Don Johnson

Don Wayne Johnson was born in Flat Creek, Missouri, and was raised in Wichita, Kansas. He graduated from Wichita South High School in 1967, studied drama at the University of Kansas, and later attended the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. His first major stage role was Smitty in the 1969 production of Fortune and Men's Eyes, directed by Sal Mineo.

Johnson made his film debut in The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart (1970) and continued working in film, television and theater during the 1970s. His early screen credits included Zachariah, The Harrad Experiment, Return to Macon County and the science-fiction film A Boy and His Dog, for which he shared a Saturn Award for Best Actor with James Caan. He also appeared in several television pilots before achieving widespread recognition.

In 1984, Johnson was cast as undercover vice detective James “Sonny” Crockett in Miami Vice. The series, executive-produced by Michael Mann, paired him with Philip Michael Thomas as Detective Ricardo Tubbs and Edward James Olmos as Lieutenant Martin Castillo. Its use of contemporary music, real locations, distinctive cinematography and fashion helped redefine the television police drama and made Johnson an international star.

Crockett's signature image included pastel shirts, designer suits, expensive cars, a sailboat named St. Vitus' Dance and a pet alligator named Elvis. Johnson won the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series, Drama, in 1986 and received another nomination the following year. He was also nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in 1985 and directed four episodes of the series.

Johnson returned to television in 1996 as the star of Nash Bridges, playing an inspector and later captain in the San Francisco Police Department's Special Investigations Unit. The series co-starred Cheech Marin and Jodi Lyn O'Keefe, and Johnson also served as its creator and executive producer. Like Crockett, Nash Bridges was associated with a distinctive vehicle, an electric-yellow 1971 Plymouth Barracuda convertible.

The series ran for six seasons before ending in 2001. Johnson later returned to the character in the 2021 television film Nash Bridges, which reunited him with Cheech Marin. His subsequent television work included Eastbound & Down, From Dusk till Dawn: The Series, Blood & Oil, Watchmen, Kenan and Doctor Odyssey.

Johnson pursued music alongside acting and released the albums Heartbeat in 1986 and Let It Roll in 1989. The title track from Heartbeat reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100, while the album reached the top 20 in the United States. He also recorded a cover of “Tell It Like It Is.”

In 1988, Johnson recorded “Till I Loved You” as a duet with Barbra Streisand, and the song became a top-40 hit. His music was also connected to Miami Vice: he performed “Streetwise” for the episode of the same name and sang on “No Way Out,” a Tim Truman song used in the series finale.

Johnson competed in offshore powerboat racing during the height of his Miami Vice fame. In 1986, he won a 1,100-mile race on the Mississippi River from New Orleans to St. Louis.

In 1988, Johnson became the American Power Boat Association's Offshore World Cup champion in the superboat class. He sometimes raced with Kurt Russell and Chuck Norris.

Johnson married twice before his best-known relationships, with both marriages annulled shortly after they took place. He married Melanie Griffith in 1976, and they divorced later that year. Johnson later lived with actress Patti D'Arbanville from 1981 to 1985, and they had a son, Jesse Wayne Johnson.

Johnson and Griffith remarried in 1989 and divorced again in 1996. He married Kelley Phleger on April 29, 1999, and they have three children, Atherton Grace, Jasper Breckinridge and Deacon. Johnson and Griffith also have a daughter, Dakota Johnson.