Dolly Parton made sure to give good friend Leslie Jordan a fitting sendoff. The country icon made a surprise appearance on Thursday’s winter premiere of Call Me Kat to pay tribute to the late star, who played Phil on the Fox series before his tragic death on Oct. 24 at the age of 67.
Parton appeared in a surprise video message at the end of the episode, singing a part of the song “Where the Soul Never Dies,” which she recorded with Jordan for his 2021 album Company’s Comin‘. “I know usually at a memorial, people talk about somebody. Well, I’m going to talk to you,” Parton began. “Because there is that place on the other side, and I’m certainly going to see you there, little brother. You left a lot of people here with a lot of precious, precious memories. Everybody loved you, but I doubt many of them loved you more than I did.”
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She continued, “I just want you to know that we all love you, we all miss you, and I bet you’re having a big laugh over all of us being sad and sorrowful. And I know that would be the last thing you would want us to be. You made us happy while you were here, and we’re happy that you’re at peace. I just want you to know that I will always love you. Goodbye, my sweet Leslie.”
Call Me Kat made sure to give Jordan’s character a happy ending as well in the emotional episode, which saw the beloved baker at Kat’s cafe decide to stay in Tahiti with his new boyfriend (John Griffin), where they planned to get married and open a bakery of their own. Filling in for her son during his absence was Jordan’s former Cool Kids castmate Vicki Lawrence, who played Phil’s mother, Lurlene.
The Call Me Kat cast members also took the time to break character and address Jordan’s death directly. Mayim Bialik, Cheyenne Jackson, Kyla Pratt, Julian Gant, and Swoosie Kurtz couldn’t hide their emotions as they gathered around the chair in which Jordan would sit during filming. “What we’ve done here is given Phil a happy ending. What we’re really doing is mourning the loss of our dear friend, Leslie Jordan,” Bialik said. “He is irreplaceable. We will miss him very much. Love, light, Leslie.”
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