Who Is Don Johnson's Wife? All About Kelley Phleger

Mar. 15, 2025

Kelley Phleger and Don Johnson attend the screening after party for the “Book Club” on May 15, 2018 in New York City.Photo:Jim Spellman/WireImage

Jim Spellman/WireImage

Don Johnsonhas been with his wife, Kelley Phleger, for more than two decades.

TheBook Clubactor tied the knot with Phleger in 1999. The two have since welcomed three children together: Atherton Grace, Jasper and Deacon Johnson.

“Obviously, she’s a saint,” Johnson toldParadeof Phleger in May 2023. “I was withBob Dylanone 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?’ And that’s the embodiment of Kelley.”

He added, “We’re lovers and friends and it’s fun. She’s an amazing woman."

Johnson echoed those thoughts about kindness and trust in September 2024 when the couple celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary.

“Oh, we are just so in tune with each other that there’s anunspoken like trust and kindnessand respect with us. And those are the keys,” he told PEOPLE.

TheMiami Vicestar was married to actressMelanie Griffithfirst in 1976 before splitting the same year, and again from 1989 to 1996. During their second marriage, they welcomed their only child together, actressDakota Johnson.

In addition to his children with Phleger and Griffith, he also has a son, Jesse Johnson, from a relationship with Patti D’Arbanville.

So who is Don Johnson’s wife? Here’s everything to know about Kelley Phleger and her relationship with the actor.

She is a Berkeley graduate

Kelley Phleger and Don Johnson at ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ film premiere, Los Angeles July 22 2019.Eric Charbonneau/Sony Pictures/Shutterstock

Phleger has a degree from the University of California, Berkeley. After her collegiate career ended, she worked as a teacher at a Montessori nursey school in California.

She comes from a well-known family

Kelley Phleger and Don Johnson.Michael Buckner/Variety/Penske Media/Getty

Michael Buckner/Variety/Penske Media/Getty

A former debutante, Phleger is the daughter of Jean Phleger and the late lawyer Atherton Macondray Phleger, who was also a Wells Fargo board member until his death in 1988. Phleger’s grandfather, Herman Phleger, was a U.S. delegate to the United Nations and a founder of the law firm Brobeck, Phleger and Harrison.

Johnson and Phleger met at a party

Don Johnson and Kelley Phleger.Don Johnson Instagram

Don Johnson Instagram

“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,” Schuman Silver recalled to PEOPLE in 1999. “I don’t know what she thought, but I’m sure she found him very attractive.”

In April 1998, Phleger was spotted wearing a 5 1/2-carat diamond engagement ring. They got engaged in Aspen, Colorado, per theSan Francisco Examiner.

They got married in 1999

Don Johnson and Kelley Phleger on their wedding day.Don Johnson Instagram

Johnson and Phleger got married on April 29, 1999, at the home of Ann and Gordon Getty in San Francisco, where Phleger is from. However, the couple kept their plans to wed a secret from their 85 guests, as the invitation for the evening alluded to nothing more than a black-tie affair of dinner and dancing to celebrate the actor and his fiancée.

They hosted the ceremony in a courtyard, with the bride wearing an off-white Chanel princess gown embroidered with butterflies. Brown officiated the ceremony, while actorRobert Wagnerwas Johnson’s best man. Johnson’s daughter Dakota and son Jesse were also in the wedding party.

“Don exuded happiness,” a friend of the newlyweds told PEOPLE after the wedding. “The expression on his face will stay in my mind forever.”

Phleger previously dated Gavin Newsom

Don Johnson and Kelley Phleger attend the “Foxcatcher” party during the 67th Cannes Film Festival on May 19, 2014.David M. Benett/Getty

David M. Benett/Getty

Before marrying Johnson, Phleger was in a relationship with now-California GovernorGavin Newsom, though they broke up around 1997.

At the time, Newsom was a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He would go on to become the mayor of San Francisco from 2004 to 2011, before becoming the lieutenant governor of California from 2011 to 2019. He was elected governor in 2019 and has served in the position since.

Phleger and Johnson have three children

Don Johnson, Kelley Phleger and kids Jasper and Atherton arrive at the premiere of Warner Bros.' “Shorts” on August 15, 2009 in Los Angeles, California.Kevin Winter/Getty

Kevin Winter/Getty

The couple’s second child, Jasper Breckenridge Johnson, was born on June 6, 2002. While he has been less in the spotlight than his older sibling, he is known to have had an interest in sports and played basketball in high school before graduating in 2021.

Their youngest child, Deacon James Johnson, was born on April 29, 2006, which happened to be the same day as Phleger and Johnson’s seventh wedding anniversary. Like his siblings, Deacon grew up in Santa Barbara and has a passion formusicandsports.

They share sweet moments on social media

Both Johnson and Phleger give followers a glimpse of their home life on their Instagram accounts. On Father’s Day in 2023, Phlegerposted a throwback photoof Johnson with their children from 2006.

“Happy Fathers Day DJ!” she wrote in the caption. “Thank you for all you have done for our beautiful family.”

The prior year, for Mother’s Day, Johnsonshared a pictureof Phleger and wrote, “The BEST!!! The Mother of all mother’s! And funny as all get out! Love you so… 🌹.”

source: people.com