Rue McClanahan: Move Over, Blanche!

Rue McClanahan, just like her alter-ego Blanche Devereaux, has no problem dishing about the juicy details of her life including all six walks down the aisle. The actress reveals quite a bit about love, acting, and everything else in her new book, "My First Five Husbands…And the Ones Who Got Away." Here she spills even more in this exclusive Lifetime interview.

Was it easy writing this memoir?

I don't even remember when I started taking notes and putting down ideas, but once I did, I had a jillion scattered about on different pieces of paper. I found myself writing on airplanes, hotel rooms—things got pretty well jumbled up. Then came the hardest part of organizing all the facts, dates, names — then changing the names! But it all came together.

What was it like when you first arrived to Manhattan to act?

That was a very exciting period. I was a sheltered girl from Oklahoma who didn't know about the big bad world. As soon I satisfied my parents by getting a degree at college, off I went to New York — and they still thought I was crazy! I was promised an audition for an off-Broadway musical. I started getting roles one by one and building a good reputation for myself.

Is it true you weren't originally slated to play Blanche?

Yes, there was a little glitch. Betty White was up to play Blanche while they were offering me an audition for Rose. After all, my previous role was the empty-headed and goofy Vivian on "Maude." Betty White, on the other hand, played that sexy Sue Ann Nivens on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" so she was slated for Blanche. Luckily, the director at my audition asked me to read for Blanche. The next thing I knew, Betty White was brought in to read for Rose, and that's the way it turned out — thank God!

You’ve finally found your soulmate with husband number six. What have you learned about looking for Mr. Right along the way?

What I learned about mate selection is to look for integrity. I always said my current husband, Morrow, has the greatest integrity of anybody I've ever known. The qualities I was looking for previously were not the kind of things that would get you through a long marriage like good looks and sex appeal. Morrow has goodness, kindness, a sense of humor and is one of the brightest men I know.

Do you have any advice for women still looking for "the one?"

I think you just need to be secure in yourself so you're not looking for someone to satisfy that bleeding need of having a mate. You also have to give more than you take, and really have to find someone who feels the same way. But I didn't write this book to tell people how to do it right. I wrote to show people what I did wrong.

Any new projects in the works for you?

I'm working on a stage musical called "Cobra Island." And at the end of the summer, I'm also going to do a wonderful new role on a TV show called "Ryan's Life" for HERE! TV. It’s the story of a 15-year-old boy who's questioning his sexuality, and I play the grandmother who is Ryan's only confidant. I'm really looking forward to developing that character because she's very flamboyant, colorful and fun like me.