Confirming the actress' passing was her manager, Barbara Lawrence, who told press that the star died at a hospital in New York while surrounded by her family.
Miss Lawrence tells People magazine, "She passed away at 1am this morning. She had a massive stroke. (McClanahan) had her family with her. She went in peace."
Born Eddi-Rue McClanahan, the small screen star enjoyed a career spanning more than five decades - having begun acting on the New York stage in the 1950s while making her Broadway debut in 1969 in musical Jimmy Shine, opposite a young Dustin Hoffman.
As for the her medical history, Miss McClanahan successfully battled breast cancer in 1997 but her later years were marred by ill health and she underwent triple bypass surgery in 2009, before suffering a minor stroke in January 2010.
On the relationship front, Rue was married six times with a son, Mark Bish, from her first marriage to Tom Bish. She divorced her sixth husband earlier this year.
