The late great Leslie Jordan (Will & Grace, Sordid Lives): “Always Making a Spectacle of Myself”

Show Notes

In the wake of the sudden passing of actor Leslie Jordan, Dennis revisits this interview he conducted with Leslie in his Los Angeles apartment on October 28, 2014. In it, Leslie discusses his one-man show "Fruit Fly" which was returned to the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center's Renberg Theater that December. Leslie talks about show's origins, the theme of a gay man and his mother and the pain of revisiting his father’s tragic passing in a plane crash.  Leslie also tells wonderful and outrageous stories about his Emmy night turned nightmare, how his Emmy for "Will and Grace" got damaged, the "Dancing with the Stars" outing he'd like to forget and being mobbed by rabid "Sordid Lives" fans in Palm Springs. Leslie also answers these questions from the Observation Deck: Who was your most surprising fan? Where’s the strangest place you’ve ever been recognized? And Have you ever thrown a good diva tantrum? Other topics include: working with Jessica Lange, writing a love letter to Lily Tomlin, gigantic pubic hair, spitting on Gary Busey on the British version of Big Brother, having his first boyfriend after the age of 50 and what kept him going through all the ups and downs of a career as an artist.

About the interview, Dennis says, “I remember leaving Leslie’s apartment after the interview feeling like I was high on some kind of drug, the drug of Leslie Jordan. He just made people happy on screen and off and what I find most inspiring about him is that he chose to be that way. I guess the lesson there is we all can.”