Leslie Jordan’s heartbreaking post before he died in car accident aged 67

Police told the LA Times that Jordan's car crashed into the side of a building and he was declared dead at the scene.

His publicist said the world had become a "darker place" with his loss.

"Not only was he a mega talent and joy to work with, but he provided an emotional sanctuary to the nation at one of its most difficult times," David Shaul said. "Knowing that he has left the world at the height of both his professional and personal life is the only solace one can have today."

Officers added that it was unclear whether Jordan was killed in the collision, or whether he had suffered from a medical emergency beforehand.

Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee in 1955, he came out as gay to his mother aged 12 in the deeply conservative US state. "I told my mother I thought something was up. I didn't even know the word 'gay,'" he told People magazine last year.

"She didn't pull her Bible out, which I thought she would. She said, 'I'm just really afraid that if you choose this path, you'll be ridiculed,'" he recalled, adding that she told him to "'just live your life quietly.' I didn't follow her advice on that one."