Biography of Don Johnson
Don Johnson is a legendary American actor, star of the series "Miami Vice" and "Nash Bridges," and a sex symbol of the last two decades of the twentieth century. A playboy and reckless party-goer, he spent most of his conscious life captive to fatal addictions, yet he managed to find a foothold and avoid falling into the abyss like many idols of that era.
Childhood and Teenage Years
The future actor was born in the small American town of Flat Creek, Missouri, into an ordinary family with no ties to the arts. His father, Freddie Wayne Johnson, owned a small farm, and his mother, Nell Johnson (née Wilson), worked as a beautician.When Don turned eleven, his parents divorced, and his mother moved with her teenage son to Wichita, Kansas. She worked as a waitress and often came home after midnight.
The boy was left to his own devices, hanging out with questionable groups, skipping school. He gradually became addicted to alcohol and drugs, started stealing cars to joyride with friends, and show off to girls, getting involved in various troublesome situations.
It's unknown how his life would have turned out if not for a school drama teacher who noticed his natural acting talent. She began involving him in plays and wrote him a recommendation letter, thanks to which Don received a scholarship to the University of Kansas.
Acting Career
In 1969, Don landed the lead role of Smitty in Sam Mineo's production of "Fortune and Men’s Eyes." The budding actor perfectly embodied the character of a juvenile detention inmate, as he himself had several run-ins with the law. The prison rape scene was so realistic that it caused a huge stir in the press and brought Johnson even more attention.A year later, the young man made his screen debut in the film "The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart," where he played a college student wasting his life in bars with young beauties. The film featured many explicit scenes, which received a negative reaction from audiences already tired of hippie culture, sex, and drugs.
"The Magic Garden" almost buried the young actor's promising career—Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer did not renew his contract, which was a negative sign for other film studios. During the forced lull, Don, like his on-screen character, spent time merrily in bars with numerous friends and women of easy virtue, not particularly reflecting on the situation.
In 1975, Johnson was remembered and invited to the lead role in the sci-fi thriller "A Boy and His Dog." For this work, Don received the Saturn Award, which brought him back into the ranks of promising young American actors.
Over the next ten years, he played many diverse but not very memorable roles until he assumed the role of Sonny Crockett in the series "Miami Vice," which made him a superstar.
Sonny Crockett was incredibly cool—living on a yacht, driving a Ferrari, effortlessly breaking women's hearts, and keeping an alligator as a pet. His outfit, consisting of an Armani sports jacket, T-shirt, light linen pants, and moccasins worn without socks, became a fashion hit and turned Don into an icon of masculinity and style. The light stubble, previously unacceptable in polite society, became almost a mandatory attribute of a liberated and confident macho.
The series became a television sensation and received numerous prestigious awards. The role of Sonny Crockett earned Johnson two Golden Globe nominations and an Emmy nomination, making him one of the most popular actors in the world by the late '80s.
As often happens, fame went to his head, and Don became conceited, demanding special treatment. Alcohol and drugs remained a part of his life, which he had no intention of giving up. On the contrary, Johnson eagerly described his wild parties, boasting about the amount of alcohol consumed and his extraordinary sexual exploits.
The actor made loud and ambitious statements about his colleagues, claiming to be better and more talented than De Niro and Al Pacino. To prove his point, he attempted to step away from the action hero role and try his hand at drama. However, despite all his efforts, the melodramas "Paradise," and "Born Yesterday" flopped at the box office, forcing Johnson to return to his familiar image.
At the turn of the '80s and '90s, the action films "Dead Bang," "The Hot Spot," and "Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man" hit the screens one after another but disappointed audiences with weak acting and simple plots.
Johnson decided to return to television, where he was offered the role of a cop in the series "Nash Bridges." Viewers appreciated Don's new work, as he returned to the role of a cool cop in a yellow 1971 Plymouth Barracuda convertible. In 2021, USA Network released a full-length remake of "Nash Bridges," featuring Don Johnson and Cheech Marin.
New Roles
At the start of the 2000s, the actor appeared less frequently on screens. In 2003, he acted in the series "Word of Honor," then moved to Europe, where he starred in several Italian films. From January to March 2007, he performed on the London West End stage in the musical "Guys and Dolls."He appeared in supporting roles in blockbusters "Machete" (2010) and "Django Unchained" (2012), played Sheriff McGraw in Robert Rodriguez's series "From Dusk Till Dawn" (2014), and the heroine's father in Cameron Diaz's comedy "The Other Woman" (2014).
Music
Recently, the actor has been involved in music again, but he took his first steps in this field back in the '70s. At that time, he co-wrote songs with former guitarist and lead singer of the Allman Brothers Band, Dickey Betts.In 1986, Don's debut album "Heartbeat" was released, with its title single holding the fifth position on the popular Billboard Hot 100 chart for a considerable time.
Johnson's second solo album, "Let It Roll," delighted his fans in 1989. The track "Til I Loved You" was recorded with Barbra Streisand, with whom Johnson had a passionate romance at the time.
Don Johnson's Personal Life
Playboy and heartthrob Johnson always had success with the ladies, who simply couldn't resist his masculine charm. Before meeting Melanie Griffith, he had already been married twice, but both marriages were annulled within days of registration.He met Melanie on the set of "The Harrad Experiment" – the young actress was only fifteen, but that didn't stop her from running away from home to 22-year-old Don. When Griffith turned eighteen, the lovers got married and started living it up at wild parties with alcohol and drugs.
Only Johnson's constant infidelities marred the situation, driving Melanie crazy and causing constant scandals. A year later, the couple split up, but Griffith continued her drug use, leading to her stay in a rehab clinic.
She needed time to recover and return to normal life. The actress threw herself into work, got married, and gave birth to her son Alexander, but all this idyll ended as soon as she reunited with Don.
In 1987, Melanie came to film the third season of "Miami Vice," and their romance rekindled with its former intensity. Johnson already had a growing son, Jesse, with actress Patti D'Arbanville, whom he married in 1981. But this marriage was already falling apart due to the actor's constant infidelities, and after meeting Griffith, it completely collapsed.
In 1989, Melanie and Don remarried, and a few months later, their daughter Dakota was born. The marriage, given a second chance, lasted five years before the pair finally separated, with Melanie taking the children and leaving Johnson for young, passionate Spaniard Antonio Banderas. She could no longer endure these monstrous relationships that brought her so much happiness and pain simultaneously. For Johnson, it was a big blow, prompting him to gather his willpower and check into a rehab clinic.
In 1999, Johnson married again, this time to a simple and modest schoolteacher, Kelley Phleger, who gave birth to their daughter Atherton Grace (born 1999) and sons Jasper (born 2002) and Deacon James (born 2006). They are still together and happily live in a luxurious mansion in the Los Angeles suburbs surrounded by children and pets.
Johnson's eldest daughter, Dakota, followed in her parents' footsteps and became an actress. Her role as Anastasia Steele in the erotic melodrama "Fifty Shades of Grey" made her a global celebrity, and even Johnson admitted that his daughter turned out to be much more talented than himself.
Don Johnson Now
Johnson is in great shape and continues to delight fans with new creations regularly. Among his recent works, Wasserman from the comedy "A Little White Lie" (2022) and Arthur from the romcom "Book Club: The Next Chapter" (2023) stand out. He still excels in roles as cool guys, like in the action comedy "High Hea," where Johnson starred alongside Oksana Kurilenko. He also shines as an antihero: Jules, the main villain of the thriller "Unit 234" (2024), and the police chief covering up for criminals in the crime drama "Rebel Ridge" (2024) are noteworthy.Interesting Facts
- A popular Finnish hip-hop group, Don Johnson Big Band, is named after Don Johnson.
- The actor loves the Tuscany region in Italy and often visits there for vacation. He owns a small island off the southern coast of Vietnam, where he spent his honeymoon with his wife Kelly in 1999.
- Don is a world champion in yacht racing and won the APBA Offshore World Cup in the Superboat class in 1988.
- Once appearing without socks at a meeting with President Ronald Reagan, Johnson found himself at the center of a major scandal in the American media. In his defense, Johnson said, "I always insisted that a sports jacket over a T-shirt is quite enough to meet anyone except the queen. As for the socks, well, I have to admit, I just don't wear them. After all, I live in Miami."
- He was a longtime cigar enthusiast and has now switched to electronic cigarettes.
- On July 26, 1996, Johnson received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
- Don Johnson is close friends with Kevin Costner, Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone, and Jack Nicholson. In his youth, he had flings with Barbra Streisand, Uma Thurman, Susan Sarandon, Cybill Shepherd, and other famous actresses.
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