Whatever Happened To The Cast Of Designing Women?

In the late 1980s, TV writer Linda Bloodworth-Thomason had worked on a failed series with Dixie Carter and Delta Burke, and another in which Jean Smart and Annie Potts were cast as sibling jewel thieves. At the time, she had a deal with CBS to create a show centered around an actor — but instead decided to pitch the network on a series starring all four of the aforementioned women. "So I just called CBS on a lark," Bloodworth-Thomason told Yahoo! Entertainment. "I didn't even have an idea for them, really. I just said, 'Look, I've got these four actresses, I really would love to write something for them.'"

CBS took the bait, and that show — titled "Designing Women" — made its debut. While Bloodworth-Thomason wrote to the strengths of each actor so they'd all shine, the chemistry between the women was immediate. "We all liked each other immediately, so there was this friendship going on right from the beginning, but we just clicked with our work right away and we would feed off each other," said Burke.

Set in an Atlanta interior design firm, "Designing Women" went on to become a major hit, running for seven seasons and earning 18 Emmy nominations. After the series ended in 1993, the cast went on to their own individual projects during the decades that followed. For those wondering what happened to the show's actors, read on.

Dixie Carter portrayed Julia Sugarbaker, who ran her interior design firm — Sugarbaker & Associates — out of her grand Atlanta home. As Carter explained in an interview with The Plain Dealer, she'd been around the block, but until "Designing Women" she never had the opportunity to meld with a character as deeply as she did with Julia. "There are big-time similarities," she said of herself and the character she played. "The longer the series was on, the more I became like Julia and the more she became like me. I softened her and she strengthened me. It was a wonderful combination, and the odds of getting one character like that in your career are overwhelming."

After "Designing Women," Carter appeared in various TV series as a guest star, ranging from "Diagnosis Murder" to sitcom "Fired Up." She then joined the short-lived 1999 sitcom "Ladies Man." That same year, she signed onto another series, playing spitfire attorney Randi King in legal drama "Family Law" throughout its three-season run. She continued acting in film and television, including a memorable recurring role in "Desperate Housewives" that earned her an Emmy nomination. Throughout all that, she'd also been experiencing success in her parallel career as a singer. "To me, there's no feeling as gorgeous as the feeling of singing," she told The New York Times in 1984. "It's like flying."

Her final role was in the 2009 feature "That Evening Sun," appearing alongside her husband, fellow actor Hal Halbrook (who'd played her love interest on "Designing Women"). Carter died in 2010, from causes related to endometrial cancer. She was 70 years old.

A constant presence at Sugarbaker & Associates was Julia's sister, the thrice-divorced Suzanne Sugarbaker. Played by Delta Burke, the sassy, free-spirited former beauty queen quickly became a fan favorite. Behind the scenes, however, what had initially felt like her dream role grew fraught as her relationship with series creator Linda Bloodworth-Thomason deteriorated. "It got ugly and very sad," Burke admitted during a 2025 appearance on the "Glamorous Trash" podcast (via People). She exited the series in 1991, under somewhat murky circumstances.

She went on to star in her own series, "Delta," which was cancelled after its debut season. In 1995, she reprised her "Designing Women" role in a spinoff, "Women of the House," in which Suzanne took over her recently deceased husband's seat in Congress. That series, however, never made it past 12 episodes. In the years that followed, she continued acting, including recurring roles in "JAG" and "Boston Legal," but she took fewer jobs as the years passed. As of 2026, her most recent role was in a 2019 episode of Netflix series "Dolly Parton's Heartstrings."

Burke's husband, actor Gerald McRaney, explained her decision to step away from the spotlight. "I think she had had it with the tabloids and that dust-up she had on 'Designing Women,' and she got tired of all the stuff that goes with it," he told People. "It's sort of sad because she loved the process of acting, but it was all the stuff that went along with it that persuaded her maybe she should be better off not doing this."

Another main character on "Designing Women" was Charlene Frazier (later Frazier-Stillfield), played by Jean Smart. The former secretary of Julia's late husband, Charlene served as office manager for Sugarbaker & Associates. Like Delta Burke, Smart also left the series in 1991 — albeit under much less fraught circumstances. "I had a good time doing the show, but five years is an awfully long time for an actor to work on the same project," Smart told the Los Angeles Times when addressing her exit.

In the years that followed, she appeared in numerous films and television series. During the 2000s, notable roles included First Lady Martha Logan in "24," and the mother of star Christina Applegate in sitcom "Samantha Who?" Over time, though, the roles grew meatier: Minnesota gangster Floyd Gerhart in TV's "Fargo," Dr. Melanie Bird in series "Legion," an ex-superhero in HBO's "Watchmen," and the mother of Kate Winslet's character in acclaimed crime drama "Mare of Easttown." That all led to "Hacks," the award-winning comedy in which Smart was cast as Deborah Vance, a once-hot standup comic whose moribund career is resurrected when she partners with a young comedy writer. As of early 2026, she has won four Emmys for "Hacks," adding to the three she already had, one for 2008's "Samantha Who?" and two for guest spots on "Frasier."

Reflecting on her late-in-life career resurgence, Smart admitted she's not quite sure what to make of it. "It's just odd, because I don't think I'm any better now than I was before," Smart told The New York Times.

In "Designing Women," actor Annie Potts played Mary Jo Shively, a sweet-natured, recently divorced interior designer with the firm. Like co-star Dixie Carter, Potts remained with the series until its conclusion in 1993. "I don't think we understood what a big hit we were," she reflected in an interview with Glamour. "Our numbers were huge, but I felt that we never got the recognition that we should have."

Immediately after "Designing Women" ended, Potts went on to headline her own series, co-starring with Jay Thomas in romantic comedy "Love & War." After that series' two-season run, she found steady work in television series, including "Dangerous Minds," "Over the Top," "Any Day Now," and "Joan of Arcadia." According to Potts, by 2016 she encountered "a bit of a career slump." At the time, her husband, Jim Hayman, was a producer of "NCIS: New Orleans," and she decided to join him permanently in the Big Easy. She told Glamour, "I didn't have a lot of reasons to stay in Los Angeles. Because, honestly, women in their 60s — not a lot of roles."

Just as she was settling into her new life in New Orleans, Potts received a call from sitcom producer Chuck Lorre. He was prepping a prequel spinoff of his monster hit "The Big Bang Theory," and offered her the role of Meemaw in "Young Sheldon" — and she excitedly took it. "It turned out to be a pretty good decision," she said of the series, which ran for seven successful seasons until concluding in 2024. More recently, she's since become a series regular in Fox series "Best Medicine."

The sole man within the core "Designing Women" cast, Meshach Taylor played wisecracking Anthony Bouvier throughout the series' seven-season run, quickly becoming a favorite with fans. Initially a delivery driver for Sugarbaker & Associates, the character eventually became a full partner in the firm. Interestingly, Anthony wasn't initially meant to be part of the show when he first auditioned. "They said, you know, you'll be a recurring character this season, and you'll come back five times," Taylor recalled in an interview with NPR's "Fresh Air." "Well, after I did the first show I never left, I was there from then on."

When "Designing Women" ended in 1993, Taylor jumped to a new show, co-starring with former "Night Court" star Harry Anderson in sitcom "Dave's World." After a four-season run, "Dave's World" was cancelled in 1997. The following year he made his Broadway debut, playing walking candlestick Lumiere in "Beauty and the Beast," starring tragedy-struck singer Toni Braxton. Taylor made frequent guest-starring appearances on TV, and served as a panelist on a 2000-2002 revival of game show "To Tell the Truth." In 2004, he joined the cast of "Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide," which ran until 2007.

Taylor passed away in 2014 at the age of 67, after being diagnosed with cancer. "It is with love and gratitude that we sorrowfully announce that our darling, amazingly brilliant and dynamic, Meshach, the incredible father, husband, son and friend has begun his grand transition," the late actor's family said in a statement to CNN.

When she was cast in "Designing Women," Alice Ghostley already had an impressive résumé, with numerous Broadway plays under her belt and television credits dating back to the earliest days of the medium. She was also a veteran of TV sitcoms, with recurring roles on "Mayberry R.F.D." and "Bewitched." Ghostley appeared in nearly 50 episodes of "Designing Women" as Bernice Clifton, daffy best friend of the Sugarbaker sisters' late mother. "Oh, that was fun," Ghostley recalled of her time on "Designing Women" when interviewed by Pop Goes the TV Culture. "I had an arterial flow about the neck, so I wasn't always with it," she said of Bernice's wacky behavior. "It was a good part. I loved it."

Ghostley became a favorite of "Designing Women" creator Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, who hired her for a recurring role in her subsequent sitcom, "Evening Shade." Meanwhile, Ghostley remained a popular TV guest star, appearing in shows ranging from "Touched By an Angel" to "Sabrina the Teenage Witch." Ghostley died in 2007, at age 84.

When reports began circulating that Delta Burke was leaving "Designing Women," Jan Hooks was already being mentioned as a potential replacement. Hooks, who had sprung to fame during five seasons on "Saturday Night Live" before joining the ranks of stars who left SNL, did indeed join the show after Burke left in 1991 and co-star Jean Smart followed suit. Hooks played Carlene, younger sister of Smart's character, taking over Charlene's office duties at Sugarbarker & Associates. As the Georgia native told Entertainment Weekly at the time, "I feel like I'm home. I've jumped from a pool of testosterone to a pool of estrogen. There's no more male place than 'Saturday Night Live,' and not only is this a woman's place, it's a Southern woman's place."

Hooks remained in the cast for the series' final two seasons. Her post-"Designing Women" roles included recurring roles as the on-again, off-again girlfriend of John Lithgow's alien in "3rd Rock from the Sun," and Dixie Glick, wife of Martin Short's obsequious talk show host Jiminy Glick in "Primetime Glick." Sadly, Hooks' life was cut short when she died at age 57, in 2014. At the time, no details were offered, but it was later revealed that she'd been diagnosed with cancer.

When Jan Hooks joined "Designing Women" at the start of its sixth season, she was joined by Julia Duffy. Duffy — who'd become a favorite of TV viewers for her role on sitcom "Newhart," was cast as Allison Sugarbaker, abrasive cousin of Julia and Suzanne, who buys Suzanne's shares in the company. "There are very few actresses who can supply that vain, selfish, whiny voice and be likable," series creator Linda Bloodworth-Thomason told Entertainment Weekly. "Julia does it winningly, because she's so tiny and wields such a big stick verbally."

After "Designing Women" wrapped, Duffy joined short-lived sitcom "The Mommies," and guest-starred in numerous TV series, including a five-episode stint as a nun on "Passions." Most recently, Duffy played Palm Beach socialite Mary Jones Davidsoul on Apple TV+ comedy "Palm Royale," starring alongside "SNL" alum Kristin Wiig and television legend Carol Burnett. Meanwhile, Duffy also continued to perform onstage, including a 2009 Los Angeles production of the play "The Little Foxes."

As she's become a woman of a certain age, Duffy has admittedly become frustrated with both the scarcity and quality of roles that are being written for women in their 60s and 70s, which are typically one-dimensional grandma types. "You have to write the person and not the type, and it is very disappointing to me how much even younger writers seem to be writing 'Aunt B' or something when they write an older person and not an individual," Duffy explained during an interview with "Still Here Hollywood Podcast w/ Steve Kmetko."

Judith Ivey joined the cast of "Designing Women" for its seventh and final season, portraying Bonnie Jean "B.J." Poteet, a wealthy widow who infuses some cash into Sugarbaker & Associates after Allison pulled her investment out. A sought-after character actor prior to "Designing Women," Ivy continued to work steadily after the series ended, both onscreen and onstage.

On the big screen, she appeared in such films as "Devil's Advocate" and "Flags of Our Fathers," while her television roles included "Will & Grace," "Grey's Anatomy," "White Collar," and Netflix dramedy "Sweet Magnolias." Interviewed by Broadway World, Ivey shared gratitude for remaining employed after all those decades in show business. "Because I have a lot of friends my age, if not a little older, and the work has not continued to come," she said. "Just when I think, 'Wow, guess I'm never going to make another movie,' then I get a movie."

Meanwhile, whenever possible she continues to return to her first love, the stage. "But the theater work is always there," she observed.

Appearing sporadically in the second through fifth seasons of "Designing Women," Douglas Barr played Col. Bill Stillman, an air force pilot who becomes Charlene's boyfriend, and then husband. As an actor, Barr's post-"Designing Women" roles were sparse, including "Murder, She Wrote," "Heart Are Wild," and a 1994 episode of "One Waikiki," his final screen role. There was a valid reason for that, however; He moved behind the camera, transitioning from acting to directing, specializing in made-for-TV movies.

Around that same time, Barr also opened up a whole new career path. It all began around 1996, when he and his family moved into a new home in California's Napa Valley. While cleaning out the basement, Barr says he found a textbook written by the home's former owner, Maynard Amerine, a pioneer in California wine-making. That spurred him to investigate further, and before long he started his own winery, Hollywood & Vine Cellars.

Word about his wine-making prowess seems to be getting around in Tinseltown. "Now when I'm with Hollywood execs talking about a project, I sit in meetings and everyone wants to talk about wine," he told GW magazine. "It's a wonderful crossover."

In eight episodes of "Designing Women," Sheryl Lee Ralph portrayed Etienne Toussaint, a dazzlingly glamorous showgirl who wins the heart of Anthony. They impulsively get married — and then split up. According to Ralph, she landed the role when she accosted Linda Bloodworth-Thomason's husband, Harry Thomason, at party, asking why the show hadn't featured a Black woman on the show. She was then approached by Bloodworth-Thomason, who agreed that was something that should be addressed. "And she gave me the part," Ralph told the Chicago Tribune. "She asked, 'Do you mind singing?' and she just hired me. I never even read or tested. That's what every actor dreams of."

After her stint on "Designing Women," Ralph continued what had already been a successful Hollywood career, appearing in numerous films (including "Sister Act 2") and guest-starring in a whole whack of TV shows. In 2013, she starred in sitcom "Instant Mom," and that same year had a recurring role on gritty drama "Ray Donovan." She played the president in supernatural sci-fi series "Motherland: Fort Salem," and then went on to what is arguably the most acclaimed role of her career: schoolteacher Barbara Howard in hit ABC sitcom "Abbott Elementary."

In an interview with The Nerds of Color, Ralph shared her gratitude to "Abbott Elementary" creator Quinta Brunson, who sought her out and offered her the role that would revitalize her career. "It's just absolute magic for me, and I just have to say thank you for her because it means the world for me in this season of my life," she said.