In the mid-1980s and early 1990s, there weren't a lot of TV stars more visible or popular
than Delta Burke. After the success of "Designing Women," however, this standout star of the
show never hit the same career high with a solo project. Here's what happened to Delta
Burke.
The slow descent of Delta Burke from award-winning star of an extremely popular sitcom to a page
in the "whatever happened to?" file began in the summer of 1990. For four years, Burke
had entertainingly headlined CBS's hit comedy "Designing Women." Set in an Atlanta interior
design company, Burke played Suzanne Sugarbaker, an extremely arrogant ex-beauty queen who
still treated everyone she came in contact with like a servant or underling, and with
utter disdain. While that fictional dynamic was played for laughs, behind the scenes,
things supposedly weren't so happy.
"I fell apart. Most of the time when you thought I was out panhandling, I was just sitting
at that big pay toilet, crying."
According to the Deseret News, Burke publicly accused show producers Harry Thomason and
Linda Bloodworth-Thomason of, quote, "psychologically abus[ing]" her. As she explained in 1992:
"It became unbearable into the second season for me. By the end of the fourth season, I
just couldn't live like that anymore."
Burke added that she asked the show's production company and CBS to step in, and neither entity
honored her request. The Thomasons argued that Burke was at fault, dubbing her a tough
and temperamental actor to work with and releasing a statement calling themselves, quote, "mentally
exhausted" from working with her every day. Things only got worse over the 1990-91 season,
and when it wrapped, Burke, who reportedly acted like she was the true and outright star
of the ensemble comedy, found herself out of a job.
Despite her controversial and high-profile 1991 exit from "Designing Women," TV producers
still very much wanted to work with Burke. After all, for five seasons, she'd anchored
a hit sitcom that earned three Emmy nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series and ranked in
the top 30 most-watched shows at its peak. Burke was a proven star who could potentially
pull in an audience without the writing and acting ensemble of "Designing Women."
ABC was so confident in Burke that in 1992, the network gave the green light for a sitcom
called simply "Delta." Scarcely a year removed from "Designing Women," Burke played against
type as Delta Bishop, an insecure wannabe country singer whose career wasn't taking
off, forcing her to take a job as a server. Failing to draw many "Designing Women" diehard
fans, "Delta" lasted just one season of 15 episodes, and ranked a lowly 71st in the annual
TV ratings.
While Burke left her signature role on her most famous project under murky, even controversial
circumstances, CBS and "Designing Women" creator Linda Bloodworth-Thomason were able to lure
Delta Burke back into portraying Suzanne Sugarbaker one more time.
"Hi, I'm Suzanne Sugarbaker, and before we begin I'd like to apologize for the size of
my hair."
On the 1995 spinoff "Women of the House," viewers learned that Suzanne had married a
powerful member of Congress only for him to die, leaving her to assume his seat in the
House of Representatives. Most episodes focus less on politics and this fish-out-of-water
premise and more on Suzanne clashing with her jaded and cynical staff, which included
future "Everybody Loves Raymond" star Patricia Heaton.
With much fanfare, "Women of the House" hit CBS's schedule in January 1995, right in the
middle of the TV season. The initial reviews didn't bode well, as critics slammed everything
from the lack of chemistry in the cast to the show's sense of humor. In the end, "Women
of the House" was cancelled just three months after it premiered. The failure marked Burke's
second straight flop, even though it was a spinoff of a hit, acclaimed sitcom.
In 2000, Burke got yet another chance at sitcom glory courtesy of NBC, and a new sitcom titled
simply "DAG."
"DAG" starred comedian David Alan Grier [GREER] as prickly Secret Service agent Jerome Daggett,
demoted from his job protecting the president to an assignment defending First Lady Judith
Whitman, who was equal parts pretentious and zany. Delta Burke was well cast as this character
of prestige, power, and influence, and it marked her first regular role on a TV series
since "Women of the House" flopped five years earlier.
Unfortunately, "DAG" wouldn't provide the career comeback or prove the star vehicle
Burke and her team probably hoped it would. The show was again hit with poor reviews,
and NBC cancelled "DAG" in the spring of 2001 after just 16 episodes.
Well over a decade after the dismal performance of "DAG," Delta Burke tried her luck at yet
another TV comeback. According to Deadline, Sony Pictures TV sold a pilot to ABC called
"Counter Culture," which could have earned Burke a prime spot on the 2012-2013 primetime
calendar.
Unfortunately, an accident that Burke suffered on set while shooting the pilot for "Counter
Culture" sealed the show's doom. According to Deadline, the actor endured a fall so severe
that she was unable to work for weeks. That pushed the timeline for the pilot back so
far that ABC decided to just not consider the pilot for its fall season at all, cancelling
Burke's return to TV before it could even begin.
Since her time on "Designing Women" ended in 1991, Burke has played many vivacious,
charming, and self-assured Southern women, though often in a voice-only capacity. On
the mid-1990s Family Channel sitcom "The Mighty Jungle," about a man who runs a backyard zoo
populated with talking animals only he can hear, Burke voiced a toucan named Viola. A
few years later, in the family movie "Good Boy!," she played a pretentious, pampered
diva of a poodle named Barbara Ann.
Burke has also spent her time away from TV roles returning to the stage. The actress
made her Broadway debut in September 2003, taking over the role of Mrs. Meers in the
long-running, Best Musical Tony-winning production of "Thoroughly Modern Millie."
Having been bitten by the live theater bug, Burke returned to Broadway in April 2005 in
a revival of "Steel Magnolias," the enduringly popular play about a group of Southern women,
as Truvy. Though the New York Times reviewer at the time didn't enjoy the overall revival,
Burke's performance was well-received.
In 2006, Burke appeared in the play "Southern Baptist Sissies." Set in a Texas small town,
it's about four young gay men recounting how they were awakened to their sexual orientation
and the conflict that created within their religious and conservative community.
Appearing in a play about LGBTQ people and issues amounted to outreach and advocacy for
Burke. In response, The Human Rights Campaign bestowed its Equality Award on the actor for
what The Advocate called her work promoting ideals of, quote, "acceptance and understanding."
In her acceptance speech — delivered years before same-sex marriage was legalized across
the United States — Burke took a stand. As she said at the time:
"I took this play because I have hope too. Times are changing, folks. So, yes, I believe
in gay marriage. I believe in equal rights."
While Delta Burke has moved into and out of the spotlight afforded by television and theater
since the 1980s, she's also spent a great deal of time and effort off-screen coping
with and treating a series of mental health issues. In January 2008, according to ABC
News, Burke admitted herself to a psychiatric facility for depression. The treatment came
after years of anxiety and panic attacks, which she often endured on the set of "Designing
Women," during rehearsals.
With the panic attacks came suicidal thoughts, and Burke sought help and was prescribed antidepressants.
But she still suffered from depressive bouts before her medications stopped working entirely
by early 2008. Those issues eventually led to the hospital stay, which also led her to
seek help for another problem: Hoarding. At the height of her problem, Burke admitted
to having crammed 27 storage units so full she could barely walk through them. She later
explained to Psychology Today that she felt her hoarding tendencies had come directly
from her mother.
Amid a controversial TV career that included a contentious exit from a hit show and a string
of flops, Delta Burke has enjoyed one of the longest-lasting marriages in Hollywood, where
conventional wisdom says relationships fizzle out quickly. In 1987, Burke, who was already
a star on "Designing Women," appeared in a single episode of the CBS action show "Simon
and Simon." On the set, she met that series' star, Gerald McRaney [mick-RAY-nee], later
known for his stints on "Major Dad" and "This Is Us." A few months later, the couple made
it red carpet official when they attended the Emmy Awards together. By 1989, they were
married, forming a dynamic 1980s TV power couple.
According to Burke, their marriage has been rock solid, even and especially through individual
challenges, like her type 2 diabetes diagnosis, and his lung cancer surgery. Though the couple
have spent much of their marriage living apart, as McRaney continues to travel for acting
work, Burke by all accounts remains confident in his undying love for her, even when they're
not together.
Apart from the occasional TV role, movie gig, theatrical engagement, and interview, Delta
Burke has stayed out of the public eye in the 21st century. And there's a good reason
for that — it's all intentional. A source close to her told OK! Magazine in 2020 that
Burke stays out of the spotlight for the sake of her own mental health, though she's still
happy to run into fans on the street occasionally.
Though she's backed away from acting almost entirely over the last few years, living in
content semi-retirement, Burke can still occasionally be talked into work. Her most recent appearance
came in the 2019 Netflix series "Dolly Parton's Heartstrings," starring alongside her husband,
which broke a 10-year absence following a one-episode stint on "Drop Dead Diva."
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