French postcard by RRV, no. C 22.
West German postcard by Taunus-Grusskarten Verlag GmbH, Taunusstein, no. 021. Photo: Universal City Studios / M.C.A., 1984. Don Johnson (right) and Philip Michael Thomas in Miami Vice (1984-1990).
Vintage promotion card by CBS.
Swiss postcard by Interdesign Images ag, no. 65009. Photo: Scope Features.
French postcard by Editions RRV, no. C 42.
The masculine cool of the 1980s
Donnie 'Don' Wayne Johnson was born in Flat Creek, Missouri, in 1949. He is the son of Freddie Wayne Johnson, a farmer and Nell Johnson (née Wilson), a beautician. When he was six years old, his family moved to Kansas. In 1967, he graduated from Wichita South High School, where he was involved in the high school's theatre program. As a senior, he played the lead role of Tony in 'West Side Story'. He studied at the University of Kansas as a theatre major but dropped out after one year, and moved to San Francisco to study drama at the American Conservatory Theatre.
In 1969, he starred in the Los Angeles stage production 'Fortune and Men's Eyes', a gay-themed prison drama starring Sal Mineo. The play included a prison rape scene with Johnson as the victim. He made his film debut as Stanley Sweetheart in the quickly forgotten drama The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart (Leonard Horn, 1970) about a confused college student's experiences with sex, relationships, and drugs.
Johnson continued to work on stage, film and television without breaking into stardom. His notable films from this period were the acid Western Zachariah (George Englund, 1971), the coming-of-age film The Harrad Experiment (Ted Post, 1973), the Filipino film Lollipop and Roses (Artemio Marquez, 1974) and the Sci-Fi black comedy A Boy and His Dog (L. Q. Jones, 1975). In 1976, Johnson was the roommate of actor Sal Mineo at the time Mineo was murdered. Every TV pilot in which Johnson starred failed to launch. He was nicknamed a six-time loser in Hollywood because he was part of six series that did not make it to television.
In the 1980s, Johnson managed to get into a series that became successful, Miami Vice. He played the role of undercover police detective Sonny Crockett and formed a legendary police duo with Philip Michael Thomas as Ricardo Tubbs. John Russell at IMDb: "It revolutionized television with its modern fashion, pop music, unique style and use of real locations." Crockett embodied the masculine cool of the 1980s with his thousand-dollar Versace and Hugo Boss suits over pastel cotton T-shirts, his Ferrari, Rolex and Endeavour yacht. Miami Vice aired between 1984 and 1990. Johnson won a Golden Globe and received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for his role.
Between seasons on Miami Vice, Johnson starred in TV miniseries such as the remake The Long, Hot Summer (Stuart Cooper, 1985). As a singer, he released the albums 'Heartbeat' (1986) and 'Let It Roll' (1989). His 'Heartbeat' cover version peaked at no. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. After the series ended he focused solely on his film career. Although films like Dead Bang (John Frankenheimer, 1989), The Hot Spot (Dennis Hopper, 1990) and Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man (Simon Wincer, 1991) with Mickey Rourke, did not fare well with the critics, quite a few of them have obtained a considerable cult following.
West German postcard by Taunus-Grusskarten Verlag GmbH, Taunusstein, no. 023. Photo: Universal City Studios / M.C.A. Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas in Miami Vice (1984-1990).
Vintage postcard, no. PP 178. Photo: Philip Michael Thomas and Don Johnson in Miami Vice (1984-1990).
British postcard by Minerva, Edinburgh, 1988, no. PC271. Don Johnson in Miami Vice (1984-1990).
Vintage postcard, no. PP 096. Don Johnson in Miami Vice (1984-1990).
Vintage postcard, no. PP 095. Don Johnson (right) and Philip Michael Thomas in Miami Vice (1984-1990).
Vintage photo.
Dutch postcard by Popfoto. Don Johnson as Sonny Crockett in Miami Vice (1984-1990). Caption: Greetings from Don Johnson.
A southern plantation owner named Big Daddy
In the late 1990s, Don Johnson became successful again as Nash in the television series Nash Bridges (1996-2001) about a detective with the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD). Johnson received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1996. In 2005, Johnson briefly starred in the courtroom television drama show Just Legal as a jaded lawyer with a young and idealistic protégé/partner (Jay Baruchel). It was cancelled after just three episodes.
Johnson appeared in London in the West End production of 'Guys and Dolls' (2007). He also appeared in films like the sports film Tin Cup (Ron Shelton, 1996) with Kevin Costner, the Neo-Noir comedy Goodbye Lover (Roland Joffé, 1998) with Patricia Arquette, the romantic comedy When in Rome (Mark Steven Johnson, 2010) with Kristen Bell and Josh Duhamel, and the exploitation action film Machete (Robert Rodriguez, Ethan Maniquis, 2010).
Johnson travelled to Europe to make the Norwegian screwball comedy Lange flate ballær II/Long Flat Balls II (Harald Zwart, 2008) and the Italian films Bastardi/Bastards (Federico Del Zoppo, Andres Alce Meldonado, 2008) with Franco Nero, and Torno a vivere da solo/I'll Be Back to Living Alone (Jerry Calà, 2008).
In 2012, Quentin Tarantino, a fan of Miami Vice, gave Johnson a role in his film Django Unchained. Johnson played a southern plantation owner named Spencer 'Big Daddy' Bennett. In 2014, he played seasoned Texas Ranger Earl McGraw in Robert Rodriguez's From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series. In 2019, Johnson played Richard Drysdale in the murder mystery Knives Out (Rian Johnson, 2019) starring Daniel Craig and acted as Police Chief Judd Crawford in the superhero series Watchmen (2019).
Don Johnson married actress Melanie Griffith twice, the first time for a short period in 1976. Between 1981 and 1985, Johnson lived with actress Patti D'Arbanville. They have a son, actor Jesse Johnson (1982). Johnson had a relationship with Barbra Streisand. Together, they recorded the single 'Till I Loved You'. Between 1989 and 1996, Johnson was married for the second time to Melanie Griffith. In 1989, they had a daughter, film star Dakota Johnson. Johnson married Kelley Phleger in 1999, with whom he had three children: a daughter, Atherton Grace (1999), and two sons, Jasper Breckinridge (2002) and Deacon (2006).
Dutch postcard by Verenigde Spaarbank, Utrecht / Piekfijn-Magazine. Photo: Sunshine International.
Vintage postcard, no. PP 137.
British postcard by New Line, no. 121.
Vintage postcard.
Vintage postcard, no. PP 146. Photo: Publicity still for the album 'Heartbeat' (1986). Caption: Don Johnson III.
Vintage postcard, no. PP 180.
British postcard by Photogeny LTD., no FP40.
British postcard by New Line, no. 136.
Sources: John Russell (IMDb), Wikipedia (Dutch and English) and IMDb.
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