You will not be charged if you do not know who Thomas James Burris is. This is not only because not many people know him, but also because he is neither a regular celebrity nor someone who has been in the limelight in recent years. But at some point in the past, he was quite famous, although many people didn’t like the story of how he became famous. Find out further down.
How Did Thomas James Burris Get Famous?
Burris was a real estate appraiser who became famous after he married the late American singer Karen Carpenter. This marriage was seen by many as the undoing of the beautiful singer, who was described as simply magical. Since he was not a public figure or celebrity, virtually nothing was known about his biography, apart from the fact that Thomas was already married and divorced before he met Karen.
Carpenter for her part was a singer who was born on March 2, 1950, in New Haven, Connecticut. She grew up here before her family decided to move to Downey, California when she was 13 years old. The singer, who was to grow up to be named one of the 100 best singers of all time by RollingStone, studied drums in high school. This made her shine both as a drummer and as a singer.
Together with her brother, Richard Carpenter, Karen formed the band The Carpenters in 1969. In less than 15 years of existence, the band, which was passionate about soft rock and pop music, produced ten highly acclaimed albums and also appeared on several television shows.
ALSO READ: Melissa Benoist Bio, Husband, Divorce, Boyfriend, Is She Dating Anyone?
In 1979, as a result of the sedative and hypnotic drugs Richard Carpenter became addicted to, Karen produced a solo album while her brother recovered from his addiction.
As a result of her musical career, which would always see her traveling, Karen Carpenter had revealed that she may not get married in her life as long as she continues to sing. Nonetheless, she still met a number of men at various times, including actor and former professional boxer Tony Danza and actors Thomas Mark Harmon and Steve Martin. Surprisingly, it was a real estate developer named Thomas James Burris whom she met at a dinner at the chic Ma Maison restaurant that she eventually met.
Thomas and Karen met in 1980, and within a few months, they were already husband and wife. By this time Tom Burris, as he was called, was 40 years old and had not only suffered from a previous divorce but also had a child who was already 18 years old.
His Controversial Marriage With Karen Carpenter
As it turned out, Karen’s marriage to Thomas James Burris became a terrible mistake for the singer in every respect. First, while Karen desperately wanted to have children of her own, Burris was no longer able to do so because he had undergone a vasectomy. And although he claimed he had never heard of the Carpenters before meeting the singer, many people had come to the conclusion that Tom had married Karen only for her money. The reason for this is that after they got married he spent her money, including loans, which suddenly amounted to almost $50,000. As a result of the speed with which he spent her money, Karen is said to have been reduced to her assets only.
In addition, some sources described Thomas as very insulting to Karen, which led to the singer suffering from depression. So in 1981 Karen was ready to leave the marriage and filed for divorce. She was already struggling with emotional problems as well as health problems, including an eating disorder, anorexia.
ALSO READ: Barbara Eden Bio, Age, Son, Net Worth, Measurements, Alive or Dead?
Sadly, Karen Carpenter died on February 4, 1983, in Downey, California, and many of her fans accused Burris of not doing enough to save her wife when she suffered from the eating disorder that led to her death. Shortly before her divorce, she changed her will, leaving everything she owned to her parents and brother.
Where is Thomas James Burris Now?
Since the death of Karen Carpenter, James Burris has hardly been heard of. He was last heard in an interview in which he explained that Karen had problems with her health and career, but also problems with his own work. He insisted that they got along very well and were very caring of each other until they started drifting apart.