Dot Jones

Dot Jones (born on January 4, 1964 as Dorothy-Marie Jones) is an athlete and actress who has had multiple roles in television. She played Shannon Beiste in "Glee".
Dot was born in Turlock, California and moved to Hilmar, where she grew up. When she was in middle school, she became very tall very fast. This made her back hurt, so she started exercising by lifting weights to strengthen the muscles. By high school, she was very good at lifting weights and won contests. She was named the school's female athlete of the year. When she was 19, she tried arm wrestling, and was very good at it. She won the world championship 15 times.
After she graduated high school, Dot went to Modesto Junior College, and then California State University, where she kept playing sports. She got a scholarship for track, which paid for her classes. She played softball and the track sport shot put and set records in the sport. After college, Dot worked with troubled children at the Fresno County Juvenile Probation center while continuing her involvement with sports.
Dot, who had never thought of acting, was seen at a bodybuilding contest by Shirley Eson, who was on the TV show American Gladiators. Shirley said Dot should try out for the show "Knights and Warriors", which was like "American Gladiators". Dot got the part.
After "Knights and Warriors" ended, Dot acted in other shows, such as "Full House", "Roseanne", "Chicago Hope", "Lizzie McGuire", "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody", "iCarly" and "Desperate Housewives". Dot was well known for playing Coach Kelly on "Lizzie McGuire". Dot is friends with Ryan Murphy, a man who helped create the TV show "Glee". Dot is a fan of the show and asked if she could be in it. Ryan created the character Coach Beiste for her.