Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
Closer Weekly
Don Johnson Is Happily Married to Wife Kelley Phleger! Meet the ‘Miami Vice’ Alum’s Spouse
By Samantha Agate,
4 days ago
Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Don Johnson and his wife, Kelley Phleger, walked down the aisle in 1999 and have been gushing over each other ever since!
Who Is Don Johnson’s Wife Kelley Phleger?
Kelley is a teacher who earned a degree from the University of California, Berkeley. She met Don at a party for former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown.
“Don came up to me at Willie’s birthday party and said that the minute he laid eyes on Kelley, he knew he was going to marry her,” producer Jo Schuman Silver told People in 1999. “I don’t know what she thought, but I’m sure she found him very attractive.”
The Miami Vice alum and Kelley began dating in 1997 and walked down the aisle two years later. Prior to his lasting marriage to Kelley, Don was married to Melanie Griffith twice, first in 1976 and a second time from 1989 to 1996.
“Well, to be fair, it seemed like I had a high number of marriages, but I always just married the same girl twice,” the Kenan actor told Parade in May 2023. “You know, I’ve had a big life. That period of my life is a blur, and yet I remember phenomenal things happening. It was a magical time. I found myself invited to the White House, I found myself meeting the Pope. And some of the actors we launched in Miami Vice are a who’s who of big stars today: Bruce Willis, Michael Chiklis, Liam Neeson, Julia Roberts, the list goes on. I mean, I’m a farm boy from Missouri. It was a dream.”
In the same interview, Don revealed why Kelley is his ideal partner.
“Obviously, she’s a saint. I was with Bob Dylan one time, and I was having relationship issues, and Bob looks up at me and goes, ‘Well, see, love is about kindness, trust and respect, isn’t it?’” he recalled. “And that’s the embodiment of Kelley. It’s kindness, trust and respect, and we have that with each other. We’re lovers and friends and it’s fun. She’s an amazing woman.”
Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for BFI
The duo have been living blissfully in love ever since, with Kelley supporting Don at public appearances and red carpets over the years.
“They want their time together with their family to be sacred,” an insider told Closer of the couple in November 2019. “They live a charmed life.”
Who Are Don Johnson’s Kids
Don shares his eldest child, son Jesse Johnson, whom he welcomed with former partner Patti D’Arbanville. He welcomed daughter Dakota Johnson during his second marriage to Melanie.
“I feel like I grew up in the circus,” Dakota told Another Magazine in September 2015. “I know planes, trains and automobiles. And really talented, weird people.”
With Kelley, Don welcomed three younger kids, Atherton, Jasper and Deacon Johnson.
“Those kids are dynamos, each and every one of them, and they’re a lot of fun to be with,” Don said of his blended family. “So I spend a lot of my time hanging out with my kids and laughing and them making fun of me. My sons are all great musicians, and they’ve so far surpassed me. Now I’m the guy who just, ‘Oh, Dad, you can sit this one out. Here — here’s a tambourine. Play the tambourine.’ And Kelley and I travel a lot. I’m having the time of my life, man.”
Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency:
Our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. As a platform hosting over 100,000 pieces of content published daily, we cannot pre-vet content, but we strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation.