Larger Than Life

Standing four feet eleven, with a drawl as thick as summer honey and a wit as sharp as cucumber vine, the Tennessee-born writer, actor, and comedian Leslie Jordan is the people’s Truman Capote. A seasoned stage performer and raconteur famous for his zingers—no more so than during his Emmy-winning run as Beverley Leslie, Karen Walker’s prickly nemesis on the sixty-five-year-old Jordan has recently stumbled into new renown thanks to a series of viral Instagram posts, many filmed while social distancing in his hometown of Chattanooga. His droll, Southern-camp takes garnered him more than five million followers in record time, leading to a book deal (his essay collection comes out, with Swoosie Kurtz and Cheyenne Jackson, is starting up. I’m so popular now I can’t get out the door. I’m like Lady Gaga! I mean, at my age, how can you ask for more?”