Opal Dockery

Opal Dockery is a writer, speaker, actress and filmmaker. She was born Nov. 11, 1945 in Sheldon, Missouri. After graduating Lamar High School in Missouri, Opal was married for 6 years, having 2 children. Upon her divorce, she became a burlesque dancer for over 20 years, traveling the burlesque circuit. Dockery has a B.S. in Psychology from Missouri Southern State College and a Master's degree in Criminal Justice at Central Missouri State University. She is the author of Thoughts of a Stripper: A Mother's Story, an inspirational biographical journal of her burlesque days in the early 1970s. In 2005, she gave her son, filmmaker Jack Truman, a short film script titled Phone Sex Grandma. Dockery and Truman filmed the 9 minute short film in 3 weeks. It premiered at the 2006 Slamdance Film Festival, and has become a festival hit cult film. The Dockery/Truman filmmaking team currently has 4 short films playing the festival circuit worldwide. Her new film, The X-Rated Grandma, a compilation of 7 short films, is being self-distributed by Dockery and Truman's independent film company Dixie Productions.