came from.
Oh, yeah…there’s no way something like this can be completely buried beneath a pile of subconscious tarps with warning signs on them…
The Worst Witch - she played Miss Cackle in the movie. (Which also featured Tim Curry in a positively surreal musical number.)
And to the OP - damn, I was just getting over Bea’s death! (Well, no, not really, but it still feels a lot closer than it was.)
Rue was the baby of the group, 11 and 12 years younger than the others if her account of her age was right, and younger than I thought she was while watching the show.
Even so, it’s actually great that a show that premiered 25 years ago about three women, all of them in their “golden” years (White and Arthur were actually a little bit older than the characters they were playing) had its three principal cast members last as long as they did. (Estelle Getty has only been dead for a couple of years but, alas, she was a vegetable for years before she died.)
Del Shores has a 19 minute tribute reelon his facebook.
Rue was always attractive, but man- I never knew what a babe she was back in the day.
I found out today while I was at wwork. This made me incredibly sad. I loved The Golden Girls, and each passing feels like it took a piece of me with her.
RIP Rue, you really were a classy lady. I hope Betty is around to carry on the tradition for years to come.
Thank you for being a friend, Blanche.
Wow, three Golden Girls dead in less than two years! 
Rue had great timing. My favorite clip of her in the series: her reaction at the end…
Rue will be missed. Loved her character and her acting.
I actually worked on that show 
It was at the “Golden Theatre” in Burbank, Ca, sometime around 1991-1992, and was titled “Oedipus Schmoedipus! As Long as you Love your Mother”.
The “Golden Theatre” is now a record shop called “Backside Records”, near the downtown area of Burbank. As you can see, it was not a very large theatre: SMoola.com is for sale | HugeDomains
I think we had a total of 84 seats, and the entire stage was built on a turntable, so we could rotate the set in the dark to change scenes. We had help from some Disney Imagineers in the design and construction.
I ran the light board and sound boards up in the booth, and worked with the stage manager to via headset to call the cues. Not a bad gig for two high school sweethearts trying to break into musical theatre.
The first time I met Rue, she was sitting in my seat up in the booth with her back turned to me. It was dark and I had no idea who this tiny little person sitting in front of my boards, and I think I muttered “Get the hell out of my chair”, to which she responded a little nervous but very polite, “oh dear, I am terribly sorry!”
We laughed about that for weeks, me telling her to “get the hell away from my lunch” or “who in the hell do you think you are?”, much to the horror of the Director/Choreographer, and Producer, who we not in on the joke.
“Oedipus Schmoedipus! As Long as you Love your Mother!” was fairly derivative of “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum”, and the comparison was made by many, including the critics.
I don’t think she was trying to write a brilliant master piece of theatre, but just a fun show for normal people to watch, often more than once.
If I recall, most of our shows were sold out, and towards the end of the short run, a good part of the audience became regulars.
The reason for my somewhat lengthy comment regarding a simple footnote, is that this will probably be the only time “Oedipus Schmoedipus! As Long as you Love your Mother!” gets discussed online, so I thought I would share some of my straight dope with the world.
Rue was a classy lady, ready to share a laugh with anyone, and she kept her promises.
She never did sit in my chair again.
My favorite scene was when Blanche’s prison pen pal got out and came to visit her. The four Golden Girls are telling him that Blanche is not home and he wouldn’t want to met her because she is stupid and awful and then Rose says “And ugly.”
Blanche: You take that bad, Rose Nyland. Blanche is not ugly. She is gorgeous." Stamping her foot for emphasis “Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous.”
Prison penpal: Great. I’m leaving, but tell Blache I’ll be back for her later."
All the “girls” are looking at Blanche with Shocked expressions on their faces. Blanche says “And stupid.” Stamping foot “Stuipid, stupid, stupid.”
And did Betty White make a pact with the devil? The three other Golden Girls in return for her comeback?
Blanche comes into the living room ready for her date, does a turn, and says to Sophia, “How do you like my dress?”
Sophia (without looking up) : “What difference does it make? In half an hour it’ll be lying on the floor next to a half-empty bottle of Jack Daniels.”
Bye-bye, Blanche… 
It should be noted that originally Rue was called in to read for the part of Rose, as she had played the airhead Vivian on Maude. Betty White was to read for Blanche, having just played the man-hungry Sue Ann Niven on Mary Tyler Moore.
While Betty was reading, Rue was waiting and reading the script. She thought she would be wonderful as Blanche, and decided to ask to read for that role instead. Then Betty came out and the casting director said “Sorry, Rue. Betty has been given the part of Rose.”
Rue read instead for Blanche, and the casting director agreed she would be perfect “but Bea doesn’t want to play Dororthy.” Rue called her and asked why not
Bea: Because I don’t want to do “Maude and Vivian meet Sue Ann.”
Rue: No. I’m playing Blanche and Betty’s playing Rose."
There was a long pause and then Bea said “That sounds interesting.”
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH… I love love how Blanche’s death has brought out all the closet Golden Girls fans out of the closet. I’m still kind of mad I never got to see her as Madame Morrible in Wicked.
Anne Xmas, I’m such a hardocore Golden Girls fan that I could replay that episode in my head…
In Chicago ME-TV (Airs on WCIU-TV Channel 26.2 and on WWME-LD Channel 23.1) is going to air a salute to Rue on Sunday, June 6th starting at 4pm