Donnie Wayne Johnson (born December 15, 1949) is an American actor, producer and singer. He played the role of James "Sonny" Crockett in the 1980s television series Miami Vice, for which he won a Golden Globe, and received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for his work in the role. He also played the titular character in the 1990s series Nash Bridges. Johnson received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1996.[2]

Johnson has appeared in films such as A Boy and His Dog (1975), Tin Cup (1996), Machete (2010), Django Unchained (2012) and Knives Out (2019). As a singer, he released the albums Heartbeat (1986) and Let It Roll (1989). His cover version of "Heartbeat" peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Early life
Johnson was born on December 15, 1949, in Flat Creek, Missouri.[3] His mother, Nell (née Wilson; 1933–1975), was a beautician. His father, Fredie Wayne Johnson (1930–2017), was a farmer.[4][5] At the time of his birth, Johnson's mother and father were 16 and 19 years old, respectively.[6] Johnson was raised in poverty in Wichita, Kansas, where his parents relocated when he was six years old.[6]

He graduated from Wichita South High School, where he was involved in the high school's theater program. As a senior, he played the lead role of Tony in West Side Story. His biography noted that he had previously appeared in Burnt Cork & Melody and The Hullabaloo. After graduating from high school in 1967, he enrolled at the University of Kansas as a theater major, but dropped out after one year.[6] He subsequently relocated to San Francisco, California, to attend the American Conservatory Theater.[6]

Acting career
Early years
Johnson's first major role was in the 1969 Los Angeles stage production of Fortune and Men's Eyes, in which he played the lead role of Smitty.[7][8][9] The play included a "shockingly realistic prison rape" scene portrayed by Johnson.[10] This exposure led to the quickly forgotten film The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart (1970). Johnson continued to work on stage, film and television without breaking into stardom. His notable films from this period were Zachariah (1971), The Harrad Experiment (1973) (a film in which Johnson displayed frontal nudity),[11][12] Lollipop and Roses (1974) and A Boy and His Dog (1975). In 1976, Johnson was the roommate of actor Sal Mineo at the time Mineo was murdered.[13]

Miami Vice
In 1984, after years of struggling to establish himself as a TV actor, Johnson landed a starring role as undercover police detective Sonny Crockett in the Michael Mann/Universal Television cop series, Miami Vice.[14] The show ran from 1984 to 1990.[15] Miami Vice made Johnson "a major international star".[16] According to Rolling Stone, "No one had more swagger in the Reagan era than Don Johnson. As Miami Vice's Sonny Crockett, the undercover detective and professional stubble-cultivator who lived on a houseboat with his pet alligator Elvis, he embodied masculine cool in the era of coke binges and Lamborghinis".[17] The Sonny Crockett character typically wore thousand-dollar Versace and Hugo Boss suits over pastel cotton T-shirts, drove a Ferrari, wore expensive timepieces by Rolex and Ebel, and lived on an Endeavour yacht.[citation needed] Miami Vice was noted for its revolutionary use of music, cinematography and imagery; and for its glitzy take on the police drama genre.[citation needed] In the show, Crockett's partner was Ricardo Tubbs, played by Philip Michael Thomas.[18]

Johnson's work on Miami Vice earned him a Golden Globe Award, for Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series - Drama, in 1986.[19] Johnson was nominated for the same award in 1987.[20] He was also nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 1985.[21][22]

Between seasons on Miami Vice, Johnson gained further renown through TV miniseries such as the 1985 remake of The Long, Hot Summer.[23] During the time he was on Miami Vice, he had set up an hour-long music video/pay cable program in the works, with videocassette versions of the programs Johnson had hosted being handled by distributor CBS/Fox Video, and the upcoming product will be a tie-in to his first album Heartbeat, which would be available for CBS/Epic Records.[24]

Nash Bridges
Johnson later starred in the 1996–2001 CBS-TV police drama Nash Bridges with Cheech Marin, Jeff Perry, Jaime P. Gomez, Kelly Hu, Wendy Moniz, Annette O'Toole, Jodi Lyn O'Keefe as his daughter Cassidy, and James Gammon as his father Nick. Johnson portrayed the title role, an inspector (later promoted to captain) for the San Francisco Police Department. In Nash Bridges, Johnson was again paired with a flashy convertible car, a yellow 1971 Plymouth Barracuda.[25]