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Delta Ramona Leah Burke (born July 30 1956 in Orlando, Florida) is an American television and film actress. She is probably best known for her role as Suzanne Sugarbaker in the sitcom Designing Women.

Miss Florida

Burke attended Colonial High School in Orlando, Florida, where she was voted "Most Likely to Succeed." [1] After graduation, she won the Miss Florida title for 1974. Burke was paired with Miss Georgia, Gail Nelson, in the Miss America pageant in 1974, and won a talent scholarship allowing her to attend a two-year study program at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

Early career

Delta's best-known role as Suzanne Sugarbaker in Designing Women was created by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason. Before Designing Women, she spent a year on Filthy Rich (1982) playing Kathleen Beck. After that, she played female football team owner Diane Barrow on 1st & Ten.

Designing Women fallout

In 1991, Burke was fired from Designing Women. Tabloids alleged that she was fired for gaining a lot of weight in 1989 and 1990, but she was let go from her contract after her relations with star Dixie Carter and producer Linda Bloodworth-Thomason deteriorated. Her relationships with the two women have since been repaired.

Delta was cast in short-lived TV sitcoms including Delta (1992), and Bloodworth-Thomason returned to cast her in Women of the House (1995), despite difficulties they had during the production of Designing Women.

Weight gain

Ever since the early 1990s, Delta's weight has been a subject of discussion in the tabloid press. In reality, her struggles with weight, depression and eating disorders stretch back to her pageant days in the early 1970s. She became a much-parodied figure in the press due to her seesawing weight, including a skit on Saturday Night Live, wherein Leon Phelps from The Ladies Man (2000 film) has a sexual fixation on Burke, for reasons which were not explained. One popular theory is that he is a fat admirer of hers.

Recent career

Burke has been a leading actress in a number of television films and had a supporting role in the Mel Gibson film What Women Want (2000).

In the early 2000s, she co-starred with David Alan Grier on the sitcom DAG; she had lost much of her excess weight for the role after being diagnosed with diabetes. In 2005 she appeared on Broadway in the play Steel Magnolias.

She currently a recurring role on Boston Legal as a former flame of William Shatner's character, Denny Crane who has an odd habit of tackling Denny. She and Denny seemed to rekindle their romance in the episode "On The Ledge".

Personal life

Burke has been married to actor Gerald McRaney since May 28, 1989. They have no children. Burke and McRaney's primary residence is in New Orleans, Louisiana; they also own a house in Los Angeles. She is also a very successful designer and manager of the clothing company Delta Burke Design in New York City.

Selected Filmography

• The Last Guy on Earth (2006) (post production)
• Good Boy! (2003)
• Going for Broke (2003)
• Sordid Lives (2001)
• What Women Want (2000)
• Melanie Darrow (1997)
• Women of the House (1995)
• Delta (1992)
• Designing Women (1986)
• 1st & Ten (1984)
• Filthy Rich (1982)

Nonfiction

• Delta Style: Eve Wasn't a Size 6 and Neither Am I (1998, St. Martin's Press ;ISBN 0-312-15454-2 )

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