Leslie Jordan’s Loved Ones Reflect on the Actor’s ‘Wonderful Legacy’ Nearly 1 Year After His Death (Exclusive)

Nearly a year after Leslie Jordan passed away from sudden cardiac dysfunction on October 24, 2022, his fans and those closest to him continue to celebrate his life and legacy.

Hundreds gathered Friday to honor the beloved actor as members of the Palm Spring Chamber of Commerce and local City Council unveiled the newest addition to the city’s Walk of Stars.

Cricket Jordan — the actor’s younger sister and the only surviving member of the family — was one of many speakers who reminisced fondly Will & Grace Emmy winner, sharing anecdotes from his childhood and paying tribute to the best qualities he embodied over his 67 years, including empathy, humility, generosity and talent.

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The event was co-hosted by Del Shores and Emerson Collins, who led the Del Shores Foundation’s fundraising efforts to sponsor Jordan’s highly anticipated star appearance in Palm Springs.

Among others who joined Cricket, Shores and Collins in paying tribute were the Jordans Call me Kat actress Cheyenne Jackson, award-winning actress Dale Dickey and cast members Terrible lives films and TV series, including Newell and Rosemary Alexander and Ann Walker.

Front row (left to right): Palm Springs Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Nona Watson, Cricket Jordan and Palm Springs City Council member Lisa Middleton; back row (left to right): Del Shores, Mike Lotus and Emerson Collins.

Del Shores Foundation/David A. Lee Photography

Shores made parts for the Jordan u Terrible lives, Southern Baptist Sissies and many theater productions throughout their four decades of friendship. The writer-director began the ceremony with the greeting Jordan made famous in his viral Instagram videos during the COVID-19 pandemic: “So s—.”

Noting that his “muse” couldn’t be there for the occasion, Shores said, “I’m not going to be sad and … I don’t think he would want you to be sad either. I think he would want us to celebrate, and I think he would he wanted us to rejoice, and I think he would want us to remember his light and his love and all the laughs he gave each of us.”

In that spirit, Trials and Tribulations of a Trailer Trash Housewife the playwright joked, “On the other hand, I love that there’s a trailer here and I think it’s very fitting that Leslie’s star is looking at Marilyn’s ass,” referring to the 26-foot-tall statue just feet away recreating the iconic Marilyn Monroe scene from The seven-year itch.

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Leslie Jordan. Slaven Vlašić/Getty

Collins similarly noted that “Leslie found the humor in everything”, but also praised the actor’s under-sung dramatic talents which balanced “the pleasure of his comedy and the pain and honesty underneath”.

“We all have great, funny stories,” Collins continued. “And I’ve tried many times over the years to tell Leslie how much he meant to me—how much I was inspired as a young, gay man by the fact that he was loud and open and proud in his life, in his work, long before many others. He couldn’t hide, so he didn’t hide.”

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Bart Stevens, Jordan’s personal assistant for a decade before his death, testified to Jordan’s positive influence before and after his death.

“It’s been amazing as I run into people and discover that I’ve worked for him, without fail, people light up and generally share very personal stories about how he’s impacted them and how deeply his light and love has taken them out of the darkness, ” he shared.

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Walker — who played Jordan’s on-screen sister Terrible lives — echoed that sentiment: “Wherever we went, anywhere, you’d be with Leslie and suddenly you were as big a star as he was.”

Stevens confirmed, “He was truly an extraordinary man with a great journey. And still, his love and light continues. I will say, he’s a beloved celebrity, but it’s how he treated people that really marks him out as a star to me. He had is such a personal kindness and generous spirit.”

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Cheyenne Jackson, Dale Dickey and Emerson Collins.

Del Shores Foundation/David A. Lee Photography

Rosemary Alexander shared her memories of Jordan as a “fearless contractor” – including when he picked up a sledgehammer to help Property Brothers Drew and Jonathan Scott transform her and her husband Newell’s home for the episode Celebrity bonds which aired shortly after Jordan’s death.

Rosemary noted that the “best part” of the renovations wasn’t necessarily the upgrades to the home, but the fact that “the last two months of his life I probably would never have seen him because he was flying to New York, he was flying to Tennessee. One of his younger sisters passed away, his mother died. And during those times, I got to hug him and hold him and cry with him and share the special love that comes with all that time together over 40 years.”

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Jackson shared some previously unheard — and hilariously NSFW — stories about his time with Jordan (whom he called “my dirty little sidekick”) on set Call me Kat and American Horror Story: Roanoke. After the event, he told PEOPLE that he still thinks of Jordan every time he hears “dirty lyrics, Dolly Parton and gospel music.”

“He taught me to have fun. I can be very serious about my work,” Jackson said, adding that Jordan taught him “to use your time and laugh. And he told me to wear tighter pants.”

Cricket Jordan and Del Shores.

Del Shores Foundation/David A. Lee Photography

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Dickey recalled his scenes with Jordan Southern Baptist Sissieswhich were generally spent trying not to screw up despite his crack comic timing.

“Leslie was a real star in every sense of the word,” she said. “He left such a wonderful legacy – and that’s who he was. That’s how he gave himself on stage and off.”

The Winter bone actress and Jordan’s sister Cricket reflected on the story the actor would tell about his father’s advice to young Leslie to embrace her larger-than-life personality. “You’ve got the gift of laughter, never forget that,” Dickey recalled of the story, and Cricket added that her father told his son, “God said, ‘Don’t hide your light under a bushel, Leslie. You’ve got talent. They’re not laughing at you, they laugh with your.’ And that’s where [his mantra] ‘Love. Light. Leslie.’ came from — a light he had not hidden under a bush.”

Before receiving a framed replica of her brother’s star and a proclamation designating Oct. 20 as Leslie Jordan Day in Palm Springs, Cricket closed her remarks by telling the audience, “Leslie is up there spinning right now, he’s so happy.”

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Getting the star in Palm Springs has been one of Jordan’s dreams since March 2021. At Friday’s ceremony, Cricket mused aloud, “What would Leslie say about today? First of all, he said, ‘It’s about time.'”

The audience laughed — just one of many moves during the hour-long tribute to a departed friend whose joy continued, even though some memories now have a bittersweet tinge.

“He wants us to smile and be happy, be joyful,” Dickey told PEOPLE after the event. “What a beautiful gift – he turned his life around and did so much. But in the end he touched the lives of millions of people. What a magnificent story.”

Walker added: “We miss him more than we can say.”

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Source: HIS Education