"Designing Women" is remembered today for its hilarious and evolving ensemble cast,
but which cast members from the beloved sitcom are no longer with us?
Keep watching for a look at the show's stars you might not know passed away.
On "Designing Women," Meshach Taylor played Anthony Bouvier, a delivery man who was initially
intended to be a one-off character before he became one of the show's most popular stars.
After "Designing Women" was canceled, Taylor looked back on the show in an interview with
the Los Angeles Times, and praised the show's ability to deliver, quote, "comedy with an
edge," which allowed him to develop his character over time.
Taylor passed away in 2014 from cancer, according to the Los Angeles Times.
In a statement to CNN, his family remembered his talent, writing:
"It is with love and gratitude that we sorrowfully announce that our darling, amazingly brilliant
and dynamic, Meshach, the incredible father, husband, son and friend has begun his grand
transition."
The main character of "Designing Women," Southern belle Julia Sugarbaker, was the heart of the
show, a confident and determined woman who was never afraid to speak her mind.
"I mean we're going to take this to the woodshed and one of us is not going to come back alive."
Julia was played by Dixie Carter, who was previously known for her role as Maggie McKinney
on "Diff'rent Strokes."
Carter continued acting after "Designing Women" ended, going on to lead the cast of "Family
Law" and guest-star on "Desperate Housewives," but she told The Washington Post that she
really struggled after her hit sitcom was over.
As she said:
"I was just sick when 'Designing Women' ended, even after seven years.
It was so well written.
But... once the original cast had split up, the real chemistry of the show was gone."
Carter passed away in 2010 from complications due to cancer, according to her CNN obituary.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly after Carter's death, her long-time co-star Jean Smart, who
played Charlene Frazier-Stillfield on "Designing Women," remembered her friend this way:
"She was such a cool lady...
If she loved you, you were a lucky person."
In the wake of the highly-publicized cast shakeup of "Designing Women" after the end
of the fifth season, "Saturday Night Live" star Jan Hooks was hired to play Carlene Dobber,
a new character brought in to fill the void left by Delta Burke's departure.
In an interview with the Associated Press at the time, Hooks described her new character
as, quote, "unsophisticated," and often in awe of her new friends at the Sugarbaker offices.
Though there was anxiety about whether the show could continue without Burke, one of
its biggest stars, Entertainment Weekly reported that the first episode featuring Hooks hit
a series high in the ratings.
Hooks would ultimately stay with the show for its final two seasons.
Hooks passed away in 2014 at the age of 57 after a battle with cancer.
Richard Gilliland played former baseball player James Dean "J.D."
Shackelford on "Designing Women," one of the recurring Gentleman Callers who wooed the
ladies of the design firm.
In particular, his character was one of the boyfriends of Annie Potts' character, Mary
Jo Shively.
But behind the scenes, Gilliland fell in love with a different cast member, Jean Smart.
Less than a year after meeting on the "Designing Women" setting, Gilliland and Smart were married
in 1987.
They had two children and remained together until his death in 2021 of a heart condition.
After Gilliland's death, Smart praised her husband in The New Yorker, calling her recent
success with shows like the Emmy-winning "Hacks" a product of her husband's constant support
and sacrifice.
Like several of her co-stars, series lead Dixie Carter was involved in a behind-the-scenes
romance that made its way onto the show.
Carter's husband, veteran actor Hal Holbrook, recurred on "Designing Women" as Reese Watson,
one of Julia Sugarbaker's love interests on the show.
Carter told Metro Weekly that she met her husband on the set of a made-for-television
movie titled "The Killing of Randy Webster."
Though she later recalled that she didn't think Holbrook liked her much at first, they
were married four years later, and remained together until her death in 2010.
Holbrook himself passed away in 2021 at the age of 95 from unspecified causes, according
to The New York Times.
His death led to widespread tributes from actors everywhere, including his former "West
Wing" co-star Bradley Whitford, who praised Holbrook as "an incredible actor."
Sitcom legend Alice Ghostley, best known as Esmerelda on "Bewitched," played Bernice Clifton
on 48 episodes of "Designing Women."
Bernice was a widowed friend of their mother's that Suzanne and Julia Sugarbaker looked after,
and she became a regular guest star on the show by the end of its run, beloved by fans
for her quirky perspective and often shocking one-liners.
"I think Phyllis is trying to get me declared impotent."
Ghostley passed away in 2007 due to colon cancer and multiple strokes, according to
The Hollywood Reporter.
In an interview with Collider discussing "Designing Women," Jean Smart singled out Ghostley's
passing as one of the reasons why the show could never get a revival series or reunion.
In remembering her co-star, she called Ghostley "the funniest woman in the world."
Character actor Charles Levin is best known for starring on the last few seasons of "Alice"
as Elliot Novak, the policeman who wooed and eventually married Vera.
He was also almost part of the regular cast of "The Golden Girls," having memorably appeared
as a gay cook in the show's pilot episode, but the character did not stick around when
that show was picked up.
In addition to his other work, Levin appeared on three episodes of "Designing Women" as
three different characters.
In a Season 4 episode called "The Girlfriend," he played Chuck; in the following season's
"Charlene Buys a House," he played Marvin, the realtor who sold Charlene the title house,
which turned out to be haunted.
In his final appearance in Season 6's "Real, Scary Men," his character was named Simba.
Charles Levin was tragically lost in 2019, when his son Jesse reported him missing.
His body was found in a ravine several weeks later, and his death was ruled an accident.
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