Leslie Jordan Biography
Leslie Allen Jordan was an American actor, writer, and singer. He was born on April 29, 1955, and passed away on October 24, 2022. His roles on television include Lonnie Garr on Hearts Afire (1993–1995), Beverley Leslie on Will & Grace (2001–2006, 2017–2020), for which he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series in 2006, several characters in the American Horror Story franchise (2013–2019), Sid on The Cool Kids (2018–2019), and Phil on Call Me Kat. In 2006, he was presented with the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor (2021–2022). In the stage production of Sordid Lives, he performed the role of Earl “Brother Boy” Ingram, and he also portrayed the same character in the critically acclaimed cult film of the same name. In the year 2020, during the COVID-19 epidemic, Jordan rose to fame on Instagram, where she quickly accumulated 5.8 million followers. His book, titled “How Y’all Doing? : Misadventures and Mischief from a Life Well Lived,” was released to the public in April of 2021.
Early life
Jordan was born on April 29, 1955, and he spent his childhood in Chattanooga, which is located in the state of Tennessee. He attended Brainerd High School and received his diploma there. According to Jordan, his mother, Peggy Ann Griffin Jordan (1935-2022), was understanding and accepting of him, despite the fact that she never really understood him. When Jordan was eleven years old, on March 31, 1967, his father, Allen Bernard Jordan, a major in the United States Army Reserve, passed away in a plane crash at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, along with two other people in a civilian Beechcraft Debonair airplane. Allen Bernard Jordan was a major in the United States Army Reserve. During an interview in 2014, Jordan stated that he had a terrible time growing up in a Southern Baptist household: “I underwent baptism 14 times in total. Whenever the preacher would exclaim “Come forward, sinners!” the congregation would be compelled to respond. I’d respond with something along the lines of, “Oooh, I was out in the woods with that boy; I’d better move forward.””
After moving to Los Angeles in 1982, Jordan quickly became embroiled in substance abuse and alcoholism, which led to his detention on multiple occasions. When Jordan was 27 years old, he started writing in a notebook every day, which aided in his recovery from an addiction to drugs and alcohol. [10] In 2010, Jordan shared with Wendy Williams, host of a talk show, that he had been clean and sober for thirteen years. During the same appearance, Jordan mentioned 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. Jordan said that before he gave up drinking, he once shared a cell with Robert Downey Jr.
He was not ashamed to be gay.
At an early stage in the epidemic, Jordan got active with AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA) as a buddy and as a food delivery-person for Project Angel Food. Both of these activities took place in Los Angeles.
Career
Film and television
In 1986, Jordan had his first professional appearance, playing the role of Malone in the television series The Fall Guy. Because of his tiny stature and Southern drawl, he became instantly recognizable to those working in the field. In the film adaptation of “The Help,” he played the role of Mr. Blackly, a newspaper editor. Throughout the course of his career in television, he has made guest appearances on shows such as Murphy Brown, Will & Grace, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Star Trek: Voyager, Caroline in the City, Pee-Playhouse, Wee’s Reba, Boston Public, Boston Legal, Nash Bridges, American Horror Story, and Hearts Afire.
In the film Ski Patrol, which was released in 1990, Jordan played the role of the ski patrol director.
In 2007, he appeared as celebrity-trasher Quincy Combs in an episode of the comedy drama Ugly Betty. He also played the role of Jesse Joe in the CW television program Hidden Palms, which was canceled after a single season.
At the 58th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards in 2006, Jordan won the award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his role as Beverley Leslie on the television series Will & Grace. [19] Beverley Leslie was Karen’s snobbish and sexually ambiguous opponent. After winning an Emmy, he was invited to co-present with Cloris Leachman the prizes for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series and Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series at the 2006 Emmy Awards a week later.
Laugh Out was the world’s first interactive comedy show with a gay-themed topic, and Jordan was one of the stars of the show’s inaugural episode.
Jordan joined the cast of the fourteenth season of the British reality game show Celebrity Big Brother on August 18, 2014, making him a housemate for the competition. He was the second contestant to win Big Brother and then depart the house (August 29, 2014). In the month of January 2015, Jordan had a recurring role as the character Buck A. Roo on the British sitcom Benidorm for a total of two episodes.
Jordan made an appearance in the new British television drama Living the Dream, which premiered on November 1, 2017, and was marketed as a Sky Original Production despite the fact that it was produced jointly by Sky and Big Talk Productions.
Alongside Martin Mull, Vicki Lawrence, and David Alan Grier, Jordan starred in the comedy series The Cool Kids on Fox for the 2018-2019 television season.
It was revealed on April 2, 2020 that Jordan will play the part of Phil in the Fox sitcom Call Me Kat, which also stars Mayim Bialik, Swoosie Kurtz, Kyla Pratt, and Cheyenne Jackson. Jordan would join the cast alongside the other four women.
Theatre
Jordan was an accomplished stage actor and playwright. He played Earl “Brother Boy” Ingram in Sordid Lives, and also portrayed this character in the popular cult film of the same name. Jordan reprised the role in a televised spin-off of the movie, which aired on Logo, where he played a character that is in a mental hospital.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.
Jordan’s first autobiographical stage show was called Hysterical Blindness and Other Southern Tragedies That Have Plagued My Life Thus Far, with music and lyrics by Joe Patrick Ward. 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. 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. Jordan announced on The Paul O’Grady Show that he would be bringing his show to London’s Apollo Theatre.
Music
In 2021, he released the gospel music album, Company’s Comin’. Jordan was later 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”.
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.
Death
On October 24, 2022, at approximately 9:30 AM PDT, Jordan died after his car hit the side of a building at Cahuenga Boulevard and Romaine Street in Hollywood. He was believed to have experienced a medical episode that led to the crash. Jordan was pronounced dead at the scene.
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.” Jordan 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 film ‘Toast’ TV special that year.
Credits
Writer
- Lost in the Pershing Point Hotel (play)
- My Trip Down the Pink Carpet (2008)
- Hysterical Blindness and Other Southern Tragedies That Have Plagued My Life Thus Far
- How Y’all Doing?: Misadventures and Mischief from a Life Well Lived (2021)
Stage
- Found a Peanut (1986)
- Sordid Lives (1996)
- Southern Baptist Sissies (2000
- Lost in the Pershing Point Hotel
- Like a Dog on Linoleum (2004)
- My Trip Down the Pink Carpet (2010)
- Lucky Guy (2011); off-Broadway musical, in the role of Big Al Wright
Read Also: Thabang Moleya Wiki, Biography, Age, Family, Height, Net Worth
