Golden Girls star Rue McClanahan died after her son agreed to turn off life support, Life & Style has learned.

Mark Bish, Rue's son from the actress' first marriage, made the decision after flying from Austin, Texas, to New York City, the star's sixth husband, Morrow Wilson, who she separated from last year after 12 years of marriage, tells Life & Style.

"But in truth, there really was no choice," Morrow tells Life & Style. "She died at 1:05 a.m. today."

Rue, 76, played sassy Blanche Devereaux on the Golden Girls during the series' entire run, 1985 to 1992. She won an Emmy for the role and was nominated three other times. Rue's health woes began in November, when a stress test before a minor knee operation revealed she needed triple-bypass heart surgery, Morrow, 70, tells Life & Style.

A week after the surgery, she suffered a stroke. "The people in her life now say it was minor, but that stroke was massive," Morrow adds. "But she got out of the hospital and went home. She was having around-the-clock nursing care, with speech therapy and occupational therapy. We all thought she was on the road to a full recovery."

Golden Girls co-star Betty White spoke with Rue "every three or four weeks and has said how Rue's speech had come back," Morrow tells Life & Style.

But on Monday, Rue suffered a massive brain aneurysm in her apartment in NYC. She was rushed to New York Presbyterian Hospital, but there was nothing that could be done, says Morrow.

"She had a living will saying if she were brain dead, they should pull the plug, but the hospital waited for her son Mark to fly in and make the final decision," says Morrow, who said that Rue had specifically said she didn't want a funeral service.

Photo Credit: Landov