Actor Biography

Don Johnson, the award-winning actor probably best known as Det. Sonny Crockett on the hugely successful iconic TV series "Miami Vice," is one of the stars who defined the 1980s. The iconic series was executive produced by the four-time Oscar®-nominated director Michael Mann. Johnson earned an Emmy® nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 1985 and won a Golden Globe® for Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Series in 1986 and 1987.

Born in Flat Creek, Missouri, he began acting in the early '70s. He studied at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco where he made his professional debut in "Your Own Thing" a rock musical modeled after William Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night." He went on to make five pilots for NBC, which were all rejected. It is not common knowledge that the young actor got his big break by starring in the controversial off-Broadway play "Fortune and Men's Eyes," which was directed by and starred Sal Mineo. Also in the '70s he cowrote songs with Dickey Betts from the Allman Brothers Band, several of which are on their album.

While shooting "The Harrad Experiment," he met a very young Melanie Griffith, with whom he has a daughter, actress Dakota Johnson.

During the run of "Miami Vice," Johnson starred in the critically acclaimed TV film "The Long Hot Summer" in 1985 as well as starring opposite Susan Sarandon in the feature film "Sweet Hearts Dance" in 1988. When "Vice" ended, Johnson focused on his film career with "Dead Band," "The Hot Spot" and "Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man." His film work has given Johnson the opportunity to work with legendary filmmakers like John Frankenheimer, Sidney Lumet and Dennis Hopper.

Other film credits include "Cold in July," "The Other Woman," "Brawl in Cell Block 99" and "The Book Club."

In 1995 Johnson cowrote a two-hour movie with his neighbor, Hunter S. Thompson. While the movie was not picked up, CBS bought the story and he returned to television in 1996 with the cop show "Nash Bridges" as creator and producer.

In 2016, Johnson appeared in several episodes of the Netflix series "A Series of Unfortunate Events" as well as appearing in the Sky Television series "Sick Note."

Other projects include "Watchmen," the Damon Lindelof series for HBO, the highly successful film "Knives Out," as well as reprising his role in the film "Book Club 2: The Next Chapter."

Johnson has a starring role in the upcoming Jeremy Saulnier film "Rebel Ridge" due on Netflix in 2024.

Johnson is married to Kelley Phleger since 1999, and they have three children in addition to son Jesse Johnson and daughter Dakota.