At the age of 67, actor Leslie Jordan passed away on Monday in Los Angeles following an automobile accident.
According to law enforcement officials who spoke to TMZ and later the Los Angeles Times, the adored actor may have experienced a medical emergency prior to ramming his BMW into the side of a Hollywood skyscraper.
Known for his work on Will & Grace, American Horror Story, and Hearts Afire, Jordan discovered newfound popularity at age 65 when the pandemic unintentionally made him an internet sensation. After years of working as a gig actress, the petite star, who stood 4’11” in shoes, found a new audience by posting gossipy, personable daily videos to Instagram.
The absence of Leslie Jordan’s love and light has undoubtedly made the world a much darker place, according to Jordan’s agent David Shaul. In addition to being a huge talent and a pleasure to work with, he gave the country an emotional haven through one of its most trying moments.
The Help, The Cool Kids, and Call Me Kat, a remake of the British hit Miranda that is currently airing its third season on Fox, are among the seasoned actor’s credentials. His performance as Earl “Brother Boy” Ingram in the stage play Sordid Lives, which was later turned into a cult romantic comedy film of the same name in 2000, won him praise from critics.
Jordan, who was born in Tennessee in 1955, was brought up a Southern Baptist in the Chattanooga suburbs’ middle-class neighborhood. When he was 11 years old, his father, a lieutenant colonel in the US army, perished in a plane crash.
He struggled as a teen to reconcile his sexuality with the church of his upbringing. “I so wanted to be a good Christian, I honestly did,” he told the Guardian in 2021. “I tried my best to live according to Christ’s teachings, but then the whole LGBT thing started happening. When I was 17 years old, I abandoned religion.
He used humor as a form of self-preservation, saying that “even now if I meet someone and I’m not comfortable or not ready to open up, I’ll just make them laugh.” I won’t have to let them in then. I was therefore teased at school, but I always had a response.
In 1982, Jordan relocated to Los Angeles and began working in commercials before moving on to roles in movies and television. He worked with Project Angel Food in Los Angeles in the early 1990s, a nonprofit that provides food to those with HIV/AIDS.
On Monday, as soon as the news of Jordan’s passing was confirmed, condolences poured in.
Sean Hayes, a co-star of Jordan on Will & Grace, tweeted: “My heart is broken. Leslie Jordan was one of the funniest people I ever had the pleasure of working with. Everyone who ever met him loved him. There will never be anyone like him. A unique talent with an enormous, caring heart. You will be missed, my dear friend.”
Actor George Takei wrote on Twitter, “I am stunned at the death of Leslie Jordan, who delighted us with his many roles on television and film, “Leslie, we are heartbroken at your loss and will miss your mirth and your inimitable spirit.”
More About Leslie Jordan
Leslie Allen Jordan was an American actor, writer, and singer who lived from April 29, 1955, until October 24, 2022. He was best known for playing Lonnie Garr on Hearts Afire (1993–1995), and Beverly Leslie on Will & Grace (2001–2006, 2017–2020), for which he received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series in 2006, a number of characters in the American Horror Story series (2011–present), Sid on The Cool Kids (2018–2019), and Phil on Call Me Kat (2021–2023).
He played Earl “Brother Boy” Ingram in Sordid Lives, one of his most well-known stage performances. He also portrayed the character on the big screen in the well-liked cult movie of the same name. He grew to fame on Instagram during the 2020 pandemic, gaining 5.8 million followers. His autobiography, How Y’all Doing? : Misadventures and Mischief from a Life Well Lived, was released in April 2021.
