Dot Jones
Dot plays Stella, the Colonel’s more than average physical therapist and in-home nurse. She is tough enough to take on the old man, and yet there is much more going on under the surface for this single mother.
Dorothy-Marie “Dot” Jones (born January 4, 1964) is an athlete and actress who has had multiple roles in television. She attended California State University, Fresno, where she set records for shot put. Jones is also a 15-time world arm wrestling champion. She currently has a recurring role on the musical, Glee, as Shannon Beiste, for which she was nominated for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series at the 2011 Primetime Emmy Awards.
She first got involved in strength competitions at a fairly young age. She started track in middle school, then experienced a huge growth spurt over nine months. The sudden addition of seven inches to her height weakened her back, so she started lifting weights to strengthen it. While she attended Hilmar High School, she was a champion weight lifter and named female athlete of the year. She started arm wrestling on a whim, and won her first arm wrestling world championship at 19 years old and went on to win 14 more.
Jones, who had no intentions of acting, was discovered at a bodybuilding competition by Shirley Eson of American Gladiators fame. Eson urged Jones to audition for the Gladiators-like Knights and Warriors, and Jones got the part, becoming one of the few female warriors. Jones was also offered a position in professional wrestling, but turned it down because, she said, it was “too fakey”.
Knights and Warriors only lasted one season, but Jones’ acting career was just starting. She became a bit actor, playing small roles in several television series throughout the 1990s and 2000s and breaking into feature films in the late 1990s.
Her first recurring role after Knights was as a character named “Dot” on the popular show Married… with Children in the mid-90s. She appeared in five episodes over two seasons. Jones’ next break was on the kids show Lizzie McGuire as Coach Kelly. Since then, she has appeared in popular shows Nip/Tuck, Desperate Housewives, and Prison Break, among others.
Jones, being a fan of Glee and having worked with series co-creator Ryan Murphy on Nip/Tuck and Pretty/Handsome, asked co-executive producer Brad Falchuk during an encounter at a supermarket if she could be on the show. Soon after, the character of Coach Shannon Beiste was created for her.
Dot Jones appeared recently on Logo TV’s RuPaul’s Drag U as a visiting professor during the second season of the show.
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