Beloved comedian Leslie Jordan reportedly died in a car crash on Monday. Law enforcement sources told TMZ Jordan was driving in Hollywood Monday morning when he apparently suffered a medical emergency. He crashed his BMW into the side of a building. Jordan was 67.
Jordan is best known for his roles in Hearts Afire, Will & Grace, and the American Horror Story franchise. He also starred in the Fox sitcom Call Me Kat, featuring Mayim Bialik. Call Me Kat‘s third season premiered on Sept. 29 and episodes air on Thursdays at 9:30 p.m. ET. Jordan has an important role in the show as Phil, the lead baker at Kat’s cat cafe.
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“The world is definitely a much darker place today without the love and light of Leslie Jordan,” David Shaul, Jordan’s agent, said in a statement to Variety. “Not only was he a mega talent and joy to work with, but he provided an emotional sanctuary to the nation at one of its most difficult times. What he lacked in height he made up for in generosity and greatness as a son, brother, artist, comedian, partner, and human being. Knowing that he has left the world at the height of both his professional and personal life is the only solace one can have today.”
Jordan was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee. In an interview with Garden & Sun, Jordan said he realized he was funny when he was seven. “One day, I came out of Sunday school—I was about seven. I was raised Southern Baptist. I’ve been baptized fourteen times—it just never took,” he said. “But I came out, stomped my foot, and told my daddy, ‘I’m not goin’ back. They laugh at me, that’s all they do, they just laugh at me.’ And my daddy said, ‘You’ve been blessed, you’ve been given a gift, Leslie.’ And he made me promise I’d never hide my light under a bushel, but always let it shine.”
After moving to Los Angeles in the early 1980s, he appeared in dozens of shows during the decade and into the early 1990s, including Night Court, Murphy Brown, Newhart, American Dreamer, and Pee-Wee’s Playhouse. In 1992, he scored his first major role in Hearts Afire, a CBS sitcom centering on the relationship between a conservative senator’s aide played by John Ritter, and a liberal political reporter played by Markie Post.
However, Jordan’s most famous role came in 2001, when he was cast as Beverly Leslie in Will & Grace. Although the character only appeared in a few episodes during the show’s original run, Jordan’s character was such a memorable part of the series that he came back for the revival.
In recent years, Jordan has become a Ryan Murphy favorite and appeared in three American Horror Story seasons. He played Quentin Fleming in Coven, Ashley Gilbert in Roanoke, and Courtney in 1984. His unforgettable brand of humor also made him a favorite for reality shows. He competed on The Masked Singer and made multiple appearances on RuPaul’s Drag Race.
Outside of his television work, Jordan had small roles in dozens of movies and wrote several plays. He also performed on stage. He also became an unlikely social media star during the COVID pandemic, racking up over 5.8 million followers. Jordan also published the book How Y’all Doing?: Misadventures and Mischief from a Life Well Lived in 2021.
“I was born with a large capacity for happiness,” Jordan told Garden & Sun. “Also, I was raised right, I was brought up right. But I work at it too. Is there meanness and ugliness and homophobia in the world? Absolutely. But you gotta remember, people are out there just doing the best they can with the light they have to see with, honey.”
