Don Johnson Biography

Summary

"Donnie Wayne Johnson" (born December 15 1949), more commonly known as "Don Johnson," is an American actor well known for his work in television and film. Johnson played the lead role of Sonny Crockett in the popular 1980s TV cop series, "Miami Vice". He also played the lead role in the 1990s cop series, "Nash Bridges".

Early life

Johnson was born in Flat Creek, Missouri. His father was a farmer, his mother a beautician. At the age of 6, he moved from Missouri to Wichita, Kansas. He graduated from South High School in Wichita, Kansas in 1967 and attended the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas. He is of English origin.

In the late 1960s, he was one of the male contestants on the popular television show "The Dating Game".

In the late 1960's, Johnson was in a psychedelic rock band called the Horses. Also in the band were future members of the band Kingfish, which featured Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir. The band put out one self-titled record on the White Whale label in 1969, later re-issued on the Gear Fab label in 2004 and then on the Rev-Ola label in 2005.

Family and Love Life

At 22, Johnson began a four-year liaison with 14-year-old Melanie Griffith with whom he appeared with in The Harrad Experiment. Johnson was married twice to actress Melanie Griffith (briefly in 1976 and then from 1989-1996). On April 29 1999, he married San Francisco socialite and former preschool teacher Kelley Phleger.

Johnson lived with Pamela Miller in the early 1970s. From 1981 to 1985 with Patti D'Arbanville.

Johnson had a relationship with Barbra Streisand and created a single with her called 'Till I Loved You'.

Johnson had a relationship with Jeanne Anderson in 1996.

Johnson has 5 children:

With D'Arbanville, a son, Jesse Wayne Johnson (born on December 7 1982)

With Griffith, a daughter, Dakota Mayi Johnson (born October 4 1989)

With Phleger, a daughter, Atherton Grace Johnson (born on December 28 1999), and two sons, Jasper Breckinridge Johnson (born on June 6 2002) and Deacon Johnson (born on April 29 2006).

Early career

Johnson studied drama at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. His first major role was in the 1969 Los Angeles stage production of Fortune and Men's Eyes in which he played Smitty, the lead role. This exposure led to the quickly forgotten 1970 film "The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart". He continued to work on stage, film and television without breaking out into stardom. His notable films from this period were "The Harrad Experiment" (1973) and "A Boy and His Dog" (1975).

Acting

Television roles

In September 1984 Johnson's fortunes changed when he became a household name as a result of his starring role as Sonny Crockett in the popular 1980s cop series, "Miami Vice". In this role, Johnson played a police detective working undercover as a drug smuggler. He typically wore thousand dollar Versace and Hugo Boss suits over pastel cotton t-shirts, drove a Ferrari 365 GTS/4 Daytona (later a Ferrari Testarossa) and lived on a 42-foot yacht with his pet alligator Elvis. "Miami Vice" was noted for its revolutionary use of music, cinematography, and imagery as well as a more glitzy take on the police drama genre.

Johnson later starred in the 1996-2001 drama "Nash Bridges" with Cheech Marin and Jodi Lyn O'Keefe. Johnson played the title role of Nash Bridges, a detective for the San Francisco Police Department. In "Nash Bridges" Johnson was again paired with a flashy convertible car, this time an electric yellow 1971 Plymouth Barracuda.

In the fall of 2005, he briefly starred in The WB courtroom television drama show "Just Legal" as a jaded lawyer with a very young and idealistic protegé/partner (Jay Baruchel); the show was cancelled in October 2006.

Theatre

In January 2007, Johnson began a run in the London West End production of "Guys and Dolls" as Nathan Detroit. American actor/dancer Patrick Swayze preceded Johnson in the role.

Awards & Recognitions

In 1996, Johnson received a star on Hollywood Walk of Fame for his role in television. This is located at 7080 Hollywood Blvd.

Golden Globe Award Best Actor in a Television Series (Drama) 'Miami Vice' - 1985

1988 - Won the APBA Offshore World Cup in the Superboat class.

Brushes with the law

Johnson has had several brushes with the law.

When he was 12 years old, Johnson was arrested for hotwiring cars and sent to reform school.

In 1997, two cast members on Nash Bridges accused Johnson of sexual assault. Both cases were settled with confidential settlements.

In 2001, a 36-year-old woman accused Johnson of grabbing and bruising her arm and lewdly propositioning her outside a restroom at San Francisco restaurant Mas Sake. The woman's friends went to confront Johnson but said he fled out the back door. Johnson said he was considering buying an advertisement in the "San Francisco Chronicle" to state his side of the story, but later decided to post the notices on his website. Due to insufficient evidence, no charges were filed.

In November 2002, Customs officers at the Swiss-German border performed a routine search of Johnson's car. Bank statements evidencing $8 billion US in transactions found in the trunk of his car. He was accompanied in his black Mercedes-Benz by three men: an investment adviser, a personal assistant and a third of unknown identity. Initially it was thought Johnson was involved in money-laundering, but he was cleared of wrongdoing. Upon receiving word of the incident, German tabloids began exploiting and perpetuating the story, at times pointing at the irony (as perceived by them) that Don Johnson has frequently portrayed police officers in his acting works. Johnson explained the incident by saying 'I was meeting with some American businessmen in Zurich for a film financing, for a film fund that I was putting together for my company. They gave me some bank statements and some resumes and some other documents, some things to prove that they could perform as investors.' The police found and copied these documents, and the money laundering story grew somehow out of this.

Filmography

"The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart" (1970)

"Zachariah" (1971)

"The Harrad Experiment" (1973)

"Lollipops and Roses" (1974)

"Return to Macon County" (1975)

"A Boy and His Dog" (1975)

"Swan Lake" (1978) (voice in English version)

"Soggy Bottom, USA" (1980)

"Melanie" (1982)

"Cease Fire" (1985)

"Sweet Hearts Dance" (1988)

"Dead Bang" (1989)

"The Hot Spot" (1990)

"Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man" (1991)

"Paradise" (1991)

"Born Yesterday" (1993)

"Guilty as Sin" (1993)

"Tin Cup" (1996)

"Goodbye Lover" (1998)

"Moondance Alexander" (2007)

"Collide" (2007-2008?)

Television Work

'Kung fu'(1973) (one episode)

"Law of the Land" (1976)

"The City" (1977) (television pilot)

"Trial Marriage" (1977)

"Cover Girls" (1977)

"Pressure Point" (1978)

"Ski Lift to Death" (1978)

"The Two-Five" (1978)

"Katie: Portrait of a Centerfold" (1978)

"First, You Cry" (1978)

"Tales of the Unexpected" (1979)

"Amateur Night at the Dixie Bar and Grill" (1979) (TV Movie)

"The Rebels" (1979) (miniseries)

"From Here to Eternity" (1980) (canceled after 13 episodes)

"Beulah Land" (1980) (miniseries)

"Revenge of the Stepford Wives" (1980) (TV Movie)

"Elvis and the Beauty Queen" (1981) (TV Movie)

"The Two Lives of Carol Letner" (1981) (TV Movie)

"Miami Vice" (1984-1989)

"The Long Hot Summer" (1985) (TV Movie)

"In Pursuit of Honor" (1995) (HBO Movie)

"Nash Bridges" (1996-2001) (also producer)

"Word of Honor" (2003) (TV Movie & also co-executive producer)

"Just Legal" (2005) (cancelled after 3 episodes)

"Super Bowl XLI in-studio discussion team. (CBS) 2007

"Developing Sports Themed TV Series"

Music career

Johnson released two albums of pop music in the 1980s, one in 1986 and the other in 1989. His single "Heartbeat," from the first album, reached #5 on the Billboard Charts for 10 straight weeks. Johnson also worked with Gregg Allman and Dickie Betts, of the Allman Brothers, he co-wrote the songs 'Blind Love' and 'Can't Take It With You', with Dickie Betts, which appeared on their 1979 album, "Enlightened Rogues".