Leslie Jordan

Leslie Jordan was born and raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee.[2] In a 2014 interview, Jordan 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.'"[3] Leslie has twin sisters Jana & Janet who are 22 months younger than Leslie. During an appearance on Today with Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford, Jordan discussed his personal life and career. He described his mother, Peggy Ann, as being supportive and accepting though never truly understanding him. When asked about his mother, he said she lives in Chattanooga and is a private woman. Jordan's father was a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army and died in a plane crash when Jordan was 11 years old.[2]

Jordan moved to Los Angeles in 1982 where he became involved with drugs and alcohol and was arrested several times. When Jordan was 27 years old, he began to journal daily, which helped him recover from drug and alcohol abuse.[4] In 2010, Jordan told talk show host Wendy Williams that he had been sober for thirteen years.[5] 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.[5]

Early in the AIDS crisis, Jordan became involved in AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA) as a buddy and as a food delivery person for Project Angel Food.[6]

Jordan is recognized for his diminutive size and Southern drawl.[2] He appeared as newspaper editor Mr. Blackly in the movie The Help.[7] His television career includes guest appearances on Murphy Brown, 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 and Hearts Afire.[8] He guest-starred on the comedy-drama Ugly Betty as celebrity-trasher Quincy Combs. In 2007, Jordan starred as Jesse Joe in the short-lived CW television program Hidden Palms, and portrayed the ski patrol director in Ski Patrol in 1990.[9]

On the television series Will & Grace, Jordan played Karen's pretentious, sexually ambiguous rival Beverley Leslie[10] for which he received an Emmy Award for Best 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.[11]

Jordan starred in the pilot episode of Laugh Out, the world's first interactive, gay-themed comedy show.[10] On August 18, 2014, Jordan became a housemate in the celebrity edition of the British reality game show Big Brother. He was the second person to leave the Big Brother house (August 29, 2014). In January 2015, Jordan guest starred in the British sitcom Benidorm for two episodes as the character Buck A. Roo.

Jordan is an accomplished stage actor and playwright. In one of his best-known performances onstage, he played Earl "Brother Boy" Ingram in Sordid Lives, a role he took to the big screen in the popular cult film of the same name. Jordan reprised the role in the Sordid Lives: The Series, a televised spin-off of the movie airing on Logo where he plays a character that is in a mental hospital.[12] 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.[13][14]

Jordan's first autobiographical stage show was called Hysterical Blindness and Other Southern Tragedies That Have Plagued My Life Thus Far,[6] with music and lyrics by Joe Patrick Ward.[15][16] 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 Southern United States 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, and his show was a success.[6] 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 is produced by Jordan's friend, actress Lily Tomlin. Jordan announced on The Paul O'Grady Show that he will be bringing his show to London's Apollo Theatre.

On November 1, 2017, Jordan 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.[17]

In the fall of 2018, Jordan starred in the Fox network sitcom The Cool Kids, along with Martin Mull, Vicki Lawrence and David Alan Grier.[18]

On April 2, 2020, it was announced Jordan will play the role of Phil in the Fox sitcom Call Me Kat, along with Mayim Bialik, Swoosie Kurtz, Kyla Pratt and Cheyenne Jackson.[19]

As of July 29, 2020, Jordan has 5 million Instagram followers. He celebrated his milestone of 1 million followers by making a video wearing sunglasses and a fancy little suit for his followers. His following grew substantially in response to his posts during the COVID-19 pandemic.[20]

Jordan lives in California.[21][22]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Leslie Jordan.

• Official website
• Leslie Battles for Gay Games Glory
• Leslie Jordan Interview
• Leslie Jordan at IMDb
• Leslie Jordan at the Internet Off-Broadway Database