Biography of Don Johnson
Don Johnson is a legendary American actor who starred in the hit series "Miami Vice" and "Nash Bridges," becoming a major sex symbol of the '80s and '90s. A notorious playboy and party animal, he battled serious addictions throughout his adult life, yet somehow managed to pull back from the brink when so many stars of his era couldn't.
Childhood and Teenage Years
The future star was born in the tiny town of Flat Creek, Missouri, to a working-class family with no entertainment industry connections. His father, Freddie Wayne Johnson, owned a small farm, and his mother, Nell Johnson (née Wilson), worked as a beautician.When Don was eleven, his parents split up, and his mother took him to Wichita, Kansas. She worked as a waitress and often came home after midnight.
Left to fend for himself, the kid started running with the wrong crowd and ditching school. He got hooked on alcohol and drugs, began stealing cars for joyrides with buddies to impress girls, and found himself in all kinds of trouble.
Who knows where he'd have ended up if a drama teacher hadn't spotted his natural acting ability. She got him involved in school plays and wrote a recommendation that landed Don 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—his own brushes with the law certainly helped. The prison rape scene was so realistic it sparked a media firestorm and thrust Johnson further into the spotlight.A year later, Johnson made his screen debut in "The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart," playing a college student squandering his life in bars with young beauties. The film's explicit scenes turned off audiences already burned out on hippie culture, sex, and drugs.
"The Magic Garden" nearly killed Johnson's promising career—when MGM didn't renew his contract, other studios took notice. During this career drought, Don channeled his on-screen character, partying in bars with friends and loose women without much self-reflection.
In 1975, Hollywood remembered Johnson and cast him in the lead role of 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 decade, he took on various forgettable roles until landing Sonny Crockett in "Miami Vice"—the part that made him a superstar.
Sonny Crockett was impossibly cool—living on a yacht, driving a Ferrari, effortlessly breaking hearts, and keeping a pet alligator. His signature look—Armani sports jacket, T-shirt, linen pants, and sockless loafers—became a fashion sensation and made Don a style icon. His designer stubble, once taboo in polite society, became the must-have look for confident, liberated men.
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 with sudden fame, success went to Don's head—he became arrogant and demanding. Alcohol and drugs remained fixtures in his life, and he had zero intention of giving them up. In fact, Johnson eagerly bragged about his wild parties, boasting about his drinking and sexual conquests.
Johnson made bold, brash statements about his peers, claiming he was better and more talented than De Niro and Al Pacino. To prove it, he tried stepping away from action hero roles to tackle drama. But despite his efforts, the melodramas "Paradise" and "Born Yesterday" bombed at the box office, forcing Johnson back to his familiar action persona.
As the '80s turned into the '90s, action films "Dead Bang," "The Hot Spot," and "Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man" hit theaters in quick succession—but all disappointed audiences with weak performances and thin plots.
Johnson decided to return to television, where he was offered the role of a cop in the series "Nash Bridges." Viewers loved seeing Don back in action as a cool cop cruising 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
In the early 2000s, Johnson appeared less frequently on screen. In 2003, he starred in the series "Word of Honor," then relocated to Europe, where he appeared in several Italian films. From January to March 2007, he took 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," hit shelves 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
The charming heartthrob Johnson was a notorious ladies' man, with women falling for his irresistible appeal. 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" – she was just fifteen, but that didn't stop her from running away from home to be with 22-year-old Don. When Griffith turned eighteen, the couple married and dove headfirst into a lifestyle of wild parties, booze, and drugs.
But Johnson's chronic cheating drove Melanie to the breaking point, sparking endless drama. 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 heal and get back on track. Griffith threw herself into work, remarried, and had her son Alexander, but this peaceful chapter ended the moment she crossed paths with Don again.
In 1987, Melanie came to film the third season of "Miami Vice," and their romance reignited with all its old passion. Johnson already had a growing son, Jesse, with actress Patti D'Arbanville, whom he married in 1981. But that marriage was already crumbling thanks to the actor's serial cheating, and meeting Griffith again was the final nail in the coffin.
In 1989, Melanie and Don remarried, and a few months later, their daughter Dakota was born. Their second-chance marriage lasted five years before they finally called it quits, with Melanie taking the children and leaving Johnson for young, passionate Spaniard Antonio Banderas. She couldn't take the toxic cycle of a relationship that brought equal parts joy and heartbreak. The split hit Johnson hard, forcing him to get his act together and enter rehab.
In 1999, Johnson remarried, this time to down-to-earth schoolteacher Kelley Phleger, who gave birth to their daughter Atherton Grace (born 1999) and sons Jasper (born 2002) and Deacon James (born 2006). They're still together, living happily in a sprawling LA mansion with their kids and pets.
Johnson's eldest daughter, Dakota, followed in her parents' footsteps and became an actress. Her breakout role as Anastasia Steele in the erotic drama "Fifty Shades of Grey" launched her to global stardom, with Johnson proudly admitting his daughter surpassed his own talent.
Don Johnson Now
Johnson's still going strong and keeps delivering new projects that thrill his fans. His recent standout roles include Wasserman in the comedy "A Little White Lie" (2022) and Arthur in the romcom "Book Club: The Next Chapter" (2023). He's still killing it as the smooth operator, like in the action comedy "High Heat," where he stars opposite Olga Kurylenko. He also shines as an antihero: standout performances include Jules, the main antagonist in thriller "Unit 234" (2024), and the corrupt police chief in crime drama "Rebel Ridge" (2024).Interesting Facts
- There's a popular Finnish hip-hop group called Don Johnson Big Band that's actually named after the actor.
- Johnson's a huge fan of Italy's Tuscany region and regularly vacations there. He actually owns a small island off Vietnam's southern coast, where he and wife Kelly honeymooned in 1999.
- Johnson's also a world champion yacht racer who took home the APBA Offshore World Cup in the Superboat class back in 1988.
- Johnson once caused a media firestorm by showing up sockless to meet President Ronald Reagan. His defense? "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."
- The longtime cigar enthusiast has since 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. Back in his younger days, he was linked to Barbra Streisand, Uma Thurman, Susan Sarandon, Cybill Shepherd, and other famous actresses.