In the United States alone, there are almost 900,000 insurance agencies. With competition that steep, companies are constantly looking for a way to stand out, and Allstate is one of the best at establishing new spokespeople.
It’s not that the commercials are particularly funny; rather, it’s the talent the company taps to carry its message. Dennis Haysbert has been associated with the brand since the 1970s, with his baritone voice carrying the weight of protection for more than 30 years. Oz actor Dean Winters personified Mayhem in recent years, but unfortunate health problems have limited his appearances. In his absence, Allstate has tapped Dot-Marie Jones to carry the mantle, and she’s more than just a familiar face. The athlete-turned-actress has been in front of plenty of cameras over the years, but rarely as a leading lady.
Who is Dot-Marie Jones?
Dorothy-Marie Jones’ career started in the athletics world. Interested in building strength from a young age, she began weight training by the time she was in middle school. By the time she was in high school, she was a champion weightlifter and was named female athlete of the year. While she was incredibly accomplished in classic athletics ⏤ she held the shotput record at her alma mater, Modesto Junior College, for seven years ⏤ arm wrestling would be her ultimate claim to fame. She took up the sport on a whim, but won her first world championship by the time she was 19. With biceps measuring 17.5 inches, Jones didn’t seek out acting opportunities ⏤ the gigs found her.
At a bodybuilding competition in 1992, she was approached by Shirley Eson, a Gladiator from the American Gladiator competition. Those massive guns made Jones the spitting image of Lady Battle Axe, the role she would come to play over her sporadic 8-year tenure on Knights and Warriors. She maintained her professional arm wrestling career, supplementing it with bit parts acting in shows like Full House, Roseanne, and Dharma & Greg. Jones frequently played athletes, criminals, and masc. femme characters, mostly falling into tough lady tropes. She has no hard feelings for her roles ⏤ at least that she’s admitted to ⏤ and finds most of them funny.
She landed a recurring role in Married with Children as Dot, the muscle behind Marcy D’Arcy’s feminist F.A.N.G. movement, before breaking into the world of cinema as Rosengurtle Baumgartener in The Boondock Saints. Jones spent much of the early Aughts working on Nickelodeon and Disney programs aimed at teens, like Lizzie McGuire, iCarly, The Suite Life of Zach and Cody, 10 Things I Hate About You, and family sitcoms like My Wife and Kids, According to Jim, and George Lopez. She met her wife, Bridgett Cateen, in 2010 and they married by late 2013. After 11 knee injuries, Jones retired from her athletics career, saying the repeated injuries knocked her height down an inch, from 6′ 4″ to 6’ 3”.
Since her start in the early ’90s, Jones has gotten consistent work in the entertainment industry, but it wasn’t until she met Ryan Murphy on the set of Nip/Tuck that her acting career would take off. Her friendship with the writer/director gave her the opportunity to finally work on compelling characters with meaning, not reliant on tropes. Murphy’s connection got Jones a guest role on Glee as Coach Shannon ⏤ and later Sheldon ⏤ Beiste.
Who is Coach Beiste on Glee?
Jones plays Coach Shannon Beiste in seasons 2 through 5 of Glee. Her acting was praised for its nuance and vulnerability, even when certain storylines were criticized (looking at you, season 2, episode 5) for being tone-deaf and creepy. Despite oodles of weirdness that only Glee could throw at viewers, Jones received four Emmy nominations, though she never nabbed the coveted prize.
Glee’s sixth and final season frustrated plenty of fans, but one storyline mattered to plenty of viewers. While Jones had trepidations about the transgender storyline ⏤ she thought it might take away an iconic character for tomboy and straight girls ⏤ she quickly came around. The season 6 storyline following Beiste through his gender dysphoria and transition represented a win for the trans community. As she told People Magazine after the episode aired, “Members of the transgender community were saying, ‘I never thought I’d see myself on TV. You have no idea what this means to me. Now, maybe people will get it.’”
Since the series ended in 2015, Jones has been plenty busy. She’s guest starred in RuPaul’s Drag Race, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, The Resident, and Billy Eichner’s Bros, just to name a few.