‘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.”