Why won’t all beautiful stories have happy endings? But then, beautiful stories with sad endings are often great sources of personal lessons. The millennials of the 1970s will have little problem remembering the name ‘Karen Carpenter.’ She was an American singer who rose to the height of her career at the prime of her life and was ruling the entertainment world when her life came to an end at the young age of 33. What is even more sorrowful is that, apparently, she died as a result of the kind of man she married. That man was Thomas James Burris.
This short post happens to focus on this Thomas of a man. Here, we are poised to go deep in discussing Thomas James Burris based on key and hidden facts. So, while we will try to have access to his biographical details, we shall pay attention to other facts about him. For instance, we are going to find out if he is still alive as many are asking. Some people have even rumored about his obituary. So, we will try to sift truth from falsehood in that regard. Then, we will ask questions around the vasectomy he is rumored to have procured and more.
Thomas James Burris Biography
Thomas James Burris came to be known to the public and the media only through his marriage to Karen Carpenter. The marriage lasted only for a year or so, coming to an end in 1981. Since then, he has slid back into media oblivion where he seems to naturally belong. The result of all these points we are making here is that biographical details on the man are highly scarce.
However, it is public knowledge that Burris was a real estate surveyor prior to his marriage to Karen. But we cannot certain if he left surveying after his marriage to Karen as he was known to have begun to indulge in a lavish lifestyle beyond his means via Karen’s wealth.
How about Thomas’ age? While we do not have the exact details about his birth, it is widely speculated that he was about forty years of age when he wedded Karen in 1980. That places his birth year around the 1940s.
What To Know About Karen Carpenter’s Ex-Husband
1. He Was Apparently The Cause Of Karen Carpenter’s Death
Thomas James Burris’ late wife Karen was reportedly born on March 2, 1950, about 10 years after Thomas was born. She was said to have studied drums in high school and later formed ‘The Carpenters Band’ with his brother in 1969. She was so good in her craft that she was once named among the 100 Best Singers Of All Time by Rollingstone. As a result of her resourcefulness, The Carpenters Band produced no less than 10 highly rated albums in about a decade only.
Karen got so busy traveling to enhance her acts to the point that she decided she wouldn’t marry to enable her to focus on her work. As she is quoted to have once said, “as long as we’re on the road most of the time, I will never marry.” However, she somehow fell for Thomas James Burris’ advances. The duo met in 1980 and got married a couple of months later. But many people believe that their marriage was her undoing.
For instance, it is reported that Thomas indulged in such a spending spree with Karen’s money that he went as far as forcing Karen into huge debts. Worst of all, it is reported that Thomas was in a habit of abusing Karen emotionally to the extent that she developed a psychologically induced eating disorder, anorexia which ultimately brought her sad death on 4th February 1983 after a long battle with the ill-health.
2. Is Thomas James Burris Still Alive, Where Is He Now?
It is now almost 40 years ago when Karen divorced Thomas. Since then, the real estate developer went into media oblivion. The only time he has been heard of in the media is said to be shortly after Karen’s death in 1983. He is said to have granted an interview in which he exonerated himself of Karen’s death. In the interview, he is said to have denied the allegation that he abused the singer emotionally, saying he was also having a problem with his own job and that he cared much for Karen.
If Thomas James Burris is still alive today, he should be about 80 years of age. So, it is expected that he would be battling with the perks of old age. In any case, there is no trace of his death that we can find. He is also not on social media or in any recent news.
3. He Underwent A Vasectomy Procedure
A vasectomy procedure is a surgery in which the vas deferens (the tube that conducts sperms from the testicles into the woman’s vagina during sex) is blocked or cut. It is used as a means of planned parenthood to stop a man from bearing kids.
It is widely reported that Thomas James Burris had undergone the procedure either before or after his wedding with Karen. Their separation and eventual divorce have been attributed to his refusal to reverse the procedure to enable Karen to bear children.
