Don Johnson Said Goodbye To The Night Life To Marry A Teacher, Who Is The Mother Of His Beautiful Supermodel Daughter

Jun 07, 2023 by apost team

Don Johnson is one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. He is most famous for his role as Sonny Crockett in the police drama “Miami Vice.” Johnson portrayed the character from the show’s premiere in 1984 to its final episode in 1990. While Johnson caught attention with his exploits on the screen, he was also getting attention for his actions behind the scenes. 

One of the aspects that made the actor a much-discussed topic was his knack for being in and out of relationships. The Hollywood icon has tied the knot five times with four women, and most of the marriages were short-lived. Johnson’s first two marriages were reportedly annulled in a matter of days, and the identities of the women remain unknown to the public. 

His third marriage was to Melanie Griffith, who he met in 1972 and started living with when she was 15 and he was 23. Johnson and Griffith got engaged on her 18th birthday and wedded in January 1976. However, they separated six months later and divorced in November 1976. 

Johnson dated other women afterward, including Patti D’Arbanville, with whom he shares a son, Jesse Wayne Johnson. After dating several other women, including Barbra Streisand, Johnson reunited with Griffith in 1989. The former couple welcomed a daughter, Dakota Johnson, on October 4, 1989. They tied the knot for the second time in 1989 and remained a couple until 1996. 

After dating several times again, Johnson met Kelley Phleger, a nursery school teacher, and married her on April 29, 1999. The couple has remained married to this day and shares three children, including daughter Atherton Grace, who is the actor’s carbon copy and a supermodel. Read on for more information about Johnson’s marriage to Phleger and his relationship with his daughter, Grace.

Don was born in Flat Creek, Missouri, in December 1949. His father was a farmer named Wayne Fred Johnson, and his mother was Nell Wilson, a beautician. His family relocated to Wichita, Kansas, when he was six years old. Don has spoken openly about growing up poor and in a challenging household.

Don spoke about wanting to provide a better life for his children than he had experienced in his own childhood. Speaking to The Guardian about his childhood, he said: 

"I had a horrible childhood, horrible. I had the quinella: abuse and parents who divorced when I was 12-years-old and I was the oldest. I really was unhappy, and I left home at 16." 

Leaving home so young must have been very hard on Don. He graduated from Wichita South High School, where he was involved in the theater program. He briefly attended the University of Kansas as a theater major but left to attend the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco instead. Don's first major role was in the Los Angeles stage production of "Fortune and Men's Eyes," playing the role of Smitty, which gained him positive attention and led to several roles in the 1970s until he landed his biggest break. 

Don starred in "Miami Vice" in 1984. The show went on for five seasons, ending in 1990. The popular series is about two undercover detectives working in Miami. The show drew in popularity with its inclusion of stylized visuals and contemporary pop and rock music. 

Rolling Stone said about Don's role:

"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." 

apost.com

It cannot be understated how much of an impact "Miami Vice" made in Don's life. In the same interview with Rolling Stone, he said about his role: 

"I brought to the character a certain authenticity about how it goes down and the stakes. To try and figure out how much did Don Johnson slip into the character, and how much did the character become Don Johnson…those lines are blurred." 

It is fascinating to know how much actors put themselves into their roles. After "Miami Vice," Don went on to star in another police drama, "Nash Bridges." He played the title role opposite Cheech Marin. The show was on the air from 1996 to 2001 on CBS. In the show, Don portrays an inspector in the San Francisco Police Department, who is later promoted to captain. The show launched Don further into fame and solidified him as a household name.

Following the success of "Nash Bridges," Don went on to be featured in a long list of films and television series throughout the early 2000s. In 2010, he had a supporting role in the film "Machete" starring Danny Trejo, in which he acted alongside his previous co-star Marin and opposite acting giant Robert DeNiro.

According to an interview Don did with Esquire, "Machete" is the film that gained him the attention of Tarantino, who enjoyed Don's performance and wanted him for his 2012 production, "Django Unchained." 

In the same interview with the magazine, Don spoke about his experience working with Tarantino. He admitted:

"Well, it took forever to shoot. It's a western. Quentin was irrepressible. He hung in there the whole time and stayed focused on his vision. That's hard to do over a seven-month period. He's amazing."

"Django Unchained" received critical acclaim, describing it as "Bold, bloody, and stylistically daring."

Don spoke with The Guardian about his acting in general. Speaking about himself as an actor, Don said, "I always felt confident about my skills and my ability. I had to overcome some physical attributes that, on the surface, you would think would be an asset, because I happened to be a very attractive young man." Many women would agree with his last statement.

He elaborated on this idea that his good looks beginning a hindrance; he said:

"I was sort of androgynous at a time when androgynous was not necessarily the thing. I was young, skinny as a rail and had long hair and my features… I was kind of a pretty boy. That's not the way I felt about myself, but it was the thing I had to overcome to be taken seriously."

In 2019, Don played the role of Richard Drysdale in Rian Johnson's popular film "Knives Out." The film is a murder-mystery comedy that packs in laughs and a twisting plot. 

"It was the easiest thing that I've ever done. A brilliant filmmaker dropped an amazing script in my lap, and then we got on the phone, and we talked about everything under the sun except the script and the character, and he said, 'Okay, I'll see you in Boston,'" he told Vulture about the film. 

In the same interview, Don said this about his role:

"I liked (Richard) because he was kind of the purest personification of entitlement. I've known a lot of these kinds of guys throughout my life, who don't really do anything, but they're always walking around with about a half a buzz on." 

Don's performance in film and television did not go unnoticed. He has a Saturn Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Even with such a full career, Don is a family man. Don's first child is Jesse, the son he had with D'Arbanville. Jesse has appeared in a handful of films and television shows, such as "Grey's Anatomy," "From Dusk till Dawn: The Series" and "NCIS." Although some of the projects he's been involved in have received negative reviews, Jesse has also received some praise from critics for his performances as an actor.

Eventually, Don and D'Arbanville parted ways in 1995. Jesse was born in Los Angeles in 1982, making him Don's oldest child. Jesse's parents separated when he was 3-years-old, and he was raised in Aspen, Colorado. He graduated from Occidental College with a Bachelor's degree in theater in 2004. 

After splitting with D'Arbanville, Don reunited with Griffith and had his second child and first daughter, Dakota. 

According to The Sun, Dakota received plenty of media attention living in such a famous family. She also moved from one school to another because her parents moved around so much for work, and she had a hard time finding a source of stability. 

As a teenager, Dakota went to a boarding school but was regularly bullied by her classmates. Despite this, she has received support and love from his father throughout his career. Even though Dakota told Hola Magazine that her parents encouraged her to stay out of the acting industry while she was still a child, Dakota realized her passion when she was extremely young. 

"I couldn't wait because I grew up on set," she explained. "My parents were always working with amazing artists, and I just loved it. I wanted to be a part of it so badly."

Eventually, Griffith and Don parted ways again in 1996. In April 1999, Don got married for the fifth and last time to Phleger. 

Having been married multiple times and dated several women, one would have forgiven Don if he felt he was never going to settle down with a woman for many years. The actor was used to the noisy and vices-filled Miami nightlife and was having so much fun with different women. However, once he met Phleger, she made a lasting impression on him. 

Before meeting Phleger, Don was out of ideas as he had looked for happiness in the wrong places. However, all that changed when he attended the then-Mayor of San Francisco, Willie Brown's birthday party. Phleger, a socialite, attended the same party and caught Don's attention so much that he knew he wanted to marry her. 

Don grew closer to Phleger over the next few months. He proposed to her and tied the know with her on Apr. 29, 1999. In a chat with Independent.ie, Don opened up about why he married Phleger. He revealed: 

"I had a rare moment of clarity and asked this woman to marry me, and I still think that she's under a spell. And so I beg of you not to snap your fingers, because God knows what will happen if she ever comes to."

Don and Phleger have lived a charmed life since getting married and share three children. They welcomed their first child, Grace, on December 1999, while sons Jasper Breckinridge and Deacon arrived on June 2002 and April 2006, respectively.

Don is a proud dad of five kids who have taken after him in one way or the other. Meanwhile, Grace is a supermodel and is signed with IMG Models, while her younger brothers are still finding their feet. Describing his family dynamics to Access Hollywood, Don said they are "very artistic," "hot blooded and volatile and fun and challenging."

Don shares a close bond with all his five children and regularly posts pictures of his moments with them. For instance, on Feb. 4, 2016, he shared a photo of him and Dakota posing at an event. Also, on Dec. 11, 2015, Don shared a cute photo of him, Phleger, Dakota, Grace, and her younger brothers touching heads while lying down and smiling. He captioned the snap, "Johnson heads minus 2."

While Don's bond with all his kids is hard to deny, he seemingly has a closer relationship with Grace, who looks just like him. The supermodel Grace never shies away from flaunting her elegant figure and has posted several snaps of her doing so. 

On Mar. 1, 2023, the beautiful diva proudly displayed her hourglass figure in a photo that showed her lying down on the beach and donning a black two-piece bikini. She captioned the post, "Mid heat rash." Many of Grace's fans took turns gushing about her beauty and figure in the comments section.

Don also takes his time to gush about his lovely daughter. On Dec. 28, 2022, he celebrated her 23rd birthday by sharing a cute throwback picture of her as a little girl putting on her shoe. He captioned the post: 

"Puttin' on her party shoes! Happy birthday to my Gracie Girl 🎂 love you so much, Dad ❤️."

On Mar. 19, 2021, the doting dad shared a picture of Grace hugging him from behind and another that showed her smiling. Don is also supportive of Grace's modeling career, as evidenced by a video he shared that showed him and Phleger cheering her as she walked in the Gucci Show on Hollywood Blvd. Hopefully, the loving dad and his beautiful wife get to enjoy more sweet memories with Grace and all their other children. 

What do you make of Don Johnson’s life and career? What do you think of his and Kelley Phleger’s marriage and beautiful family? Do you love the bond the actor has with Grace and his other kids? Let us know — and be sure to pass this article on to friends, family members, and doting dads!