Jason Dottley

Jason Dottley was born John Dottley, III, on December 30, 1980, in Memphis, Tennessee. He is the grandson of John “Kayo” Dottley, a Chicago Bears Hall of Fame member and an Offensive Rookie of the Year in the NFL. Dottley grew up in Mississippi, attending McLeod Elementary School and Florence High School in the Jackson area. His professional acting career began in 2003 with a role in Terrence McNally’s “The Lisbon Traviata” at the Actor’s Lab in Hollywood, California, where his performance was noted by the LA Times as “letter-perfect.” In 2005, Dottley co-founded Eclectic Entertainment with producer Alice West, Marvel Studios’ Victoria Alonso, and Del Shores, with plans to produce several films and revivals of Shores’ stage plays.

Dottley gained international recognition in 2008 for his starring role as Ty Williamson in “Sordid Lives: The Series,” which aired in 16 countries and co-starred Rue McClanahan, Caroline Rhea, and Olivia Newton-John. Prior to the series, he spent nine months performing the role in the stage revival of “Sordid Lives” at the Zephyr Theatre in Los Angeles in 2006, followed by producing and starring in its national tour. His stage performances received critical acclaim, with Backstage West describing his portrayal as “superbly nuanced.” In addition to acting, Dottley has achieved success in the music industry, charting five songs on the Billboard Dance Club Hits Top 40. These include “Party Round the World” in 2010, which reached No. 19, followed by “Pop It” and “It’s Our Night,” all of which rose to the Top 25 on Billboard. “Pop It” also became a Top 10 UK Dance hit, and “It’s Our Night” was his first UK Top 20 Pop hit single. He spent a total of 44 weeks on the Billboard charts with his combined records.

As a producer, Dottley received the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle “Best World Premiere Play” Award in 2011 for producing Del Shores’ “Yellow.” He has produced and toured nationally with notable figures such as Rue McClanahan, Delta Burke, Caroline Rhea, and Georgette Jones. In 2015, he launched a 40+ city tour for his one-man show, “Life on the Gay-List,” which was co-written and co-produced with Eric Rittenhouse and was recognized as “Pick of the Week” by The Boston Globe. His music video for “Cocaine and Whiskey” (2016) set a world record for featuring some of the most expensive exotic luxury cars. In 2017, his song “Summertime,” featuring Rick Cross, spent five weeks in the US Top 100 Pop Radio Charts. Dottley was also recognized on Out magazine’s “Out 100 Most Influential People in LGBTQIAP+ culture” list in 2008 and was named “King of Don’t H8” by the National Don’t H8 organization in 2012.