Emmy Award-winner Leslie Jordan comes home to Chattanooga for benefit [video]

Judith Paul's "Dogtown" is a mixed-media piece inspired by the demise of the printed page. "It looks like the book is melting and that's the idea behind it: We are losing books," she says.

Although his most current role is a villain in the sixth season of "American Horror Story," actor Leslie Jordan is coming home to add some levity to Chattanooga CARES' newest fundraiser.

Jordan is emceeing Arts for CARES, which will include live and silent auctions of art donated by 24 regional artists, performances by Ballet Tennessee and Nicholas Perego, hors d'oeuvres from Beast + Barrel and music by the Booker T. Scruggs Trio.

As far as his role in the sixth season of "AHS," titled "American Horror Story: Roanoke," Jordan is being tight-lipped.

"I show up in Episode 4 on Oct. 5. I'm a villain, and that's all I can say for now," he says from the set where he is shooting "AHS." "It's my biggest part in 33 years in terms of dialogue."

The highly acclaimed FX anthology series, co-created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, stars Kathy Bates, Cuba Gooding Jr., Sarah Paulson and Angela Bassett. Its latest season began Sept. 14.

"This season is based on the lost colony of Roanoke, Va. It's a very good history lesson - just with a lot of blood and a lot of gore," the actor adds in a wry drawl.

Jordan, an alumnus of Brainerd High School and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, won a 2006 Emmy Award for his portrayal of cynical socialite Beverley Leslie on the comedy "Will and Grace." His autobiography, "My Trip Down the Pink Carpet," was the inspiration for an HBO special, "Pink Carpet," and for his touring, one-man show of the same name.

His newest one-man show, "Stra?ght Outta Chattanooga," continues his colorful stories about his childhood and the people he has encountered in Tinseltown.

Jordan's deft comedic style has landed him roles on more than 70 television shows, including a guest spot as one of Murphy Brown's secretaries and another as a blind date for Reba McEntire. He has acted in several TV dramas, including "Boston Legal" - in which actress Betty White killed his character, Bernard Ferrion, with a skillet swing to the head - and his role as Quentin Fleming in "American Horror Story: Coven." But Jordan's fans may pick Brother Boy in the cult film classic "Sordid Lives" as his defining role.

As emcee for Arts for CARES, Jordan will be helping to raise money for the organization's education, health, social and advocacy-related programs to reach and support people impacted by HIV, Hepatitis C and sexually transmitted infections.

"For years, the art community has supported those facing the challenges of HIV," says Mitzi Ward, event organizer, in a news release.

Local artist Barry Snyder, a retired Disney "imagineer," has donated "Sallie Lightfoot Crab" for the auction. Snyder says the colorful crabs are found in the Galapagos Islands and, at their largest, are just 2 inches in width.

"They are the most colorful crabs in the world and they change color every time they molt," he says. "Each time they molt they add more color to their bodies.

"Not only that, but little micro-organisms that live on them cause them to glow in the dark. I saw them and fell in love with them. I thought they were great subject matter."

Judith Paul's work, "Dogtown," is from her series, "The Last Page."

"With all our new technology, I feel books will be part of our past at some point - books that you can touch the paper page," says Paul.

That concern sparked a series of mixed-media pieces depicting book covers. Creating a continuing design from front to back cover of "Dogtown" appealed to her design aesthetic.

"It looks like the book is melting and that's the idea behind it: We are losing our books."

Contact Susan Pierce at spierce@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6284.