Johnson without his vices
Don Johnson is no longer a wild man.
Don Johnson is no longer a wild man, said Erik Hedegaard in Rolling Stone. At the height of his Miami Vice fame in the 1980s, he had an insatiable appetite for booze and drugs. “I was a multiple-substance kinda guy,” says Johnson, 63. “I would drink, smoke pot, do cocaine, maybe eat a Quaalude. I’d wake up the next day [feeling] like I’d been hit by a truck, to the point where my skin would hurt. But by 6 that afternoon, [I’d be] like, ‘Let’s fire this thing up again!’” He smiles at the memory of his most colorful antics. “I was a lot of fun, apparently.” And then there were the girls. “During Miami Vice, it was pre-AIDS. Sodom and Gomorrah, baby. When I was living in Miami, I’d have three or four of my buddies over and have my assistant call the modeling agencies and order, like, 25 girls. Blondes, brunettes, redheads, just a mixture. The only rule was: I get to pick first.” Johnson—now a sober and happily married father of three young children—says time has changed how women react to him. “Some hot chick walks up to you and you’re going, ‘Okay, still got it!’ and she’s like, ‘I don’t know if I’ve ever seen you in anything, but my mother thinks you’re the bomb!’”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
'Make legal immigration a more plausible option'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
LA-to-Las Vegas high-speed rail line breaks ground
Speed Read The railway will be ready as soon as 2028
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Israel's military intelligence chief resigns
Speed Read Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva is the first leader to quit for failing to prevent the Hamas attack in October
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published