A Promising Career Overshadowed by Public Scrutiny

In 1986, this actress landed the role of Suzanne Sugarbaker on the hit sitcom “Designing Women,” where her striking charisma and sharp comedic timing brought her fame and admiration.

Behind the scenes, the actress was struggling with depression, a battle she had faced since her teenage years. By the end of the show’s second season, the condition worsened, leading to periods where she would isolate herself completely.

“Basically, I would shut down and hole up,” she later revealed. “I wouldn’t want to leave the apartment until I came out of this dark place. It was very debilitating.”

Her co-star and close friend Dixie Carter would lay beside her and reassure her during these moments, offering much-needed comfort.

Despite these personal battles, the actress pushed forward in her role, but her weight gain soon became a target of relentless media scrutiny. As her figure changed, tabloids mocked her appearance with cruel nicknames like “Delta Bulk.”

The harsh coverage was emotionally devastating. “The tabloid machine tortured [her],” co-star Annie Potts later said. Reflecting on the public’s obsession with her body, the actress, a former Miss Florida, questioned why she was subjected to such ridicule.

“I didn’t do anything to deserve this. Why are they so cruel?” she asked. She compared her struggles to those faced by icons like Elizabeth Taylor, noting that many women in Hollywood were harshly judged for gaining weight.

The star’s depression and public humiliation drove her to food for solace. “When I would be depressed in L.A., it would be, ‘Let’s just have one Stouffer’s macaroni and cheese after another,'” she admitted.

At one point the actress asked to be released from her contract, physically and mentally exhausted. “I wanted to leave, and I wasn’t allowed to leave,” she stated. Showrunners pushed to have her come back to the series.

Instead, a concerned friend admitted her to a hospital. “The nurse said I looked like a wounded animal. I didn’t really want to exist. I remember they weighed me and I was 170 pounds, and I wanted to die,” she revealed.

Amid these challenges, things were looking up for a moment. Not wanting to add fuel to the fire, according to reports, the actress “backed off” once reports about her weight emerged.

Instead, she turned to the show’s creator, Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, with a bold idea — to address her weight gain in an episode of “Designing Women.”

The result was the groundbreaking storyline “They Shoot Fat Women, Don’t They,” where her character grapples with body image issues.

The episode was a critical success, earning the actress a standing ovation from the studio audience and her first Emmy nomination. It was later revealed that Bloodworth-Thomason’s husband cried while reading the script.

Despite this success, the tensions behind the scenes continued to mount, and in 1991, the actress was let go from the show. The impact of her dismissal was profound.

Feeling rejected by Hollywood and abandoned by an industry she had poured her heart into, she retreated from the limelight. She and her husband sold their home in Pasadena in 1995 and moved to New Orleans for a fresh start.

But challenges persisted. In 1997, she experienced a particularly dark year. She mourned the loss of her grandmother and a beloved pet while supporting her mother, who was battling breast cancer.

Years later, the former Hollywood star opened up about how she once turned to crystal meth as a weight loss method. She started off taking prescribed pills while attending drama school in London.

However, once she returned to the U.S. and learned that the pills were illegal, the actress found someone on a set to get them for her. Eventually, she built a tolerance to the pills and was offered crystal meth instead to manage her weight.

“Nobody knew about crystal meth at the time,” she said during a podcast appearance in 2024. She would ingest the substance before work and wouldn’t eat for days. Fortunately, the actress saw brighter days after meeting her husband.

Burke’s life took a fateful turn in 1987 when she met Gerald McRaney, an accomplished actor cast as her character Suzanne’s ex-husband, Dash Goff, on “Designing Women.”

Their on-screen chemistry soon translated into a real-life romance, with McRaney making his intentions clear early on. “He asked me to marry him on the second date, so we were pretty committed!” Burke recalled with a laugh.

The couple married in 1989 in a lavish ceremony attended by Burke’s co-stars and 500 other guests, with the bride weighing 170 pounds on her wedding day. From the beginning, McRaney proved to be a pillar of strength and unconditional love in Burke’s life.

McRaney offered his own perspective on their relationship. “[…] If what you want is a trophy wife, then be happy with how empty and vacuous that’ll turn out to be,” he said. “But if what you want is a wife, then you love that person. Period.”

In a desperate call, she reached out to McRaney. “I didn’t know where I was, but he found me,” she said. As Burke rebuilt her life, her husband stood by her side, offering love and encouragement through every challenge.

“Mac loves me no matter what,” she said. “He loved me when I got as big as a house. […] He still thinks my body looks great, and I can certifiably tell you it does not!”

“As a man, I’ve had the love of the finest woman I can possibly imagine,” he said. “At the end of a day’s work, I get to come home to her — that’s the fun.”

While Burke stepped away from Hollywood, she found joy and fulfillment in her personal life. “I love my life truly for the first time,” she said. “And I love him desperately.”

Over the years, she’s built an impressive résumé with roles in popular shows like “Drop Dead Diva,” “Bridal Fever,” “The Wedding Bells,” “Boston Legal,” and “Counter Culture,” among others. Beyond acting, Burke has also ventured behind the scenes, earning producing credits—a testament to her multifaceted career in the entertainment industry.

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text “help” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741, or go to suicidepreventionlifeline.org.