Delta Burke had once been in the center of the spotlight with project after project lining up for her, but after leaving “Designing Women,” her fame and work also started to fizzle out.
After having almost not-so-successful projects, the actress decided to stay out of the spotlight and live life like a regular citizen.
Despite her many changes, her husband of more than three decades declared he would still love her no matter what. Here’s a look into Delta Burke’s life.
Delta Burke came into the limelight when she won the Miss Florida title in 1974. She went on to the Miss America Pageant, won a talent scholarship, and studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts.
Burke got into film in 1979 when she starred in “The Seekers” and “The Chisholms.” However, she is best known as Suzanne Sugarbaker in the 1986 series “Designing Women.”
She started a production company that produced “Delta” and “Women of the House,” and Burke starred in both projects. Later, she started her clothing design company called Delta Burke Design.
Burke took the role of Suzanne Sugarbaker in “Designing Women” for five out of the seven seasons the show ran for because the show’s producers fired her.
After firing her, she said the executive producers, Linda Bloodworth-Thomason and Harry Thomason, psychologically abused her.
However, the executive producers and the show’s stars said Burke made things difficult for everybody, so they fired her. Burke said,
“Basically, 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 described the work environment as bizarre, and people didn’t believe her. She then went to ask for help from people who had power, and they didn’t help her.
Even though she missed her character after a few months, she said she had no regrets about being off the show. After over a year, she said she had gotten used to her weight but wanted to lose some pounds.
But after leaving “Designing Women,” she changed her looks and was reportedly looking heavier than before in the next series she starred in titled “Dayo.”
In 2012, while shooting her show “Counter Culture,” Burke fell. The fall led to the cancellation of the show. After that, Burke stayed out of the spotlight for some years.
Later, when she was spotted going out for lunch, she looked entirely different. In place of her signature bouffant hair was a brunette bob, and she ditched the vivid lipstick for a relatively makeup-free face.
The actress who suffered very public weight battles had also lost some weight. Besides weight problems, she had battled with depression, hoarding problems, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
In 2008, she sought treatment at a psychiatric hospital, and even though she wasn’t looking forward to any work, she felt more than happy with life.
Burke, who is healthier and happier, was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. However, she said her husband, Gerald McRaney, always reminds her what to eat and what not to eat.
Despite everything she and her husband have gone through, her husband will always love her no matter what. She said,
“Mac loves me no matter what. He loved me when I got as big as a house. He loved me when I was a blonde.”
She said her husband didn’t tell her he hated her blonde hair until she returned to brunette. He always loved her through any situation and still thinks her body looks great even though she feels it does not.
Burke and McRaney met in 1987 when she was a guest star on his detective show “Simon & Simon.” He knew he had competition, but McRaney was not ready to let her go.
McRaney asked her to marry him on their second date even though his friends were against it. They never wanted him to marry an actress, but McRaney knew only an actress would understand his work hours.
In 1989, they got married, and their marriage was McRaney’s third marriage but Burke’s first.
McRaney started acting in junior high school after injuring his knees during a football session. He was a guest star on “Gunsmoke: Hard Labor” before making his big break on “Simon & Simon” in 1981.
Burke and the “This Is Us” actor never had children together, but she became the proud stepmom to his kids from his previous marriages.
The couple worked together on different projects, and McRaney revealed that, unlike other couples, they do better when they are together 24/7.
The Saga of My Husband, My Mom, and Rent: A Family Drama
Oh, the pleasures of family dynamics; those complex networks of affection, animosity, and, it seems, rent. What if I told you a small story from the front lines of my own soap opera to start things off?
Imagine this: Dad recently passed away and went to the great beyond, leaving Mom sad and alone. So, of course, I propose that she move in with us, partly out of compassion and partly out of sheer guilt. You know, to socialize with the grandchildren and take in the warmth of family.
Now enter my spouse, who has obviously been attending the “How to Be a Loving Family Man” course. His initial response was a firm no, but after some deft haggling on my part, he reluctantly agreed—but only under one condition. The worst part, get ready: my distraught mother would have to pay the rent.
You did really read correctly. Pay rent. in a home that we currently own and are not renting. Start the crying or laughing. His logic? He replied, grinning in a way that I can only characterize as evil, “Your mother is a leech.” “After she moves in with us, she won’t go.”
His reasoning continued, a train on the loose about to crash down a precipice. She simply doesn’t make sense to utilize anything for free when she will consume our food and electricity. This residence is not a hotel, and she has to know that!
With my blood boiling, I knew something was wrong. The reason for this issue is that I wedded a man who seemed to believe he was the Ritz-Carlton’s management. How daring! Here we are, with equal rights to the house, having both contributed to its acquisition, and he’s enacting capitalist regulations as if we were operating a profit-making Airbnb.
The worst part is that my spouse isn’t a horrible person. Really, no. He and my mother have simply disagreed from the beginning. He told me the truth about how he really felt the night he turned into Mr. Rent Collector. “Ever since I met her, your mother has detested me. She wouldn’t feel at ease living with me right now.
I am therefore torn between my mother, who is in great need of her daughter’s support, and my husband, whom I really love despite his imperfections. I ask you, dear reader, the million-dollar question: What should I do? In true dramatic manner. Shall I rent my mother a room or my husband’s empathy?
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