Leslie Jordan, the talented comic actor and late-turned-social media star, has passed away. On Monday the 24th, he crashed his car while experiencing a medical emergency. He was 67.
I was disappointed to hear of Jordan’s passing. It oddly felt like a distant relative was gone. Or a friend you’d grown apart from but still occasionally kept up with. Someone you always looked back on with the fondest of memories.
I think Jordan was like that for a lot of people my age. Despite being unfamiliar with the vast majority of Jordan’s work, my friends and I knew him as the light-hearted, hilarious social-media star who posted clips to Instagram throughout the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic. He may have been decades older than us but he just…got it. He was relatable! He was bored and stressed and listless just like us. Jordan started every video with his signature, “Well sh*t… What are y’all doin’?” And most of the time, it was the same as him. Lying on the couch just waiting for all the chaos to end.
Jordan was the ray of sunshine in the middle of the storm. His videos had no bigger goal in mind, no ulterior motive. He just wanted to connect with people during a time in which we were all so isolated. Arguably, that’s what Jordan did best. Looking back at his decades-long career illuminates his unique ability to connect and empathize with all walks of life.
Jordan moved to West Los Angeles in 1982 with a theater degree and dreams of making it big. He started small, though not unsuccessfully, with commercial gigs. He created Flo-like personas for himself that garnered him recognition on the street. From there, he accumulated over 130 acting credits, including the 2011 Oscar-nominated film, The Help. Perhaps most famous is his recurring role as socialite Beverly Leslie on the NBC sitcom Will and Grace, a performance for which Jordan won an Emmy. Sean Hayes, who worked with Jordan on the show, tweeted his sadness upon the news of Jordan’s passing. He was “a unique talent with an enormous, caring heart,” Hayes wrote.
And that he was. While in Los Angeles during the American AIDS crisis, Jordan, a gay man, stood by his community. In an interview with CBS correspondent Anthony Mason, Jordan spoke of his time working with the AIDS Project Los Angeles and Project Angel Food to help his community survive. As his television career took off, he became an inspiration to the LGBTQ+ community. His success was an inspiring turn after a decade of loss.
In that same CBS interview, Jordan spoke of the recent resurgence of his career. All it took was posting two videos a day and his following grew by the millions each time. He couldn’t believe it, he said. The success allowed him to record his own country music album, Company’s Comin’, which was released in 2021. He gleefully shared his excitement at the opportunity to collaborate with the likes of Dolly Parton, Chris Stapleton and Brandy Carlisle. Jordan’s social-media stardom also enabled him to finally purchase his own condo in Los Angeles this past August after living in the city for over 40 years.
Like many, Jordan’s Instagram videos were a welcome solace during the pandemic. Jordan shared that some people would even message him with gratitude and that this is why he kept posting them. He explained, “The only thing fame gives you is a platform. And then you have to decide, am I going to give or am I going to take? And I want to give. I want to leave a mark in some ways, but I want to be of service [to other people]. And that gives me happiness.”
And Jordan did give, from the very day he arrived in LA. Whether it was in Will and Grace or his hula-hooping videos online, he selflessly shared his kindness, smiles and extraordinary ability to make people laugh at times when they needed it most.