‘Paradise’ Star Gerald McRaney Recalls Falling for Delta Burke on ‘Designing Women’
Gerald McRaney‘s 50-plus year TV career has yielded plenty of highs, from his starring turns on ’80s hits like Simon & Simon and Major Dad, to fan-beloved parts on Deadwood and This Is Us, to his newest role as Kane Bradford, the manipulative father of the president, on the hit new Hulu series Paradise. But as the actor, 77, recently told People, his television career also led to something even more important: his 36-year marriage to actress Delta Burke, who he fell in love with while appearing on her TV show, Designing Women, in 1987.
Contrary to popular belief, the couple did not meet for the first time on set. Rather, McRaney recalled, “The first time we met was at the publicist’s guild luncheon where we were both presenting awards, and I was sort of fascinated by her from the beginning, but we didn’t exchange phone numbers.”
Rich Fury/Getty Images for THR
But several months later, they were brought together again by fate … and a TV guest role. “A few months later, the casting director for Designing Women called my agent and asked if I’d be interested in a role,” said McRaney. “I was about to start another season of Simon & Simon, so I originally turned it down, but out of curiosity, I asked what the show was. When he said Designing Women, I very quickly said, ‘I’ll do it!'” Ironically, McRaney played the ex-husband of Burke’s character, Suzanne Sugarbaker.
“Originally it was sort of an infatuation, but it turned into something else pretty quickly,” says McRaney, who asked Burke to marry him after going on two dates. “You’ve got to marry the right person.”
Columbia Pictures Television/courtesy Everett Collection
Today, McRaney and Burke live in Florida. Though McRaney continues to work regularly and said that “people tell me I’m supposed to retire, and I just can’t do it,” Burke stepped back from Hollywood in the 2000s, after struggling with fame, addiction, a famously difficult on-set environment at Designing Women, and aggressive public scrutiny of her body and weight. But throughout it all, her relationship to McRaney was shelter from the storm. “I love my life truly for the first time. And I love him desperately,” Burke said of McRaney in a 2024 podcast interview. “I know that I’m safe and I’m loved.”
Read the full interview here.
’80s Where Are They Now
March 2023
Who can forget all the great TV shows, movies and music of the ‘80s? See what your favs are up to now!
Buy This Issue