Will & Grace actor Leslie Jordan dies at 67

Will & Grace actor Leslie Jordan dies at 67

Leslie Jordan, the actor, comic and musician identified for his roles in “Will & Grace” and “American Horror Story” and for his uplifting pandemic Instagram movies, died after an automotive crash Monday in Hollywood.

Jordan, 67, gained an Emmy in 2006 for his efficiency because of the snide Beverley Leslie within the hit TV present “Will & Grace.” His co-stars have been among the many who paid tribute on social media Monday.

Jordan was behind the wheel of a BMW when he crashed into the aspect of construction at Cahuenga Boulevard and Romaine Avenue at 9:30 a.m., Los Angeles Police Division Officer Lizeth Lomeli informed The Instances. The longtime actor and author were declared lifeless on the scene.

It was not instantly clear whether or not Jordan was killed in the crash or suffered a medical emergency beforehand, however the situation of the automobile instructed Jordan could have misplaced management earlier than slamming into the construction, a legislation enforcement supply stated.

On the scene of the crash, black skid marks from Cahuenga Boulevard led onto the sidewalk the place Jordan’s BMW had slammed into the construction metallic facade dented.

By late Monday afternoon, the BMW had been changed by bundles of lilies and chrysanthemums and a handwritten notice on lined paper: “Thanks for being a lightweight on this world! You may be missed. RIP!”

A number of folks visited the location to take pictures and somberly stare at that makeshift memorial.

Dan Mryglot, a resident of West Hollywood and managing editor of the WeHo Instances, stopped by after figuring out on close G’s Fitness center was.

“He was in on the joke,” he stated. “He knew he was a bit of fear minute man and he profited from it — it’s nice.”

Aaron Rosenberg, who lives down the road from the crash web web situated he felt a powerful connection to Jordan, calling him a “homosexual icon.”

“He opened a whole lot of doorways for the entire neighborhood,” he stated.

Joey Wiser and Felipe Araipa additionally dropped by on their means residence to go to the memorial. Each grew up watching Jordan on “Will & Grace” and have an among the many hundreds of thousands who tuned into his amusing pandemic dispatches.

“I feel it introduced a whole lot of us collectively in a time after we weren’t positive what was occurring,” Wiser stated of Jordan’s Instagram movies.

Chloë Phoenix, who drove to the location together with her mom, Jessie, and sister Jazmine, gleefully pulled out her telephone and grinned whereas watching one in all Jordan’s viral movies, the place he spins with a baton in hand, yelling, “Daddy, watch me twirl!”

Phoenix and her sister stated they admired how he represented the LGBTQ neighborhood. Their mom stated Jazmine was in tears after studying about Jordan’s loss of life.

“Not a whole lot of celebrities contact you in that means,” Jessie stated after the household lighted a prayer candle alongside the flowers. “This was a complete crush for us.”

After Jordan acquired his large break in 1989 when he was forged within the first season of “Murphy Brown,” his 30-year profession was marked by scene-stealing roles in TV reveals corresponding to “Our bodies of Proof” and “Hearts Afire.”

His fame grew whereas starring in NBC’s “Will & Grace,” in addition to stints on Ryan Murphy’s “American Horror Story” franchise and “The Cool Youngsters,” wherein he performed queer, assured senior citizen Sid Delacroix. Extra lately, Jordan was starring in the Fox sitcom “Name Me Kat,” which premiered its third season final month.

Whereas holed up in a residence in his native Chattanooga, Tenn., through the early months of the pandemic in 2020, Jordan discovered viral fame with a continuing string of comedic movies posted to his Instagram. He amassed 5.8 million followers, together with many celebrities, who tuned in to hear his sassy tales relayed in his Southern accent.

Greeting his followers along with his iconic sign-on, “Effectively, what are y’all doin’?” and posting twice a day for 80 days, Jordan would quip about day-to-day life through the pandemic. He gave colorful reactions to new music, corresponding to Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s single, “WAP.” He created dance montages to pop music from his yard to his lounge. And whereas on walks, he humorously recalled moments from his performing profession.

“A buddy of mine known as from California stated, ‘You will have gone viral.’ And I stated, ‘No, honey, I’m effective. I don’t have COVID,’” Jordan joked in one of many movies. “I don’t understand how I did it as a result of now I scramble for the content material. On daily basis, I’m considering, ‘Oh, my God! I have to publish. What ought to I provide you with?’

David Shaul, the actor’s consultant, announced his loss of life.

“The world is unquestionably a lot darker place as we speak without the love and light-weight of Leslie Jordan,” Shaul stated. “Not solely was he mega expertise and pleasure to work with, but he supplied an emotional sanctuary to the nation at one in all its most troublesome occasions. What he lacked in peak he made up for in generosity and greatness as a son, brother, artist, comic, associate and human being. Realizing that he has left the world on the peak of each his skilled and private life is the one solace one can have as we speak.”

Tributes from Hollywood started pouring in after information of Jordan’s loss of life unfold on social media, together with from his “Will & Grace” co-stars.

Eric McCormack, who starred as Will Truman on the sitcom, celebrated the diminutive dandy Jordan was 4 ft 11 because the “funniest & flirtiest Southern gent I’ve ever identified.”

“The enjoyment and laughter he introduced to each one in all his #WillandGrace episodes were palpable. Gone about thirty years too quickly. You have been liked, candy man,” McCormack tweeted.

“Will & Grace” co-star Sean Hayes additionally chimed in, saying: “Leslie Jordan was one of many funniest folks I ever had the pleasure of working with.”

“Everybody who ever met him, liked him,” Hayes tweeted. “There’ll by no means be anybody like him. A singular expertise with an unlimited, caring coronary heart. You may be missed, my pricey buddy.”

“Leslie was flawlessly humorous, a virtuoso of comedy. his timing, his supply, all apparently easy. you may get any higher than that,” wrote Megan Mullally, who performed Karen Walker, Jordan’s archrival, on “Will & Grace.”

Actor Lynda Carter, who portrayed Marvel Girl within the eponymous Nineteen Seventies TV present, stated Jordan’s pandemic-era movies “put a smile on the faces of so many.”

“What a feat to maintain us all laughing and linked in such troublesome occasions… It feels so merciless that this might occur to such a lovely soul,” Carter wrote.

Some mourners additionally celebrated Jordan, who was overtly homosexual, as an LGBTQ icon who expanded the probabilities of queer id on and off the display.

“You have been actually one of many spirits that made growing old as a queer man really feel extra thrilling than current within the current,” wrote Tony Award-nominated playwright Jeremy O. Harris.

Drag queen Trinity the Tuck stated she had simply seen Jordan in L.A. final week and regarded the actor as “such a queer icon to me.”

Trinity stated she drew inspiration from the LGBTQ cult basic “Sordid Lives,” a 2000 movie primarily based on a play of the identical identify, wherein Jordan performed Earl “Brother Boy” Ingram, a homosexual drag queen whose Texas household struggles to just accept him.

In an announcement posted to Twitter, Sarah Kate Ellis, president and chief government of the Homosexual & Lesbian Alliance In opposition to Defamation, stated Jordan “was a multi-talented entertainer who charmed audiences for many years with heartfelt characters on-screen and passionate LGBTQ advocacy off-screen.” The advocacy group known as him “a loyal buddy to so many LGBTQ organizations together with GLAAD,” who additionally “made it a precedence to assist enhance visibility for LGBTQ for folks within the South.”