Leslie Jordan, shown here in a 2011 photo after receiving his Walnut Street Bridge plaque from childhood friend Nina Jones Chapin. Photo courtesy of Chattanooga Times Free Press.
Leslie Jordan, who attended the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and was an award-winning TV and movie actor, died today, Oct. 24, as a result of a car crash in Hollywood, California. Jordan was 67 years old.
In 2006, he won an Emmy as guest actor in a comedy series for his role as Beverly Leslie on “Will & Grace.” He also appeared in “Boston Legal,” “Reba,” “Star Trek: Voyager and two seasons of “American Horror Story” and the 2011 movie, “The Help.”
As a UTC theater major in the early 1980s, Gaye Jeffers often watched Leslie Jordan perform onstage.
“I marveled at him even as a young person,” said Jeffers, now a professor in the UTC Theatre Department. “He was very funny even then. He was always very encouraging to those of us who were much younger,” she said.
Throughout his career, Jordan talked about growing up in Chattanooga, including his time at UTC. “How Y’All Doing? Misadventures and Mischief From a Life Well Lived,” is Jordan’s 2021 book in which he mentions Dr. Fred Behringer, former chairman of the UTC Theatre Department, as his first mentor.
“He taught me the craft of acting, that it is something you work at. He told me I was really funniest when I don’t try to be,” Jordan said in the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
Jayne Holder, former UTC assistant vice chancellor for Alumni Affairs, recalled Jordan coming to Chattanooga for a book signing for “How Y’All Doing?” and his being given a copy of a UTC yearbook.
“He had so much fun going through the yearbook, and he showed everyone in line all these pictures and talked about UTC. He was just so warm and friendly,” Holder said.
In 1983, Leslie Jordan (bottom left in photo from Feb. 18, 1983, edition of the University Echo) played Grandpa Martin Vanderhoff in UTC Theatre’s production of “You Can’t Take It With You.” Photo courtesy of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Digital Collections.
As a UTC student, Jordan appeared in such productions as “You Can’t Take It With You,” “The Caretaker” and “The Crucible,” in which he played the Rev. Samuel Parris, one of the play’s nastier characters, Jeffers recalled. It didn’t quite work.
“His good nature and vibrant personality came through, and it was hard to buy into his evil deeds. As a member of the costume crew, we would giggle offstage. He had a flair. Even as a Puritan.”
Susan Pierce, former features writer at the Times Free Press, graduated from UTC in 1975 and was two years ahead of Jordan. They grew up on the same street—Evergreen Drive in the Woodmore neighborhood—and both graduated from Brainerd High School. She knew him so well, she had his personal cell phone number.
“That Southern drawl was not an affected, put-on drawl. That really was him. That really was how he talked,” said Pierce, whose maiden name was Palmer when she was enrolled at UTC.
“A couple of times when he came home for benefits here, I went to those. He just always acted like he still lived on Evergreen Drive. It’d be like, ‘Hey, Susan, how are you? How’s your mama?’”
He was open about his life as a gay man and was part of several benefits to raise awareness and funds for research, including as master of ceremonies for Chattanooga Cares, which raises money for HIV education, prevention and support.
He was active in more personal ways, too, sitting with individuals dying from the disease, tending to their needs and providing comfort, Pierce said.
“There was a very caring side of Leslie that people didn’t see a whole lot because he was always this funny man.”
Leslie Jordan (shown in the March 26, 1982, edition of the University Echo) played the role of the caretaker in the 1982 production of Harold Pinter’s “The Caretaker.” Photo courtesy of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Digital Collections.
We loved your visits here and thank you for all your good deeds and kindness for all you met.
This is a sad day for all of us, one of the most funniest man I have seem in a long time. I always look forward to seeing him in “Call me Kat”. I will truly miss him in that show. I have to say I am lost in words. R.I.P little buddy we all loved you.
What a beautiful tribute to Leslie Jordan, I will never forget how much joy he brought all of us as an actor and the many laughs I had throughout being quarantined during the pandemic from his Instagram videos to the fellow hunker downers! He touched so many hearts with his presence. He will truly be missed!
Worked with Leslie on several productions while at UTC Theatre. He was always good for a smile or a quick quip
He once agonized over trying to lose his Southern accent, he felt he wouldn’t be taken seriously as an actor, but ended up with a wonderful career playing Southerners with character. He was “real” and honest. He always gave me great advice and told me once to “find my star, it will always lead you where you need to go!” My heart is truly broken over loosing our “Star!”