Don Johnson: More than “Miami Vice”

Don Johnson as Sonny Crockett in the police drama "Miami Vice" in the '80s.

Source: https://www.manfortoday.com/journal/5-style-lessons-from-the-miami-vice-aesthetic

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He revolutionized style in the mid 1980s with his off-white blazers over t-shirts, canvas shoes, no socks, sun glasses, and a whole lot of cool.

Yet there was more to Don Johnson than Sonny Crockett on “Miami Vice”, before, during and after he took on that iconic role in 1984.

Today is Johnson’s 74th birthday, and it reminded me of the actor and, for a short time, the singer.

The years before
Don Johnson began acting in 1971 and guest starred in a lot of shows in the 1970s including “Young Dr. Kildare”; “Kung Fu”; “The Rookies”; “The Streets of San Francisco”; “Barnaby Jones”; “Eight is Enough”; “Big Hawaii”; and “Police Story”.

He was also in several movies including “A Boy and His Dog” in 1975. I had read about this movie in “Starlog” magazine where it was hard for me to believe the guy from “Miami Vice” was in a science fiction movie. Yet Johnson was, playing a teenage boy named Vic who, with his telepathic dog, tries to survive in post-apocalyptic America.

“From Here to Eternity”
The first time I saw Don Johnson on TV was in a short-lived TV series in 1980 called “From Here to Eternity” where he played Jeff Prewitt, who became my favourite character.

The series was about the men and their families of the United States Army G Company based in Hawaii in 1941. I found it part way through its first season, and there were some things that were confusing. My favourite character was Jeff Prewitt, played by Don Johnson. However, I had heard that Prewitt had died, shot on the beach accidentally by his own man. There were even flashbacks referring to that, which I didn’t quite understand.

Still, it did not take away from the fact I really liked the actor playing Jeff Prewitt.

As it turned out, “From Here to Eternity” was a miniseries in 1979, that I was able to catch one Sunday afternoon after the show had been cancelled. As it turned out, it was Jeff Prewitt’s brother Robert E. Lee who had been shot on the beach, when he was mistaken as the enemy.

I had actually kind of forgotten Don Johnson played Jeff Prewitt. A year or so after “Miami Vice” started, I found an old “TV Guide” fall preview. They had a page devoted to “From Here to Eternity” with the whole cast, and there was a clean-shaven Don Johnson, the opposite of his Sonny Crockett persona.

Bad husband
“Melanie” was a movie released in 1982 starring Glynnis O’Connor in the title role of a woman in an abusive relationship. Singer Burton Cummings was a washed-up singer who mounts a comeback when he gets together with Melanie.

Don Johnson plays Carl, the abusive husband, who Melanie ultimately gets away from.

I saw this movie on a Saturday night on Channel 13 of the peasant vision dial when I was staying over at my sister’s place in Lethbridge. It was after “Miami Vice” had hit the air, so CTV advertised Don Johnson as a star in the movie. In reality, he was more of a supporting character. Either way, he was excellent because his character had no redeeming qualities.

I remember the movie best for the music by Burton Cummings.

Big break
Don Johnson continued to appear in movies, had a guest spot in “Matt Houston” in 1982. He even had the lead in the pilot for the television adaptation of Kenny Rogers’ movie “Six Pack” where Johnson played Brewster Baker, the character Rogers made popular. Released in 1983, it was not picked up as a series.

Then, in 1984, Johnson landed the role of Sonny Crockett on “Miami Vice”. He teamed up with New York cop Ricardo Tubbs, who re-located to Miami, to go after drug dealers, murderers and bad guys of all types.

On peasant vision, “Miami Vice” aired on Channel 7 for its inaugural 1984-1985 season, then was picked up by CTV who aired it on Channel 13 until I left home in 1987. The show ran five seasons, from 1985 to 1989, for a total of 114 episodes. Johnson was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for the role in 1985, and won a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series Drama in 1986. He was nominated again in 1986 and 1987. He also received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1996.

I initially watched the first season, when I was in Grade 10, but did not find it that engaging. The next season I was in Grade 11 and began hanging out with my friends, so I stopped watching “Miami Vice” regularly.

One of the guys I hung out with, named Craig, really got into the show. He even started dressing like Crockett and Tubbs with the blazers, t-shirts, and canvas shoes. He was the one who told me all about the Season 2 premiere, where Crockett and Tubbs went to New York.

I have to admit, in second semester of Grade 11, I also dabbled with dressing like Sonny Crockett. My Mom bought me a couple pairs of canvas shoes, after all they were cheap, a pair of white pants and some of the button-up shirts Crocket wore. It was pretty cool.

Oddly, in my first year of university, which made it the 1987-1988 season, I had this friend on my floor in res named Candace. She watched “Miami Vice” religiously in her room every Friday night. She had this little black and white TV that got marginal reception, but it was good enough for her. She really didn’t want to try and wrestle control of the TV away from everyone else on our floor. No one else was really into “Miami Vice”.

It was Candace who explained that Sheena Easton had joined the cast as Crockett’s new girlfriend.

That was the last I thought of “Miami Vice” until I was back in college in Lethbridge around 1999 or 2000, when one of the cable channels announced it was going to start airing “Miami Vice”. They were kicking the run off by airing the first and last episodes back to back. I actually tuned in to watch that, and it peaked enough of my interest to buy all five seasons on DVD. They still sit in my garage waiting to be watched.

Some day.

Branching out
Johnson pursued some other projects while he was doing “Miami Vice”. One was the made-for-TV movie “The Long Hot Summer“. It was a remake of the 1950s classic that also starred Cybill Shepherd, Ava Gardner and Jason Robards. It was released Oct. 6, 1985, and was heavily promoted. Unfortunately, I never did get a chance to see it when it was on peasant vision on Channel 13.

One thing I did hear was Don Johnson’s foray into pop music. He released the single “Heartbeat” in August of 1986 and it went all the way to number five on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. It was actually a cover of a Wendy Waldman song released in 1982.

The years after
Don Johnson has gone onto a lot of interesting projects since “Miami Vice” ended in 1989. They have included the series “Nash Bridges” which ran from 1996 to 2001 for 122 episodes; and movies such as “Tin Cup” in 1996; ”Django Unchained” in 2012; “Book Club” in 2018 and much more.

Parting thoughts
Don Johnson always symbolized a calm, cool customer to me. I loved the way he breathed words when he was in a tense situation, especially when he emphasized the word “Pal”. He was a good actor who also brought a sense of style that captivated the ‘80s for a period of time.

I even found myself emulating the way he dressed on “Miami Vice” right down to the canvas shoes, no socks and white pants.

Yet, I had liked him long before “Miami Vice” when he was Jeff Prewitt in “From Here to Eternity”, then again as the antagonist in “Tin Cup” and the title character in “Nash Bridges”.

It all goes to show that Don Johnson was much more than “Miami Vice”.