American actor and comedian Leslie Jordan was BOTD in 1955. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, he grew up in Chattanooga in a Southern Baptist family, before moving to Los Angeles in 1982 to pursue an acting career. Short, loud and camp, with a heavy Southern accent, he spent 20 years playing cameos in TV shows including The Fall Guy, Night Court, Murphy Brown, Designing Women, Newhart, Wings, Caroline in the City, Dharma & Greg and Ellen. He enjoyed a career renaissance in the 2000s, with a recurring role as the rival of Megan Mullalley’s character in sitcom Will & Grace, winning him an Emmy in 2006. Further TV roles followed in Ally McBeal, Boston Legal, Ugly Betty and in Ryan Murphy‘s American Horror Story anthology series. He also appeared in the films The Help and The United States vs Billie Holiday. He became an unexpected celebrity during the COVID-19 pandemic, posting comedy clips on his Instagram profile and amassing 5.8 million followers by the end of 2020. His memoir, How Y’all Doing? Misadventures and Mischief from a Life Well Lived, was published in 2021. He died in a car crash in 2023, after suffering a heart attack while driving. He was 67.