Imagine being a young woman with a dream. Named Most Likely to Succeed by her high school class. The winner of a beauty state pageant at age 18. And then becoming a successful actress.
Then imagine that that young woman becomes one of the stars of a major network television series and is seen and admired by millions every week
But then imagine that, like so many of us, she gains some weight. And because of her very public persona, she becomes the target of ridicule.
That’s actress Delta Burke. As the character Suzanne Sugarbaker in the hit TV series “Designing Women” Burke became a sensation. And so did her weight.
Her struggles ultimately inspired her to launch her own line of clothing for “real size” women. And it inspired her to write a book in 1998 called Delta Style. Its subtitle was Eve Wasn’t a Size 6 and Neither Am I.
I met her one afternoonIn the spring of ‘98 when she was on a book tour.
So here now from 1998, Delta Burke.
Delta Burke is 69 now. She and her husband actor Gerald McRaney live in Los Angeles.