Tragic news out of Hollywood today as it has emerged that comedian and actor Leslie Jordan has died.
He was 67.
TMZ reported Monday afternoon that the Call Me Kat star suffered a medical emergency and crashed his BMW into the side of a building.
Jordan was best known for playing Beverley Leslie on Will & Grace, which won him an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series.
Jordan had an impressive list of credits on the small screen, including the aforementioned Will & Grace and Call Me Kat.
The third season of Call Me Kat airs Thursdays on FOX.
Jordan was a series regular on the Mayim Bialik-fronted series based on the UK comedy Miranda.
Additionally, Jordan appeared on American Horror Story, The Cool Kids, Special, Raising Hope, The Game, Desperate Housewives, Privileged, Ugly Betty, Monk, Fantasy Island, and George Lopez.
He also appeared as a contestant on Celebrity Big Brother UK in 2014.
Earlier in his career, Leslie had credits on People Next Door, Top of the Heap, Reasonable Doubts, and Boston Legal.
While Jordan had been an established comedian and actor for years, he became a viral social media star during the pandemic.
His Instagram account soared from 50,000 followers to almost 6 million, with him documenting his daily activities at the height of the pandemic.
“Oh, don’t you dare judge me,” he said in a memorable video.
“Y’all are out there doing it. I can at least watch it. It’s better than CNN.”
The actor was in pre-production on the movie Ron, opposite Margaret Cho.
Leslie spoke to TV Fanatic last month, ahead of the third season of Call Me Kat, in which he spoke about his gift for comedy.
He recalled being “about six” years old, leaving Sunday school, and telling his dad he would never go back.
“Oh, you love Sunday school. Why do you not want to go back?” the star recalled his father saying.
Jordan offered the following in response:
I said because “they laugh at me!” And he explained to me, at six years old, the difference between laughing at me and laughing with me.
He said you have this gift, and he told me this bible story about hiding my light under a bushel… and you’ve always, always got to let that shine.
I think it’s something I’ve innately had. I come from a family of clowns.
We Laugh and laugh. We’ll go out to dinner, and I’ll see a family sitting there having a whole meal and not even speaking and thinking, “wow, that’s not us!” We’re a family of clowns. I think it’s just the way I am!
May Leslie Jordan rest in peace.
Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.
