The world of daytime mourns the loss of another former star. Emmy-winning actress Rue McClanahan, best known as one of television's Golden Girls, passed away suddenly earlier today of a massive stroke. She was 76.

McClanahan was born Eddi-Rue McClanahan in Healdton, Oklahoma, on February 21, 1934.

Though McClanahan will forever be known as the man-crazy Southern belle, Blanche Devereaux, on the 1980s sitcom the Golden Girls, McClanahan, like so many performers, earned one of her first big breaks on a soap opera. In July 1970, McClanahan joined the cast of Another World in the role of Caroline Johnson -- a role that was to have lasted just a few weeks. McClanahan's character, a nanny, developed an obsession with John, the father of the twin children that had been left in her care. She then began poisoning the children's mother in order to win John's heart. It didn't work, and Caroline resorted to kidnapping the children. McClanahan's "short-term" stint ended more than a year after it began, in September 1971, when Caroline was finally brought to justice.

McClanahan also appeared on the short-lived soap, Where the Heart Is.

In the late 1970s, McClanahan found success in numerous primetime roles. She landed the role of Vivian Harmon on Maude, opposite one of her future Golden Girls co-stars, Bea Arthur. She also appeared as Aunt Fran on Mama's Family.

In 1985, McClanahan began a seven-year run on one of television's most unlikely hits, the Golden Girls. The show has been in reruns since it went off the air in 1992. In 1987, McClanahan won an Emmy for her work on the NBC series.

Of the four Golden Girls, the sole survivor is 88-year-old Betty White (Rose Nylund). Bea Arthur (Dorothy Zbornak) died last year of cancer, and Estelle Getty (Sophia Petrillo) died in 2008.

"Rue was a close and dear friend," White told People. "I treasure our relationship," White, 88, said in a statement. It hurts more than I ever thought it would, if that's even possible."

McClanahan continued to act after the Golden Girls went off the air. She guest-starred in more than a dozen primetime series. Her most recent appearance was in 2009 on the Tyler Perry series, Meet the Browns.

In 2007, McClanahan published a memoir titled, My First Five Husbands ... and the Ones Who Got Away.

Earlier this year, McClanahan suffered a minor stroke while recovering from heart bypass surgery.

McClanahan requested that no funeral be held for her, but memorial services will be announced for later this summer in New York and Los Angeles, California, Lawrence said.

Fans can pay their respects online, a family statement said.

"Please join us in celebrating Rue's amazing life" by visiting a memorial page established for her on Facebook, the family said.