Highlights
- Karen Carpenter’s marriage to Tom Burris was troubled.
- Burris hid the fact that he had a vasectomy, preventing Carpenter from fulfilling her dream of being a mother.
- Carpenter struggled with anorexia nervosa before her death.
Music legend Karen Carpenter tragically passed away in February 1983 due to a battle with anorexia nervosa. She was only 32 years old. While Carpenter enjoyed a great career as a singer and drummer alongside her brother and creative partner, Richard Carpenter, she always longed to be a wife and mother.
Carpenter desired to experience romance and struggled to find it, despite her fame. After dating a who’s who of celebrities including Tony Danza and Steve Martin, she finally married businessman Thomas “Tom” Burris in August 1980. The marriage was short-lived and devastated Carpenter, only making her condition worse. This begs the question on whether Burris knew the extent of his wife’s health challenges.
Did Tom Burris Know Of Karen Carpenter’s Anorexia Nervosa?
Karen Carpenter and Tom Burris’s marriage was a troubled one. Carpenter, who was desperate for love, married Burris swiftly without a lot of deliberation. Burris, an alleged real estate developer, took advantage of Carpenter’s wealth once they were married.
Burris would ask his wife for extensive sums of money so that he could live a wealthier lifestyle. He ended up taking a vast majority of her fortune and left her in a complicated financial position. Furthermore, he “verbally abused” her, according to Grunge.
While Burris may have not understood the severity of his wife’s condition, as anorexia nervosa was not a publicly discussed medical condition during Carpenter’s lifetime, he did notice Carpenter’s shocking weight loss.
Whether Burris recognized that Carpenter was severely ill or not, he judged her on her appearance and made inappropriate and harsh comments. According to the Irish Independent, Burris would call his wife a “bag of bones.”
One of Carpenter’s biggest personal dreams was to be a mother. Burris knew this, and most likely hid the fact that he had a vasectomy until right before their wedding. Understandably, Carpenter was heartbroken and felt betrayed.
- She reportedly wanted to break their engagement and call off the wedding
- Her mother insisted that she marry Burris
After Burris and Carpenter married, Burris would tell the ailing Carpenter that he would not undo his vasectomy and start a family with her. This only hurt Carpenter more and made her eventually file for a divorce a little over a year after they married.
According to The Celebs Info, a good friend of Karen Carpenter’s shared that Carpenter’s marriage was “the worst thing to have ever happened” to her.
After Carpenter and Burris’s divorce, Burris left the public spotlight and not much is known about his later life after his marriage to Carpenter. He has chosen to live in privacy, which is understandable, due to his poor reputation. Carpenters fans rightfully have a strong disliking for the man that hurt Karen Carpenter more than anyone.
What Happened To Karen Carpenter After Her Failed Marriage?
Due to Carpenter’s condition as well as the emotional difficulties that came with her failed marriage, she eventually sought help from a psychotherapist. While Carpenter did seek help with her anorexia nervosa, she struggled to battle the condition and gain more weight. Unfortunately, there were not many treatment options available and Carpenter’s body was too damaged.
Additionally, Carpenter had great difficulty in managing her body weight and took laxatives and thyroid medication to keep her weight down, despite its negative consequences. This unhealthy behavior led to severely compromised health.
While she made small improvements and even dreamed of a future for the Carpenters group, Karen Carpenter suffered cardiac arrest and succumbed to her health challenge on February 4th, 1983. She was laid to rest in a private mausoleum in California.
Carpenter is recognized as one of the most beloved female singers of the 20th century and has gone down as one of the greatest vocalists in history. The Carpenters still have a loyal fan base of young and old fans forty years after Carpenter’s untimely passing.
While the Carpenters were frequently judged for their All-American goodie-two-shoes image, their musical contribution was significant. They recorded some of the most popular pop songs of the 1970s including:
- “Top of the World”
- ‘We’ve Only Just Begun”
- “(They Long To Be) Close To You”
- “Superstar”
- “Hurting Each Other”
- “Yesterday Once More”
- “Rainy Days and Mondays”
The Carpenters also innovated with musical production including elaborate overdubbing and instrumentation. Richard Carpenter, who oversaw the production of all Carpenters albums, knew Karen Carpenter had a tremendous vocal gift and used his production to compliment her tone and range. During her lifetime, Carpenter struggled with insecurity even when she received critical and commercial praise and did not recognize how talented she truly was.
Carpenter is among many other celebrities who have battled an eating disorder including Elisa Donovan of Sabrina the Teenage Witch fame. Other notable celebrities who have fought similar challenges include Demi Lovato, Lady Gaga, Zayn Malik, and Jade Thirlwall.
Richard Carpenter profoundly felt the loss of his younger sister. Since her passing, he has tried to keep her legacy alive through various ventures including an anorexia nervosa/eating disorder awareness initiative called The Carpenter Family Foundation and through various album compilation releases. According to Pens & Patron, Carpenter called Karen Carpenter’s passing the “worst thing in my life.”
Tom Burris was the exact opposite of what Karen Carpenter dreamed of and deserved. He was a manipulative, abusive husband who most likely only married her for her fame and wealth. He knew that she was desperate and wanted to take advantage of her.
While fans will never know, maybe Carpenter would have been better able to tackle her anorexia nervosa if she had a supporting and loving husband. She may still alive today.
Unfortunately, the young artist had a troubled and ultimately fatal personal life, despite bringing joy and happiness to millions of fans around the world. Carpenters fans still mourn Karen Carpenter’s loss today. Karen Carpenter’s legacy is one of beauty and tragedy.
Source: NewsFinale
