Leslie Jordan

Leslie Allen Jordan (April 29, 1955 – October 24, 2022) was an American actor, comedian, writer, and singer.^[1] His television roles include Beverley Leslie on Will & Grace (2001–2006 and 2017–2020), several characters in the American Horror Story franchise (2013–2019), Sid on The Cool Kids (2018–2019), Phil on Call Me Kat (2021–2022), and Lonnie Garr on Hearts Afire (1993–1995). On stage, Jordan played Earl "Brother Boy" Ingram in the 1996 play Sordid Lives, later portraying the character in the 2000 film of the same name. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he became an Instagram contributor, amassing 5.8 million followers in 2020, and published his autobiography How Y'all Doing? Misadventures and Mischief from a Life Well Lived in April 2021.

Leslie Jordan
Jordan in September 2022 at the National Book Festival
Born	Leslie Allen Jordan (1955-04-29)April 29, 1955 Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Died	October 24, 2022(2022-10-24) (aged 67) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Burial place	Hamilton Memorial Gardens
Occupations	Actor comedian writer singer
Years active	1986–2022

Early and personal life

Jordan was born on April 29, 1955^[2] and grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee.^[3][4] He graduated from Brainerd High School.^[5] He said his mother, Peggy Ann Jordan (née Griffin; 1935–2022)^[6] was supportive and accepting, despite never truly understanding him. Leslie's father, Allen Bernard Jordan, was a major in the United States Army Reserve and died along with two others, in the crash of a civilian Beechcraft Debonair airplane at Camp Shelby, on March 31, 1967. At the time Leslie was almost 12 years old.^[3][7][6][8] In a 2014 interview, he said that he had a difficult time growing up Southern Baptist. "I was baptized 14 times. Every time the preacher would say, 'Come forward, sinners!' I'd say, 'Oooh, I was out in the woods with that boy. I better go forward.'"^[9]

Leslie Jordan moved to Los Angeles in 1982, where he became involved with drugs and alcohol and was arrested several times. He began to journal daily, which helped him recover from drug and alcohol abuse.^[10] In 2010, Jordan told talk show host Wendy Williams that he had been sober for 13 years.^[11] In the same appearance, Jordan said that before he gave up drinking, he once shared a cell with Robert Downey Jr., and when they both appeared later on Ally McBeal, Downey couldn't quite place where they had met before.^[11] Jordan was gay.^[12] Early in the AIDS crisis, Jordan became involved in AIDS Project Los Angeles as a buddy and as a food delivery-person for Project Angel Food.^[13]

Career

Film and television

Jordan began his career in 1986, appearing as Malone in the adventure series The Fall Guy.^[14] He quickly became recognizable in the industry for his diminutive size and Southern drawl.^[3] He appeared as newspaper editor Mr. Blackly in the movie The Help.^[15] His television career includes guest appearances on Murphy Brown, Designing Women, Will & Grace, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Star Trek: Voyager, Caroline in the City, Pee-Wee's Playhouse, Reba, Boston Public, Boston Legal, Nash Bridges, American Horror Story, Perfect Strangers, and Hearts Afire.^[16] In 1990, Jordan portrayed the ski patrol director in Ski Patrol.^[17] In 2007, he guest-starred on the comedy drama Ugly Betty as celebrity-trasher Quincy Combs, and starred as Jesse Joe in the short-lived CW television program Hidden Palms.^[18]

On the television series Will & Grace, Jordan played Beverley Leslie, Karen Walker's pretentious, poorly-closeted rival,^[19] for which he received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series at the 58th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards in 2006. His Emmy Award earned him an invitation to present the awards for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series and Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series at the 2006 Emmy Awards with Cloris Leachman a week later.^[20] Jordan starred in the pilot episode of Laugh Out, the world's first interactive, gay-themed comedy show.^[19] On August 18, 2014, he became a housemate in the fourteenth season of the British reality game show Celebrity Big Brother. He was the second person to leave the Big Brother house (August 29, 2014).^[21] In January 2015, he guest-starred in the British sitcom Benidorm for two episodes, as the character Buck A. Roo.^[22] On November 1, 2017, he appeared in the new British television drama Living the Dream, produced jointly by Sky and Big Talk Productions but branded as a Sky Original Production.^[23] In 2018–2019, he starred in the Fox sitcom The Cool Kids, along with Martin Mull, Vicki Lawrence, and David Alan Grier.^[24]

On April 2, 2020, it was announced Jordan would play the series regular role of Phil in the Fox sitcom Call Me Kat, along with Mayim Bialik, Swoosie Kurtz, Kyla Pratt, and Cheyenne Jackson.^[25] The show premiered in January 2021. In the same year, Jordan was a guest panelist on season six of The Masked Singer during Week 5 where he also did a performance of "This Little Light of Mine" as "Soft Serve".^[26] He later returned as a guest panelist in season seven and season eight. A posthumously-airing holiday episode of Lego Masters was one of his final works before his death.^[27]

Theater

Jordan played Earl "Brother Boy" Ingram in Sordid Lives, and also portrayed this character in the popular cult film of the same name. He reprised the role in a televised spin-off of the movie, which aired on Logo, where he played a character who is institutionalized in a mental hospital.^[28] He wrote and starred in the autobiographical play Lost in the Pershing Point Hotel, which was also made into a motion picture. In 2004, he toured the country performing his one-man stage comedy, Like a Dog on Linoleum, to generally favorable reviews.^[29][30]

Jordan's first autobiographical stage show was called Hysterical Blindness and Other Southern Tragedies That Have Plagued My Life Thus Far,^[13] with music and lyrics by Joe Patrick Ward.^[31][32] The production, in which Jordan was backed by a gospel choir singing satirical songs about racism and homophobia, was produced off-Broadway at the SoHo Playhouse and ran for seven months. Next, he distilled his experiences growing up as an effeminate, tiny boy in the South and in show business into an autobiographical one-man show, My Trip Down the Pink Carpet. During the opening of My Trip Down the Pink Carpet, Jordan's microphone stopped working, but he kept on with the show like nothing happened; the show was a success.^[13] After touring the nation for several months with the production, the show opened off-Broadway at the Midtown Theater on April 19, 2010. The show was produced by Jordan's friend, actress Lily Tomlin. He announced on The Paul O'Grady Show that he would be bringing his show to London's Apollo Theatre.^[33]

Music

Jordan released a gospel music album, Company's Comin' in 2021.^[1]

Social media

At the time of his death, Jordan had accumulated 5.8 million Instagram followers. His following grew substantially in response to his comedy posts during the COVID-19 pandemic.^[34]

Death

On October 24, 2022, at approximately 9:30 am PDT, while driving to film scenes at the Call Me Kat set,^[35] Jordan's car hit the side of a building at Cahuenga Boulevard and Romaine Street in Hollywood.^[35] He was believed to have experienced a medical episode that led to the crash. He was pronounced dead at the scene.^[36] He was 67 years old.^[37]

In January 2023, an autopsy report revealed Jordan died by "sudden cardiac dysfunction".^[38] According to the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office, he died from sudden cardiac dysfunction due to arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease. There was no evidence of alcohol or other drugs in Jordan's system. At the time of his death, he had been sober for more than two decades.^[39]

Awards

In 2021, Jordan received GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics' Timeless Star award, the group's career achievement honor given to "an actor or performer whose exemplary career is marked by character, wisdom and wit."^[40] He accepted the award, previously bestowed on Jane Fonda, Meryl Streep, John Waters, Harvey Fierstein, Lily Tomlin, Dame Angela Lansbury, and Sir Ian McKellen, in the Society's Dorian Awards 'Toast' TV.^[41] Jordan also won an Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series Emmy Award in 2006 for his part as Beverley Leslie in Will & Grace.^[42]

Credits

Writer

• Lost in the Pershing Point Hotel (play)^[43]
• My Trip Down the Pink Carpet (2008)^[43][44]
• Hysterical Blindness and Other Southern Tragedies That Have Plagued My Life Thus Far^[43]
• How Y'all Doing?: Misadventures and Mischief from a Life Well Lived (2021)^[43]

Stage

• Found a Peanut (1986)^[45]
• Sordid Lives (1996)^[43]
• Southern Baptist Sissies (2000)^[43]
• Lost in the Pershing Point Hotel^[43]
• Like a Dog on Linoleum (2004)^[43]
• My Trip Down the Pink Carpet (2010)^[43]
• Lucky Guy (2011); off-Broadway musical, in the role of Big Al Wright^[43]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1988	Moving	Customer at Bar	[46]
1990	Ski Patrol	Murray	[46][47][48]
1992	Hero	Court Official	[46][47]
	Missing Pieces	Krause	[47]
1993	Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday	Shelby	[46][47][49]
1995	Black Velvet Pantsuit	Ernie	[50][51]
1996	Shoot the Moon		[52]
1997	Two Weeks from Sunday		Short[53]
1998	Goodbye Lover	Homer	[46][47]
	Hamburger Helper	Larry Lewis	Short
1999	Eat Your Heart Out	Director	[46]
2000	John John in the Sky	Tot Dixon	a.k.a. I'll Wave Back[46]
	Lost in the Pershing Point Hotel	Storyteller	Writer (play; screenplay)[46][47]
	Sordid Lives	Earl "Brother Boy" Ingram	[46][47][48]
2001	The Gristle	Jake Bennett	[54]
2003	Farm Sluts	Coroner	Short
	Moving Alan	Arthur	[55]
2004	Home on the Range	Photographer (voice)	[56][57]
	Madhouse	Dr. Morton	[46]
2005	Sissy Frenchfry	Principal Principle	Short[46]
2007	Watch & Learn	Martin	Short[58]
	Undead or Alive: A Zombedy	Padre	[46][47]
2008	Roadside Romeo	Additional voices	[citation needed]
2009	Eating Out 3: All You Can Eat	Harry	[46][47]
	Rockabilly Baby		Writer (play)[59][60]
2010	Demonic Toys: Personal Demons	Prof. Butterfield	[46]
	Love Ranch	Mr. Hainsworth	[46]
	Leslie Jordan: My Trip Down the Pink Carpet	Himself	Stand up (also a book)[44][61]
2011	The Help	Mr. Blackly	[46][47][48]
	Mangus!	Bruce Jackson	[62]
2012	Hollywood to Dollywood	Himself	[46]
	Yahoo! News/Funny or Die GOP Presidential Online Internet Cyber Debate	Ron Paul	[63]
2013	Southern Baptist Sissies	Peanut	[46]
2014	Lucky Dog	Mr. Kaufman	[46]
2016	Fear, Inc.	Judson	[46]
2017	A Very Sordid Wedding	Earl "Brother Boy" Ingram	[46]
2021	The United States vs. Billie Holiday	Reginald Lord Devine	[46]
TBA	Strangers in a Strange Land	Gentleman	Post-production; posthumous release[64]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986	The Fall Guy	Malone	[46]
	The Wizard	Jimmy	[49]
1987	CBS Summer Playhouse	Worm	[65]
1988	Frankenstein General Hospital	Iggy	[46][47]
	Night Court	Irwin	[46][65]
1989	Midnight Caller	Little Bob Johnson	[46]
	Murphy Brown	Kyle	[46][47]
	Newhart	L. Gardner	[48]
	The People Next Door	Truman Fipps	10 episodes[52][66][67]
	The Road Raiders	Whip	Uncredited[52]
1990	American Dreamer	Short	[48]
	Babes	Clem	[52]
	Pee-wee's Playhouse	Busby	[68]
	Sugar and Spice	Monsieur Jacques	[52]
1991	Top of the Heap	Emmet Lefebvre	6 episodes[46][67]
1992	Bodies of Evidence	Lemar Samuels	16 episodes[46][48]
	Perfect Strangers	Rob Bob Phillips	[48]
1992–1993	Reasonable Doubts	Asst. Public Defender Clifford Sizemore Marvin Sizemore	16 episodes[48][67]
1993	Getting By	Mr. Bergner
1993–1994	Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman	Alan Morris / The Invisible Man William Wallace Webster Waldecker / Resplendent Man	[46][49]
1993	Nurses	Mr. Cooley Waits	[69]
1993–1995	Hearts Afire	Lonnie Garr	28 episodes[46][48]
1995	Charlie Grace	Darnell Sims	[70]
	Courthouse	Mr. Barnes	[71]
1996	Coach	Blatt	[46][48]
	Star Trek: Voyager	Kol	Episode: "False Profits"[46][49]
	Mr. & Mrs. Smith	Earl Borden	[72]
1997	Arli$	Skip Lloyd	[73]
	The Pretender	Pat	[46][48]
	Weird Science	Boyd Butayne	[52][49]
	Wings	Teddy Kolb	[46]
1998	Buddy Faro	Frankie Delgado	[74]
	Caroline in the City	Dr. Leslie	[48]
	Dharma & Greg	Kenny	[46][48]
	Ellen	Top Studio Executive	[48]
	Maximum Bob	Cletus Huntley	[52]
	Pacific Blue	Bo Nyby	[75]
1999	Martial Law	Horatio Hawkins	[76][52]
2000	Any Day Now	Big Top Police Officer	[52]
	FreakyLinks	Hotel Clerk	[46]
	Nash Bridges	Walter Marley	[46]
	Sabrina, the Teenage Witch	Chuck	[52][77][78]
	The Strip	Gaston	[52]
2000, 2002	Son of the Beach	Jordan	2 episodes[52]
2001	Ally McBeal	Dr. Benjamin Harris	[46]
2001–2002	Boston Public	Dr. Benjamin Harris	Recurring role; 5 episodes[46][48]
2001–2006, 2017–2020	Will & Grace	Beverley Leslie	17 episodes[46][48]
2003	Judging Amy	Reginald Hoyt	[46]
	Tracey Ullman in the Trailer Tales	Rog Monroe	[46]
2003–2004	Reba	Terry / Jeweller	Recurring role; 3 episodes[46]
2004	George Lopez	Doctor	Episode: "Leave It To Lopez"[46]
	Monk	Town Official	[46]
2005	Boston Legal	Bernard Ferrion	Recurring role; 6 episodes[46]
	Chasing Christmas	Past	[46]
2005–2006	American Dad!	Beauregard LaFontaine (voice)	2 episodes[46]
2007	Ugly Betty	Quincy Combs	Episode: "Punch Out"[46][48]
	Hidden Palms	Jesse Jo	Recurring role; 5 episodes[46]
2008	12 Miles of Bad Road	Kenny Kingman	Recurring role; 6 episodes[79][80]
	Privileged	Dale Dart	[81]
	Sordid Lives: The Series	Earl "Brother Boy" Ingram	10 episodes[46]
2008–2011	Under the Pink Carpet	Himself	4 episodes[82]
2009	Alligator Point		[83]
	Glenn Martin, DDS	Additional voices	[84]
2011	Desperate Housewives	Felix Bergman	[46]
	Shake It Up	Theodore Van Glorious	[46]
2012	DTLA	Theatre Director	[46]
	The Game	Donatella Sweetescott	[85]
	The Secret Life of the American Teenager		Episode: "I Do and I Don't..."[46]
	The Neighbors	Carla	Episode: "Thanksgiving Is for the Bird-Kersees"[46]
2012–2013	Raising Hope	Reverend Bob	[46]
2013	The Exes	Percy	Episode: "Toy Story"[86]
	American Horror Story: Coven	Quentin Fleming	Recurring role; 3 episodes[46][48]
	Supernatural	Yorkie, Mutt (voice)	Episode: "Dog Dean Afternoon"[87][88]
	Baby Daddy	Edwin the Mall Elf	Episode: "Emma's First Christmas"[46]
2013, 2022	RuPaul's Drag Race	Himself	2 episodes, including "RuPaul Roast"; guest judge/guest director[46]
2014	Partners	Marion Phillips	Episode: "Jurist Prudence"[89]
	Celebrity Big Brother UK	Himself	Series 14, 12 episodes[21]
2015	Benidorm	Buck A. Roo	Series 7, episodes 1 & 2[47]
2015–2017	Con Man	Leslie Jordan / 'Curley'	Recurring role; 6 episodes[46]
2016	American Horror Story: Roanoke	Ashley Gilbert (reenactor of Cricket Marlowe)	Recurring role; 3 episodes[46][48]
	K.C. Undercover	Cecil B. DeVille	[46]
2017	Life in Pieces	Neils	Episode: "Poison Fire Teats Universe"[46]
2017–2019	Living the Dream	Aiden	[46]
2018	The Last Sharknado: It's About Time	Benjamin Franklin	[90]
2018–2019	The Cool Kids	Sid	Main role[46][48]
2019	American Horror Story: 1984	Courtney	Recurring role; 4 episodes[46][48]
2021	The Great North	Thomas Wintersbone (voice)	Episode: "Pride and Prejudice Adventure"[91]
	Fantasy Island	Jasper	Episode: "Día de los Vivos"[92]
	Special	Charles	Episode: "Why Is No One Ready?"[93]
2021–2022	Call Me Kat	Phil	Main role[46][48]
	The Masked Singer	Soft Serve/Guest panelist	4 episodes[46]
2022	Trixie Motel	Himself	Episode: "Malibu Barbara"[94]
	Celebrity IOU	Himself	Posthumous release
	Lego Masters	Himself	Episode: "Celebrity Holiday Bricktacular"; posthumous release

Discography

• Company's Comin' (April 2, 2021)^[1][95]