Don Johnson

  • Name: Don Johnson
  • Date of Birth: December 15, 1949
  • Place of Birth: Flat Creek, Missouri, USA
Mini-bio: 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...( read more) 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.




Johnson was married twice to actress Melanie Griffith (briefly in 1976 and then from 1989-1996). 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). He was referred to as a "six-time loser" in Hollywood as a result of having been featured in six failed pilot television series.




In September 1984 Johnson's fortunes changed when he became a household name as a result of his co-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 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 2005.
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Replace this image with an actor photoDon Johnson mini-bio: 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.

Johnson was married twice to actress Melanie Griffith (briefly in 1976 and then from 1989-1996). 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). He was referred to as a "six-time loser" in Hollywood as a result of having been featured in six failed pilot television series.

In September 1984 Johnson's fortunes changed when he became a household name as a result of his co-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 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 2005.

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Last update: May 29 2009, 6:22 AM EDT by baresialbrici (content history | content tools) (help)
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  • elvisfan2044
    elvisfan2044
    Love the man and Miami Vice and Nash Bridges.
    posted 378 days ago
  • yesjaide
    yesjaide
    I LOVE that DJ and I have the same birthday. (just not the same year, heh heh)
    My favorite thing he did besides the obvious MV was a little-seen movie with Virginia Madsen called The Hot Spot, in 1990. Seriously, if you didn't catch this one, you have to rent it. Directed by Dennis Hopper, and you can imagine the quirkiness! We quote lines from it all the time.
    I hope Don is doing well and enjoying life. Not seeing much of him these days. Maybe a new project is in the works?
    And say, does anyone remember which season of Vice that Sonny became "bad" from amnesia? I think it was the third?
    Thanks,
    Jaide
    posted 578 days ago
  • staceyaaron
    staceyaaron
    mr miami vice him self! loved u in miami vice
    posted 960 days ago
  • thelostgirl
    thelostgirl
    James "Sonny" Crockett my man!
    posted 1153 days ago
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