Contributor

Leslie Jordan

Actor and writer

In 1982, Leslie Jordan stepped off a Greyhound bus from the hills of Tennessee, said “hello” to Hollywood and has never looked back. With hundreds of television shows, films and commercials to his credit, he has become a familiar face on the entertainment scene.

Leslie is the 2006 Emmy Award Winner for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his delicious portrayal of Beverley Leslie on Will and Grace. Among his many guest starring appearances on television, audiences will remember him for his recurring roles on Boston Legal, Ugly Betty, and Reba.

In the Dreamworks feature film The Help, based on the best selling novel by Kathryn Stockett, Leslie plays the pivotal role of the newspaper editor who hires Emma Stone’s Skeeter to write the household
hints column. Feature film audiences will also recognize Leslie from his performance as Brother Boy in Del Shores’ adaptation of his play Sordid Lives with Olivia Newton-John, Delta Burke, Beth Grant and Beau Bridges. He continued the role in Sordid Lives… the Series for the cable network Logo, which starred Rue McClanahan, Caroline Rhea and Bonnie Bedelia among others.

On stage, Mr. Jordan won the Ovation Award, The Garland Award and The Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for his portrayal of Preston Leroy, the aging, sodden barfly in Del Shores hit play Southern Baptist Sissies.

In addition to acting, Mr. Jordan is also an author and writer. His book My Trip Down the Pink Carpet for Simon and Schuster formed the basis of a 90-minute one-man show, which had a 45 city book-
signing/performance tour, a successful twelve-week Off-Broadway run at the Midtown Theater in New York City, and a four-week run at the Apollo Theater in London’s West End.

In addition to My Trip Down the Pink Carpet, Leslie’s autobiographical one-man shows Like a Dog on
Linoleum, Full of Gin and Regret, From Whence I Came
and Deck Them Halls Y’All, have been performed to audiences across the country. He is currently traveling with his new show Stories I Can’t Tell Mama. His play Hysterical Blindness and Other Southern Tragedies That Have Plagued My Life Thus Far ran to sold-out houses in Los Angeles and had a successful seven month run Off-Broadway at the Playhouse on Van Dam in New York City.

Leslie’s screenplay Lost in the Pershing Point Hotel won the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival’s Production Grant Award, winning the competition from over 600 other scripts. Subsequently, it was made into an independent feature film distributed by Northern Arts Entertainment.

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