Born: April 29, 1955
Age: 69
Birthplace: Memphis, Tennessee, United States
Leslie Allen Jordan (born April 29, 1955) is an American actor and playwright from Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Leslie was born in Memphis, Tennessee and later moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee. Jordan has discussed his early life in Chattanooga, saying that he had a difficult time with religion growing up in the South and that he was baptized 17 times. Whenever the preacher would ask if anyone had sinned, Leslie would always think of something and come forward even when his mother thought he was overreacting about the situation.
During an appearance on Today with Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford, Jordan discussed his personal life and career. He described his mother, Peggy Ann, as being supportive and accepting though never truly understanding him. When asked about his mother he said that she was a very private woman and that she still lives in Chattanooga. Jordan's father was a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army and he died in a plane crash when Jordan was eleven.
Jordan left Tennessee and arrived in Los Angeles in 1982. During this time he became involved with drugs and alcohol and was arrested many times. When Jordan was seventeen years old, he started to write in journals every day. He said that writing in his journals helped him with recovering from drug and alcohol abuse.
Jordan became involved in volunteer work. "Early on in the AIDS crisis, Jordan became involved in AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA) as a buddy and as a food delivery person for Project Angel Food."
Jordan has made numerous appearances in both film and television. He is recognizable for his diminutive size and Southern drawl. He appeared as a newspaper editor named Mr. Blackly in the popular movie, The Help. He is best known for his television work, including guest appearances on Will & Grace, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Star Trek: Voyager, Caroline in the City, Reba, Boston Public, Boston Legal, Nash Bridges and his secondary role on Hearts Afire. He guest-starred on the comedy-drama Ugly Betty as celebrity-trasher Quincy Combs. In 2007, Jordan starred as Jesse Joe in the short-lived CW television program Hidden Palms. He also portrayed the ski patrol director in Ski Patrol.
He is best known for his role as Karen's pretentious, sexually ambiguous rival Beverley Leslie on the series Will & Grace. For that role he received an Emmy Award for Best Guest Actor in a Comedy Series at the 58th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards in 2006. Because Jordan won the award for Best Guest Actor in a Comedy Series, he was invited to present the awards for outstanding comedy writing and outstanding comedy directing at the 2006 Emmy Awards with Cloris Leachman a week later.
Jordan starred in the pilot episode of Laugh Out, the world's first interactive, gay-themed comedy show. On August 18, 2014, Jordan became a housemate in the celebrity edition of the British reality game show Big Brother. He was the second person to leave the Big Brother house (August 29, 2014). In January 2015, Jordan guest starred in the British sitcom Benidorm for two episodes as the character "Buck-A-Roo".
Jordan is an accomplished stage actor and playwright. In one of his best-known performances onstage, he played Earl "Brother Boy" Ingram in Sordid Lives, a role he took to the big screen in the popular cult film of the same name. Jordan reprised the role in the Sordid Lives: The Series, a televised spin-off of the movie airing on Logo where he plays a character that is in a mental hospital. He wrote and starred in the autobiographical play Lost in the Pershing Point Hotel, which was also made into a motion picture. He recently toured the country performing his one-man stage comedy, Like a Dog on Linoleum, to generally favorable reviews.
Jordan's first one-person show was called Hysterical Blindness and Other Southern Tragedies That Have Plagued My Life Thus Far. Next, he distilled his experiences growing up as an effeminate tiny boy in the Southern United States and in show business into an autobiographical one-man show, My Trip Down the Pink Carpet. During the opening of My Trip Down the Pink Carpet, Jordan's microphone stopped working but he kept on with the show like nothing happened and his show was a success. After touring the nation for several months with the production, the show opened off-Broadway at the Midtown Theater on April 19, 2010. The show is produced by Jordan's friend, actress Lily Tomlin. Jordan announced on The Paul O'Grady Show that he will be bringing his show to London's Apollo Theatre.
Genre | Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
TV series | 1986 | Fall Guy, TheThe Fall Guy | Malone | |
TV series | 1986 | Wizard, TheThe Wizard | Jimmy | |
TV series | 1987 | CBS Summer Playhouse | Worm | |
Film | 1988 | Frankenstein General Hospital | Iggy | |
Film | 1988 | Moving | Customer at Bar | |
TV series | 1988 | Night Court | Irwin | |
TV series | 1989 | Midnight Caller | Little Bob Johnson | |
TV series | 1989 | Murphy Brown | Kyle | |
TV series | 1989 | Newhart | L. Gardner | |
TV series | 1989 | People Next Door, TheThe People Next Door | Truman Fipps | 10 episodes |
TV film | 1989 | Road Raiders, TheThe Road Raiders | Whip | uncredited |
TV series | 1990 | American Dreamer | Short | |
TV series | 1990 | Babes | Clem | |
TV series | 1990 | Pee-wee's Playhouse | Busby | |
Film | 1990 | Ski Patrol | Murray | |
TV series | 1990 | Sugar and Spice | Monsieur Jacques | |
TV series | 1991 | Top of the Heap | Emmet Lefebvre | 06 episodes |
TV series | 1992 | Bodies of Evidence | Lemar Samuels | 16 episodes total |
Film | 1992 | Hero | Court Official | |
Film | 1992 | Missing Pieces | Krause | |
TV series | 1992 | Perfect Strangers | Rob Bob Phillips | |
TV series | 1992 | Reasonable Doubts | Asst. Public Defender Clifford Sizemore Marvin Sizemore |
16 episodes total |
TV series | 1993 | Getting By | Mr. Bergner | |
Film | 1993 | Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday | Shelby | |
TV series | 1993 | Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman | Alan Morris / The Invisible Man | |
TV series | 1993 | Nurses | Mr. Cooley Waits | |
TV series | 1993 | Reasonable Doubts | Asst. Public Defender Clifford Sizemore | 16 episodes total |
TV series | 1994 | Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman | William Wallace Webster Waldecker / Resplendant Man | |
TV series | 1993 | Hearts Afire | Lonnie Garr | 28 episodes total |
TV series | 1994 | Hearts Afire | Lonnie Garr | 28 episodes total |
Film | 1995 | Black Velvet Pantsuit | Ernie | |
TV series | 1995 | Charlie Grace | Darnell Sims | |
TV series | 1995 | Courthouse | Mr. Barnes | |
TV series | 1995 | Hearts Afire | Lonnie Garr | 28 episodes total |
Film | 1996 | Shoot the Moon | ||
TV series | 1996 | Coach | Blatt | |
TV series | 1996 | Star Trek: Voyager | Kol | |
TV series | 1996 | Mr. & Mrs. Smith | Earl Borden | |
TV series | 1997 | Arli$$ | Skip Lloyd | |
TV series | 1997 | Pretender, TheThe Pretender | Pat | |
Short film | 1997 | Two Weeks from Sunday | 25 minutes | |
TV series | 1997 | Weird Science | Boyd Butayne | |
TV series | 1997 | Wings | Teddy Kolb | |
TV series | 1998 | Buddy Faro | Frankie Delgado | |
TV series | 1998 | Caroline in the City | Dr. Leslie | |
TV series | 1998 | Dharma & Greg | Kenny | |
TV series | 1998 | Ellen | Top Studio Executive | |
Film | 1998 | Goodbye Lover | Homer | |
Short film | 1998 | Hamburger Helper | Larry Lewis | 22 minutes |
TV series | 1998 | Maximum Bob | Cletus Huntley | |
TV series | 1998 | Pacific Blue | Bo Nyby | |
TV series | 1999 | Martial Law | Horatio Hawkins | |
Film | 1999 | Eat Your Heart Out | Director | |
TV series | 2000 | Any Day Now | ||
TV series | 2000 | FreakyLinks | Hotel Clerk | |
Film | 2000 | John John in the Sky | Tot Dixon | a.k.a. I'll Wave Back |
Film | 2000 | Lost in the Pershing Point Hotel | Storyteller | writer (play; screenplay) |
TV series | 2000 | Nash Bridges | Walter Marley | |
TV series | 2000 | Sabrina, the Teenage Witch | Chuck | |
TV series | 2000 | Son of the Beach | Jordan | 02 episodes total |
Film | 2000 | Sordid Lives | Earl "Brother Boy" Ingram | |
TV series | 2000 | Strip, TheThe Strip | Gaston | |
TV series | 2001 | Ally McBeal | Dr. Benjamin Harris | |
TV series | 2001 | Boston Public | Dr. Benjamin Harris | 05 episodes total |
Film | 2001 | Gristle, TheThe Gristle | Jake Bennett | |
TV series | 2001 | Will & Grace | Beverley Leslie | 11 episodes total |
TV series | 2002 | Boston Public | Dr. Benjamin Harris | 05 episodes total |
TV series | 2002 | Son of the Beach | Jordan | 02 episodes total |
TV series | 2002 | Will & Grace | Beverley Leslie | 11 episodes total |
Short film | 2003 | Farm Sluts | Coroner | 17 minutes |
TV series | 2003 | Judging Amy | Reginald Hoyt | |
Film | 2003 | Moving Alan | Arthur | |
TV series | 2003 | Reba | Terry | 03 episodes total Terry is the jeweler from the rings. |
TV film | 2003 | Tracey Ullman in the Trailer Tales | Rog Monroe | |
TV series | 2003 | Will & Grace | Beverley Leslie | 11 episodes total |
TV series | 2004 | George Lopez | Doctor | |
Animated film | 2004 | Home on the Range | Additional Voice | voice actor |
Film | 2004 | Madhouse | Dr. Morton | |
TV series | 2004 | Monk | Town Official | |
TV series | 2004 | Reba | Terry | 03 episodes total |
TV series | 2004 | Will & Grace | Beverley Leslie | 11 episodes total |
Animated TV series | 2005 | American Dad! | Mr. Beauregard | voice actor; 2 episodes total |
TV series | 2005 | Boston Legal | Bernard Ferrion | 06 episodes |
TV film | 2005 | Chasing Christmas | PastPast | |
Short film | 2005 | Sissy Frenchfry | Principal Principle | 28 minutes |
TV series | 2005 | Will & Grace | Beverley Leslie | 11 episodes total |
Animated TV series | 2006 | American Dad! | Mr. Beauregard | voice actor; 2 episodes total |
TV series | 2006 | Will & Grace | Beverley Leslie | 11 episodes total |
Short film | 2007 | Watch & Learn | Martin | 12 minutes |
Film | 2007 | Undead or Alive: A Zombedy | Padre | |
TV series | 2007 | Ugly Betty | Quincy Combs | |
TV series | 2007 | Hidden Palms | Jesse Jo | 05 episodes |
TV series | 2008 | 12 Miles of Bad Road | Kenny Kingman | 06 episodes |
TV series | 2008 | Privileged | Dale Dart | |
TV series | 2008 | Sordid Lives: The Series | Earl "Brother Boy" Ingram | 10 episodes |
TV series | 2008 | Under the Pink Carpet | Himself | 02 episodes total |
TV film | 2009 | Alligator Point | ||
Film | 2009 | Eating Out 3: All You Can Eat | Harry | |
Animated TV series | 2009 | Glenn Martin, DDS | voice actor | |
Film | 2010 | Demonic Toys: Personal Demons | Prof. Butterfield | |
Film | 2010 | Love Ranch | Mr. Hainsworth | |
Film | 2010 | Leslie Jordon: My Trip Down The Pink Carpet | Himself | Stand Up |
TV series | 2011 | Desperate Housewives | Felix Bergman | |
Film | 2011 | Help, TheThe Help | Mr. Blackly | |
Film | 2011 | Mangus! | Bruce Jackson | |
Film | 2009 | Rockabilly Baby | writer (play) | |
TV series | 2011 | Shake It Up | Theodore Van Glorious | |
TV series | 2011 | Under the Pink Carpet | Himself | 02 episodes total |
TV series | 2012 | DTLA | Theatre Director | |
TV series | 2012 | Game, TheThe Game | ||
Documentary | 2012 | Hollywood to Dollywood | Himself | |
TV series | 2012 | Raising Hope | Reverend Bob | |
TV series | 2012 | Secret Life of the American Teenager, TheThe Secret Life of the American Teenager | ||
Short film | 2012 | Yahoo! News/Funny or Die GOP Presidential Online Internet Cyber Debate | Ron Paul | |
TV series | 2013 | American Horror Story: Coven | Quentin Fleming | 3 episodes total |
TV series | 2013 | Baby Daddy | Edwin the Mall Elf | Episode: "Emma's First Christmas" |
Film | 2013 | Southern Baptist Sissies | Peanut | |
TV series | 2013 | RuPaul's Drag Race | Himself | Guest judge on Season 5, Episode 7 |
TV series | 2013 | Supernatural | Yorkie Mutt |
voice actor; 2 episodes |
Film | 2014 | Lucky Dog | Mr. Kaufman | |
TV series | 2014 | Partners | Marion Phillips | Episode: "Jurist Prudence" |
TV series | 2014 | Celebrity Big Brother UK | Himself | Series 14, 12 episodes |
TV series | 2015 | Benidorm | Buck A. Roo | Series 7, Episode 1 & 2 |
Film | 2016 | Fear, Inc. | Judson |
Charities
Leslie Jordan supports the following charitable causes: Gay Rights, Gay Youth.