The diminutive Leslie Jordan has long had me in awe of
his comic creations. He is an irrepressible, garrulous Chattanooga pixie who
got through a Southern Baptist childhood & same sex stirrings & lived
triumphantly to tell the tale.
I first noticed Jordan in his Emmy winning turn in the recurring
guest role of Beverley Leslie on Will & Grace, but he has worked for several
decades on the stage, TV & films, including last year's The Help as Mr.
Blackly, editor of the local newspaper.
Jordan has a special demented genius in his work in Del
Shores' Sordid Lives on stage, in the cult film version, & later in the
short-lived TV series. I was crazy for the film version, watching it several times. His one-man show Hysterical Blindness & Other
Southern Tragedies That Have Plagued My Life Thus Far, was first performed
off-Broadway in 1992. His shows are produced by his friend- Lily Tomlin.
Jordan has hit on the road, performing his one-man shows- Like a Dog on Linoleum & My Trip Down the Pink Carpet, playing L.A, &
NYC & all points in between. These days he's touring a new one-man called
Fruit Fly, about life with his very Southern mother.
Always tiny & openly gay, the 4-foot-11 Jordan began
using humor early in life as a defense against bullies. He is fond of saying “I
fell out of the womb and landed in my mama’s high heels,” but had surprising
support from his conservative Baptist parents.
I read his funny, but moving book- My Trip Down The Pink Carpet where tells
many poignant anecdotes, like when he wanted a bride doll for Christmas one
year. He got “the prettiest bride doll you ever saw” … from his big, muscular
career Army father.
After spending a decade working as a jockey, he went back
to collge & studied Theatre. Jordan: “I’m a true, true Hollywood success
story. Nobody helped me. I stepped off the bus & started doing commercials.
I was really good at that, they wanted funny, funny, funny people in
commercials.”
Jordan: “My big break was ‘Murphy Brown, I did one
episode & the whole town was abuzz. My agent called & said he’d never
had that kind of reaction. Pee Wee Herman wanted me on his kiddy show, Burt
Reynolds said it would be fun to work with me, & even Stephen Spielberg
called. It was like an overnight success. It was fun, but looking back, it was
exhausting. I had fun in my 20s, 30s and 40s, but I wish I had a little more
financial security.”
During pilot season, Jordan lives in L.A., but the rest
of the year he’s on the road. Tate Taylor, the openly gay director of The Help
had tried for years to get Jordan to work for him, but Jordan was never
available. Jordan: “Tate called me up & said, ‘Damn you, you’ve never
worked for me & now I’m going to give you this good part.”
When Jordan won his Emmy, his competition was Ben
Stiller, Patrick Stewart, Alec Baldwin & Martin Sheen, Jordan didn’t expect
to win, but still flew his mother out for the ceremony.
Jordan: "I have live such a blessed life, I was just a kid who
had a dream & got on a bus.”
On gay life: “There are 2 ways to combat homophobia. One
is through humor. The second is to put a face on it. People are becoming much
more enlightened. People are realizing that being gay is just as defining as
the color of our skin & it's not a choice. I'm really encouraged. I think
in my lifetime we will achieve equality. I'm honored to be a part of it.”
Jordan is single. He turns 57 years old today.
LOVE HIM!
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