The Burden That Weighed On Popular Actress Delta Burke

Being a popular television star can be a blessing and a curse, if you are a woman struggling with your weight

In this 1998 interview Delta Burke talks about her life her struggles with weight, and her book Delta Style.
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Photo by lan Light

#Actors #Designing Women # obesity # weight loss

Why were they carrying on so much about it?
Actress Delta Burke today and now I've heard everything.
I'm Bill Thompson. Imagine a young woman with a

(00:27):
dream. She's named the most likely to
succeed by her high school class.
She wins the statewide beauty contest at age 18, and then she
picked becomes a successful actress.
Now imagine that she's cast in ain one of the lead roles in a
very popular new television series, and she is seen and
adored by millions every week. But then imagine that like so

(00:50):
many of us, she puts on some weight and she's in the public
eye. People are watching this happen
in real time. This is where Delta Burke comes
in. When she joined the cast of
Designing Women as Suzanne Sugarbaker, she became a
sensation. People who loved her, but her
weight also became a sensation, as it were.

(01:12):
Her struggles with her weight eventually inspired her to start
her own clothing line for real size women, and it also inspired
her to write a 1998 book called Delta Style.
And the subtitle of the book wasEve.
Was it a Size 6? And neither am I.
I had the chance to meet her in the spring of 98 when she was on
the book tour. In just a moment, our

(01:34):
conversation. Here's one that'll bring back
some memories. One of the more than 10,000
interviews in the 30 year archive of national radio
personality Bill Thompson. Enjoy.
So here now from 1998. Delta Burke.

(01:56):
Actually, when I was doing my clothing line and I was
traveling all over, doing fashion shows, meeting with the
ladies and spending a lot of time with them, there was so
much emotion. I mean, did they just be in
tears? They were so glad anyone was was
thinking of them and they knew that I had been through
everything too and they really related to me.

(02:17):
Well, now they would see me seeming to be in great spirit
and like I had emotionally got this licked, you know, and they
were wanting to be in the same place I was.
So I told them it's, you know, no, it's a daily thing.
You have to work on it every day.
But this was my way of sharing my story and, and how I, I went

(02:39):
to the, the deep dark depressionand how I got myself out of it
and to the place I'm at now. And also it started out
basically as a beauty book with makeup and hair and wardrobe and
all that. But I, I just, I don't know, to
me, it's very emotional, all of this.
And I just had to share the stories with the ladies.

(03:01):
I I couldn't help thinking, I mean, as I was reading this
book, I'm thinking, I know this is supposed to be for the
ladies, but I'm a lot bigger than I was in high school too.
Well, you know what really surprised me at some of the
signings, you know, I would havesome women speak up and say,
this isn't just for real size women, this applies to all
women. And then I would have men coming
up saying they really related toit too.

(03:23):
And they, they had been through the same things.
And I hadn't even thought of that, you know, but it's true.
Everyone, everyone really, is held up to a standard that that
is impossible to achieve. I graduated from high school in
1974, same as you. And frankly, if you and I had
been prom dates where there would have been these two skinny
people in the picture and then, and look at me now, I get

(03:44):
comments in the elevator, you know, when I'm going up two
floors, people say I can't take the stairs.
I guess it's too fat. Oh yeah, I know people.
Well, it's the, it's the last accepted prejudice, you know, to
say anything you want to a person of size, and it's just
assumed that you must be stupid and slovenly and a pig.

(04:06):
You know, it's there are many things that happen to a body
that have nothing to do with what that person is about.
And when I was thin or size 6 and I was starving myself and
doing everything in the world tostay that size at the expense of
my health, people still never saw me.
They never saw what was inside. So it was always just what you

(04:29):
looked like. Everyone focuses on what you
look like with everyone. And you have airbrushed 14 year
olds, you know, selling wrinkledcream and the ads.
Everyone's so perfect and nobodycan achieve this.
It's not real life. Well.
I I thought about that, but it'sbad enough that me and my
personal life that I got to comein an elevator.
But you're in front of millions of people on a weekly television

(04:50):
show, a popular television show,and everybody, you're an easy
target. Yeah, well, that's what made the
pressure so intense. I mean, this is this is very
hard for anyone to go through, as many things in life are.
But when you're having to do it in front of millions of people,
it's very public and you have tabloids being incredibly cruel,

(05:10):
which I never understood that why people do that to each
other. And you're in a very vulnerable
place anyway, emotionally at that time.
It just, it can destroy you and it nearly destroyed me.
And those things do hurt us and they do matter.
I mean, who wants to read something ugly about themselves?
And we're not immune to that because we have become famous

(05:34):
and who wants to read lies aboutthemselves?
You work so hard to build up your name and be a professional
and someone can just wipe it right out.
And I think the the private sector is finding that it's
happening to them more and more.It's not just celebrities
anymore. So it is hard to live that so
publicly. And I had to find a way to
overcome it because otherwise I would just be crushed and

(05:57):
destroyed and it would all be sopublic.
Was it the fact that you were getting larger or was it the
fact that you had once been in public life skinnier than you
were later on? And people say, wow, look at all
the way she's putting on as opposed to if, if you could
break into show business so people always knew you as
somebody who was the size you are now.
They wouldn't. They would if you were a fat to

(06:19):
start with, they would give you grief because they give
everybody grief. But to be a beautiful woman and
put that on, I mean, look what they did to Elizabeth Taylor.
It, it really was like she didn't deserve to live in the
country anymore. I got more grief.
I mean, I'm thinking, you know, there, there was horrible wars
going on and murder and crime and everything.

(06:41):
And they made me feel because I had put on weight that I had,
you know, murdered busloads of children or something.
And it's I've Simply put on weight.
It's not why? Why were they carrying on so
much about it? Another reason I wrote the book
was I look back at my youth and I was beautiful and never saw

(07:05):
it, never saw that I was pretty,never saw that I was good
enough. And I feel like I wasted my
youth and I don't want to waste the rest of my life feeling that
way. And I think most, most women,
especially I know, feel that way.
And this is my way of passing onmy, my journey.
And if there's anything they canlearn from that to help them and

(07:26):
also to reach younger girls. I mean, the pressure on them now
is much more intense than what Iwent through.
And I, you know, there's 10 yearolds on diets and stuff.
And it's just very extreme. And it's the wrong thing to, to
do to people. There's another bad things
thrown at us that we need to have all of it, the self pride

(07:47):
and dignity we can have in life,just anyone does.
So there were there's many reasons for writing the book.
When I came to the, the chapter,when you talked about and, and
we remember that when you, I think it was the 4th season of
designing women when you and Linda decided let's, let's talk
about it, let's address it. Let's let's you have the punch
lines. Yeah.
Well, by that time I'd gone to the really being very, very

(08:10):
depressed. I'd wound up with the therapist.
I was working real hard on this and because I I had to learn to
say no, not go past my limits oftrying to please everybody,
because you never can. And I was learning how you can't
change how people treat you or what they do to you, but you
can't change how you react to them.

(08:30):
And I had made a lot of progressand I was ready now to, to deal
with the weight. And Suzanne and I are the same,
you know, we've just grown together emotionally.
And so I, I went to Linda and I said I, I would like to, to deal
with the weight, do a show aboutthe weight.
And she said she hadn't done that yet because she didn't know

(08:51):
if I wanted to stay this size orlose it.
And I said I I wanted to lose it, but I felt this was probably
what was going to happen. I was going to stay this size.
And please let Suzanne have the jokes.
How? Give her the power.
Don't make her the butt of the jokes.
And overnight she wrote that fabulous script.
They shoot fat women, don't they?
And that was that was a big turning point for me.

(09:13):
It's almost like, and you talk about this in the book, it's
almost like it's safe now to talk about it because you're
talking about it. Yeah, yes, exactly.
It was sort of like everyone waspretending, you know.
Well, I say in the book, it's sort of like you had a hump on
your back and everyone's going what hump?
You know, no, no, it's not thereand you know, it's there.
So. But I had to be ready to deal

(09:33):
with it. After the short break, more from
Delta Burke on Delta Style. You know, AI is not just for 22
year old coders. A lot of us older adults are
drawing on our life experience to find unique and creative ways
to use AI at home or at work. Got an AI success story you'd

(09:56):
like to share? Tap the link below to visit our
YouTube channel, AI After 40 andLet's keep learning together.
Now back to my 1998 conversationwith Delta Berg.
Here's another thing that struckme from the moment I walked in
that door. You are not as I stand here and

(10:17):
look at you, you're not a large person.
Now why you know. I am by Hollywood or society
standing. Yeah.
See that's see that's. The thing I'm not like now I'm a
1416 I I was like a size 810 when I started designing women.
The thinnest I ever was was a size 6, but it meant that every
time I stood up, I passed out and the largest I got was a size

(10:39):
22. And watching yourself go through
all those changes, you just feelout of control of yourself and
it's in front of so many people.But still now, yes, I have, I
have lost a lot of weight and it's taken me years to do it.
I, I changed how I approached dieting and it finally worked.

(11:01):
But it's, it's still still not acceptable to them.
And really I, I call myself and others like me real size women
because it is the reality of what's out there.
And women are, the majority of women are 12 to 16 is the norm.

(11:21):
So this is what's real. And everyone is kicking
themselves because they they can't really achieve the other.
As you were saying a moment ago,these are women who are crying
out for somebody to to pay attention to them and what their
needs are in terms of style. Yeah, one of the things I, I
heard a lot, which made me feel incredibly good, was they
thanked me for giving them back their dignity.

(11:44):
And that is how I felt and stillfeel, you know, I, I just felt
like I lost all my dignity and was not treated well by people.
And then you had to go and try to find clothes and there wasn't
anything. And they made you feel like a
freak. And so I just started designing
my own clothes and had access tovery talented people to have

(12:05):
them made-up. But that's when I began thinking
I wanted to do a line for the women because I want clothes to
wear. And I'm going through all this
and I know they are too. I got lots of letters asking
about my clothes that they wouldsee me in.
So it was natural to go into designing clothing line.
And it's been, it's been very exciting, you know, to see, see

(12:29):
the women come and it's, I don'tknow, it's a very big bonding
thing. There's so much emotion going
on. And we share stories and
experiences and they'll try things on that maybe they've
been too shy to try before. And all of a sudden it works for
them. And they're very excited.
And you, you watch people stand up straight again and tall and

(12:51):
proud and a light come into their eyes.
And that's what I want to, to bring and, and help achieve, you
know, because that was part of my journey.
And it feels much better to stand tall and be proud.
But. There's also great value, isn't
there, in having a man in your life that doesn't really care
what size you. Are Oh, definitely.
I'm just, I'm incredibly fortunate to have that because I

(13:14):
mean, at first, you know, I'm thinking, Oh yeah, right.
You love me no matter what I look like.
I've, you know, because no one had ever just loved me for me
without caring about what I looked like.
And, and as I put weight on, youknow, it's like you still love
me. And he did so it, he never
changed how he acted towards me.He always loved me no matter

(13:36):
what I looked like. I was the one always beating
myself up. And I realized, you know,
another woman would talk to me and say, my gosh, you know, if I
change my hairstyle, my husband gets mad or something.
I'm just really, really fortunate to have someone who
loves me that much. And it has given me a great
safety net and security to have that.
And I know I'm fortunate that many people don't have that.

(13:59):
And you, you, you have to demandit.
No, I haven't left show business.
But what I did was my last series was Women of the House.
And when that was cancelled, I thought, I don't know what you
people want anymore because I thought that was a really good
show. And I knew my clothing line was

(14:19):
getting ready to debut. And I figured I really should
devote myself to that. I wanted it to be a success.
I want it. I want to build an empire.
I want to expand it. And so I knew I needed to give a
lot of attention to that. And so the last two and a half,
three years has been mainly focusing on the clothing line
and the book. I would do TV, movies and

(14:41):
things, but haven't pursued a series since then.
But I'll always be an actress. I am an actress and I'll always
work. It's just now you're, you know,
you're older and it's just different.
There's different priorities. And now it needs to be something
that really excites me for me towant to to get put, hurl myself,

(15:02):
throw myself back into that madness of of doing a series.
Still have all your crowns? Oh definitely, I still got all
those crowns. I think that's great.
I mean, I've kept a lot of souvenirs from my from my youth,
my younger day, things I was proud of.
Yeah, and, and I still like to find crowns, too.

(15:22):
That's one reason I like living in New Orleans is because you
can walk around there with a crown on any of that day of the
week, any time of the year, and nobody bats an eye.
What gives you pleasure in the in life these days?
What what do you really when youwould you just cut loose?
When you just bust loose, nobody's watching.
What do you love to do? Oh gosh, I don't really get to
bust loose too often. I mean, you know, for me with my

(15:45):
schedule, a big thrill is just getting to sleep in and lounge
in the bed and just kind of luxuriate and enjoy that.
That is a very big thrill for meright there.
And I've also these past couple years spent more time with my
family because I felt very fortunate that I still had all

(16:07):
my family and I wanted to spend more time with them and doing a
series. It just, I never got to see
them. I moved them all out to LA
Finally the last few years I wasout there, but still.
And, and it was a good thing that I was able to do that
because I, my grandmother passedaway a year ago and, and now I'm
able to spend a lot of time withmy mother.

(16:29):
I really enjoy writing. I like doing art, I like doing
photography and different thingslike that.
So now there is more time for that.
And I always loved shopping and I discovered auctions.
Auctions are wonderful things. So that's kind of got me in
trouble. But I've discovered auctions and

(16:51):
I don't know. It's the sickness.
I have to stop it because I have17 storage spaces.
I mean, what can I do with all this stuff?
Yeah, I. Just I just had this metal
picture of Suzanne going to an auction, maybe for the first
time. Yeah.
Well, that's pretty much it. That's it.
Delta Burke is 69 now. She and her husband, actor
Gerald Mccraney, live near Los Angeles now.

(17:12):
You can get your copy of Delta Style by Delta Burke by tapping
the link in our show notes by clicking the link in the
description below. If you're watching this on
YouTube or by going to our website heardeverything.com, we
may earn an Amazon Commission ifyou make a purchase.
Heardeverything.com is running where you can also find my 1991
conversation with another actress who struggled with

(17:33):
weight issues, Lynn Redgrave. I am now intensely proud of
Georgie Girl and intensely grateful that I got that sort of
shot in the arm chance. But at the time the reviews came
out, they were wonderful reviews.
People wrote glowingly, but I was called in the press one day,
the ugly duckling of the Red Gray family.
And of course, it's not just women in the public eye who

(17:54):
struggle with weight. My 1993 conversation with
comedian Louie Anderson. No matter how successful and
rich and, you know, famous I became, it didn't make me any
happier. So I had to find inside what was
really important. And of course, we post new
episodes of Now I've Heard Everything every Monday,
Wednesday, and Friday, and you can find us wherever you find
podcasts. And thank you so much for

(18:15):
listening. Next time on Now.
I've heard everything here whereit all started my 1988
conversation about his book Hardball with Chris Matthews.
Getting ahead in any organization is simply a matter
of finding out who's in charge, who has the votes, who has the
clout and getting to know them. It's not what you know, it's not
who you know, it's who you get to know that matters in

(18:36):
politics. That's next time on NOW.
I've heard everything. I'm Bill Thompson.