30 Facts About Delta Burke

Delta Burke was born on July 30,1956 and is an American actress, producer, and author.

Delta Burke has produced and starred in made-for-TV movies, appeared in the film What Women Want, and had a recurring guest role in the drama series Boston Legal.

Delta Burke has starred in the Broadway productions of Thoroughly Modern Millie and Steel Magnolias.

Delta Burke has two younger siblings: a brother, Jonathan; and a sister, Jennifer.

Delta Burke won a talent scholarship from the Miss America Organization, allowing her to attend a two-year study program at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

In 1974, as part of winning Miss Florida, Delta Burke appeared on the ABC-TV show Bozo the Clown, filmed in Orlando, Florida.

In 1980, Delta Burke portrayed the role of the second Bonnie Sue Chisholm in the CBS western miniseries, The Chisholms.

Delta Burke spent a year on Filthy Rich in 1982 playing the wily young widow, Kathleen Beck.

In 1986, Delta Burke was cast as Suzanne Sugarbaker in the CBS sitcom Designing Women; she left 1st and Ten in order to appear on the show.

Delta Burke became the show's breakout star, and earned two consecutive nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 1990 and 1991; she was the only lead female cast member of the show to be nominated.

In 1990, Delta Burke publicly expressed dissatisfaction with the show on a televised interview with Barbara Walters and other media outlets.

Delta Burke argued on Entertainment Tonight that there was a labor dispute, and actors were often forced to work over 15 hours per day, with executives even blocking the doors to keep actors on set.

Delta Burke said that Dixie Carter, who had once been her close friend and maid of honor at her wedding to Gerald McRaney, was not speaking to her as Carter sided with her bosses.

In 1995, she and Linda Bloodworth Thomason reconciled their differences, and Delta Burke returned as Suzanne Sugarbaker in the Designing Women spinoff Women of the House, but that show met an early demise.

Since the early 1990s, Delta Burke's weight has been a subject of discussion in the tabloid press.

In 1989, Delta Burke asked Thomason to write an episode addressing her weight.

Delta 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.

Delta Burke made her Broadway debut in September 2003, when she starred as Mrs Meers in the musical Thoroughly Modern Millie.

Delta Burke was the third actress to play the role in the production, after Harriet Harris and Terry Burrell.

Delta Burke played the role until February 2004, before being succeeded by her Designing Women co-star Dixie Carter.

Delta Burke then played the role of Truvy in the original Broadway production of Steel Magnolias, playing the role for the shows entire four-month run from April 4 - July 31,2005.

Delta Burke played Bella Horowitz during a five-episode arc on Boston Legal as a former flame of William Shatner's character, Denny Crane, in season three.

Delta Burke appeared in a Hallmark Channel film, Bridal Fever, which aired February 2,2008.

In March 2012, Delta Burke was cast in the ABC comedy pilot Counter Culture.

However, after Delta Burke fell on the set, production of the pilot was suspended and it was not picked up to series.

Delta Burke has been married to actor Gerald McRaney since May 28,1989.

Delta Burke is a supporter of gay rights, and has worked with openly gay playwright and screenwriter Del Shores on many occasions, in Sordid Lives and Southern Baptist Sissies.

Delta Burke first became supportive of gay people and gay rights through attending acting school in London and through her sister, Jennifer, who is a lesbian.

Burke is a designer and manager of the clothing company Delta Burke Design, headquartered in New York City.

Delta Burke has compulsive hoarding syndrome, for which she received therapy.