Desiree Marie Ledet

DESIREE MARIE LEDET, an actor personally trained by famed acting coach Sanford Meisner and who appeared in many local, regional and New York productions throughout her three-decades long career, passed away following a battle with pancreatic cancer on Friday, May 6, 2016. She was 54 years old.

A native of New Orleans, Desiree received her bachelor’s degree in theatre from Southeastern Louisiana University in 1983, where she was also named Miss Southeastern. After her graduation, she moved to New York City with scholarship assistance. Following her training in the Meisner technique at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theatre, she was asked to become a part-time instructor at the school. While plying her trade as an actor and singer, she lived in the federally-subsidized Manhattan Plaza apartment complex that catered to performing arts professionals. She also worked for over 20 years as a licensed massage therapist. For the three decades she lived at the Manhattan Plaza, there were many times she offered her apartment to other New Orleans actors who would be performing on or off-Broadway. “She was very generous like that,” said former Broadway performer Leslie Castay.

Among her most cherished roles were those of Carrier Bernier In Toys in the Attic, Jenny Diver in The Threepenny Opera, Nancy in Oliver!, Chick Boyle in Crimes of the Heart, Hattie in Laundry and Bourbon, Johanna in Sweeney Todd and Aldonza in Man of La Mancha.

Suffering from a mild form of Tourette Syndrome, Desiree was a featured subject and sang the theme song in the 1994 Newday film documentary Twitch and Shout. She also had minor roles in six other films.

In 2013 she opened the Meisner Acting Studio New Orleans and traveled to the Crescent City to teach acting. She returned to New Orleans during the 2014 and 2015 Tennessee Williams New Orleans Festivals in the recurring role of Mrs. Wire in The Hotel Plays, a series of one-act plays performed in cooperation with the Tennessee Williams Provincetown Theatre Festival. She honored to reprise the role of Mrs. Wire for the 2015 Tennessee Williams Provincetown Festival production of Vieux Carré.

Desiree was predeceased by her father Ernest Ledet, II, her brother Bryan Ledet, her step-father Edgar Aupied, her step-brothers Warren Aupied and Michael Aupied and her step-sister Jacqueline Johnson.

She is survived by her mother Melanie Ledet Aupied; her brothers Ernest Ledet, III, Kenneth Ledet (Madeline), David Ledet and Charles Ledet (Lisa); her sisters Melanie McBride (Glenn) and Lisa Ledet; her step-brothers Craig Aupied (Kim) and Rodney Aupied; step-sister Pamela Chugdon (John) and numerous nieces and nephews.

A celebration of Desiree’s life will be held in the Ignatius Chapel (Bobet Hall) at Loyola University at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 4.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations are suggested to Wings of Hope for Pancreatic Cancer Research, 8404 Brambleridge Drive, Castle Pines, Colorado 80108; the Tourette Association of America, 42-40 Bell Boulevard, Suite 205, Bayside, N.Y. 11361 or the Louisiana SPCA, 1700 Mardi Gras Boulevard, New Orleans, LA. 70114.