Back in the ’80s and ’90s, Delta Burke was one of the biggest names in television.
Burke became known not only for her comedic timing on the hit sitcom, but also for her beauty.
After she left the show in 1991, though, Burke’s career floundered.
These days, Burke lives a rather secluded life and is rarely seen either in person or on-screen.
Is she staying out of the public eye by choice?
The fallout was difficult for her.
“There’s still a lot of emotion there.
Still, Burke was glad to be out of what she viewed to be an intolerable situation.
“I felt like it was hunting season and I was ‘it,'” she said.
The short-lived series saw Suzanne enter politics to take over a Congress seat left by her deceased husband.
“It got so ugly at the end,” she said.
Burke experienced a number of losses that year, including the deaths of her grandmother and her pet dog.
In addition, her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.
“I was tired,” she toldEating Well.
“My body didn’t feel right.
I knew something was wrong, but nobody could tell me what.”
Delta Burke opened up about living with depression
Delta Burke has been frank aboutliving with depression.
While she had experienced depressive episodes since her teens, being in the public eye made her depression worse.
“I had everything I ever wanted.
I was making lots of money.
But I was seriously depressed,” Burke told theOrlando Sentinelin 2003.
Burke also struggled with hoarding and even contemplated suicide at one point when the tabloids were being particularly cruel.
“My message is, ‘You don’t have to live like this.
There are therapies and medications that can help.
They changed my life.
They can change yours,'” she told the Orlando Sentinel.
He proposed on the second date, they married two years later, and the rest is history.
McRaney was also Burke’s rock when she was blasted by the press and mocked for gaining weight.
As she toldEating Well, her husband has always loved her for who she is.
“It didn’t matter to him how fat I got,” she said.
McRaney, according to Burke, has always prioritized her health, taking care of her after herdiabetes diagnosis.
I can’t wait to have her on stage.”
From 2009 to 2011, she has no credits on her resume.
Sadly, the show never got off the ground but not because the pilot flopped.
Instead, a series of unfortunate circumstances led to the show falling through.
It initially was delayed due to casting troubles.
Then Burke fell on set, leading to a further delay in the show’s taping schedule.
Eventually, the show was scrapped.
In the episode, “If I Had Wings,” Burke starred alongside her husband, Gerald McRaney.
As Burke told the outlet, she has “no work on the horizon.”
At least some of her retirement seems to be by choice, though.
In 2020, a source toldOK!
Burke seems to be okay with not being as famous as she was decades ago.
In a 2014 interview with theDaily Mail, she said that fans shouldn’t worry about her.
“Everything is fine, I’m just not very exciting right now!”
She’s not entirely secluded, though, as a source toldOK!
However, one star was notably absent: Delta Burke.
Instead, Wendi McLendon-Covey, known for the sitcom “The Goldbergs,” filled in for her.
Burke’s absence, however, wasn’t due to any bad blood with her former castmates.
In it, Burke as her character, Suzanne Sugarbaker is shown wearing blackface.
The image resurfaced after CTV used the image as a Black History Month highlight.
The connection later apologized for doing so, removing the image as well as the entire episode.
However, Burke did not publicly comment on the controversy.
Will we ever see Delta Burke star in a Designing Women revival?
It looks like we’ll just have to catch Burke and the rest of the cast in reruns.
The show alsotalked about AIDSin a time when mainstream conversation about the condition was still somewhat taboo.
I believe in equal rights."
And for three months, I took crystal meth."
“With Byetta, I can eat foods I like, but not all at once.
I go through phases where I really want macaroni and cheese or sweets,” she said.
“Then Mom makes me sugar-free gelatin.
That or some fruit is my little treat.”
Burke is managing her diabetes, but has faced other health problems.
If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction issues, help is available.
