Hodgepodge

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This Missouri-born actor will turn 60 later this year. He is probably best known for the role of Sonny Crockett in the hip 1980’s cop show Miami Vice. As an undercover vice detective he wore Hugo Boss suits over pastel t-shirts, drove a Ferrari and lived on a yacht. The show was unique in its use of current music and cinematography to give the ailing cop show genre a boost. The series lasted five seasons and really took off when Edward James Olmos joined the cast as Lt. Castillo, the head of the undercover group. The final two seasons lacked the punch and quality of the earlier seasons but did generate some memorable episodes.

Before Miami Vice, Johnson had appeared in several films including the cult favorite A Boy and His Dog. He won a Saturn award for best actor for that role. Riding the wave of his success in Miami Vice he was cast in the lead of a couple mediocre action films - Dead Bang and Hot Spot. Once Hollywood realized Johnson could not fill theaters as a leading man they cast him in films with other known stars, such as Mickey Rourke in Harley Davidson and The Marlboro Man, Susan Sarandon in Sweethearts Dance, and his two-time wife Melanie Griffith in Paradise. All three of these films were better box office performers and better films in general.

Johnson made five more films in the 1990’s before landing in another successful TV series - Nash Bridges. He again played a cop, this time in San Francisco – a town which he lived in at the time – and that series also ran 5 seasons. While not as cutting edge as Miami Vice, Johnson still got to drive a neat car, a yellow 1971 Barracuda. One of the facets of the show that made it interesting was the chemistry between Johnson and his partner Cheech Marin. Without that the show would probably have lasted only a few seasons.

When Bridges wrapped in 2001, Johnson faded from the acting world, making a TV movie in 2003 and 8 episodes (only three aired) of a WB show Just Legal. He did a couple more films that no one heard a couple years ago and then went to Italy and did a couple of films there. He is in two films which are in post-production now and is filming a movie for release next year. None of these are by well-known filmmakers and it is unclear whether they will be released in theaters or direct to video.

There was some speculation that the reason he appeared in so few projects was because he was trying to establish a production company, but that never materialized.

In the 1980’s he released two pop albums – Heartbeat and Let It Roll. They featured covers and original material, some even penned by Johnson. They were well produced but did not do well although the title song from Heartbeat did reach #5 on Billboard's charts.

In the late 80’s and all during the nineties he was tabloid fare for his many relationships, his alleged substance abuse, and some brushes with the law – the most notable one was when he was stopped by German customs and bank statements of billions of dollars in transactions were found in the trunk. . He told the press that he was looking for financial partners for a film he wanted to make and these statements were proof they had the money to back him. Speculation was that he was involved in money laundering but nothing ever came of it.

He also managed to avoid foreclosure of his ranch in Colorado with less than 24 hours to go by paying off over $14M in debts. No idea where he came up with the money.

At nearly sixty he has retained his good looks but without a major film or TV role in his future, one will have to look pretty hard to find Don Johnson anytime soon.

Don Johnson on IMDB

Don Johnson on Wikipedia