The Missouri native began acting and singing in high school and, after two years at the University of Kansas, joined San Francisco's American Conservatory Theatre where he caught the eye of Sal Mineo, who cast him in his first major role in the 1969 Los Angeles stage production of "Fortune in Men's Eyes". Johnson relished the grueling schedule--two and a half hours onstage eight times a week for eight months--and his performance in the bleak prison drama led to his forgettable first film, "The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart" (1970). His most notable features prior to gaining fame on TV were the groovy college drama "The Harrad Experiment" (1973), with his future mother-in-law Tippi Hedren, and the cult classic "A Boy and His Dog" (1975), a post-apocalyptic tale based on a novella by sci-fi legend Harlan Ellison, in which he and his telepathic (and much smarter) dog eke out their existence above ground, eventually escaping the clutches of a bizarre underground society, and in the very tongue-in-cheek ending bring new meaning to the age-old adage: man's best friend.

Johnson then worked almost exclusively in TV until "Miami Vice", beginning with the ABC movie "Law of the Land" (1976) and including the cancer drama "First, You Cry" (NBC, 1978), the amazingly dull "Ski Lift to Death" (CBS, 1978), the miniseries "Beulah Land" (NBC, 1980) and "Elvis and the Beauty Queen" (NBC, 1981), in which he portrayed Elvis Presley. He was also a regular on the short-lived series "From Here to Eternity" (NBC, 1980) before teaming with Phillip Michael Thomas for their five-year run as tough, glamorous and very well-dressed "Miami Vice" cops. The series became a cultural phenomenon, aided by superb MTV-style cinematography, Jan Hammer's rock score and Johnson's sexy, humorous performance. Celebrities clamored for cameo roles, and hip twentysomethings stayed home on Friday nights to check out the show. During the run, he also put in a very impressive performance as a menacing drifter in the TV remake of "The Long, Hot Summer" (NBC, 1985) and cut two albums, "Heartbeat" (1986) and "Let It Roll" (1988).

Inevitably, the 80s and "Miami Vice" would come to an end, and Johnson's bid for feature stardom would fall far short of the one made by fellow TV icon Bruce Willis. The charming rural romance "Sweet Hearts Dance" (1988) did not do well at the box office, nor did the John Frankenheimer thriller "Dead Bang" (1989), Dennis Hopper's "The Hot Spot" (1990) or the Mickey Rourke co-starrer "Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man" (1991). He made two movies with wife Melanie Griffith, "Paradise" (1991) and the remake of "Born Yesterday" (1993), but neither took off despite good performances. Even a teaming with illustrious director Sidney Lumet disappointed as the courtroom drama "Guilty as Sin" (1993) proved underplotted and ordinary. Johnson finally scored as second banana to Kevin Costner in Ron Shelton's "Tin Cup" (1996), giving notice in his part as a narcissistic golf pro that his future in features just might lie in supporting roles. He also demonstrated on-screen chemistry with future co-star Cheech Marin in their first pairing.

Johnson served as an executive producer for the thriller "In the Company of Darkness" (CBS, 1993) and the short-lived series "The Marshall" (ABC, 1995), for which he directed some episodes, before helping to develop the police drama "Nash Bridges", his highly anticipated return to series TV, which he also executive produced. Perhaps the clothes weren't quite as flashy as on "Miami Vice" (pink was out), but the premise was the same, as was the familiar 10 PM time slot on Friday night. Bridges traded in Crockett's black Ferrari Spider (later upgraded to a Testarossa) for a mustard-yellow 1970 Plymouth Barracuda to tool around the streets of San Francisco and added a vest to go with the blazer over T-shirt look. With Marin as his politically correct sidekick, the charming, unflappably cool Bridges has consistently finished a strong second to ABC's "20/20" in the time slot, rewarding the network's confidence. Though the reception for "Goodbye Lover" (1998) was lukewarm at Cannes, Variety gave him a big boost, calling it "enjoyable as long as Don Johnson is in it."

The best-kept secret about Johnson may be that he is a terrific actor, but then his two high profile series have made minimal demands on his talent. His private life has always kept him in the news. The legendary lothario acquired the nickname Don Juanson along the way, always managing to be in the company of some beautiful woman. After first identifying himself as an alcoholic in 1983, he managed to stay sober for more than 10 years before falling off the wagon with a very loud and public "thud", a relapse which delighted the tabloids and spelled the end of his second marriage to Griffith, whom he had helped with her own substance abuse problems in the late 80s. For a man who seemingly gets better looking with age, feature stardom as a handsome, wry character player may loom in the future.