News | Entertainment
1 Jul 2025 12:04
NZCity News
NZCity CalculatorReturn to NZCity

  • Start Page
  • Personalise
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • Finance
  • Shopping
  • Jobs
  • Horoscopes
  • Lotto Results
  • Photo Gallery
  • Site Gallery
  • TVNow
  • Dating
  • SearchNZ
  • NZSearch
  • Crime.co.nz
  • RugbyLeague
  • Make Home
  • About NZCity
  • Contact NZCity
  • Your Privacy
  • Advertising
  • Login
  • Join for Free

  •   Home > News > Entertainment

    Don Johnson “hand-raised” dozens of lions and tigers with his ex-wife Melanie Griffiths

    The ‘Miami Vice’ star, 71, helped Melanie, 64 and his ex-mother-in-law Tippi Hedren, 91 - nurse lion and tiger cubs at Shambala Preserve, the sanctuary she founded


    Don told the hosts of ‘The Jess Cagle Podcast with Julia Cunningham’:

    “We hand raised those lions and tigers. Probably between Melanie and I, we hand raised 20 or 30 lions and tigers. And when they get to be teenagers, which is around six months old, then we would take them out to the reserve. But yeah, we would raise them, bottle feed them and then move them over to regular cat food. I got pretty good at working with the wild cats."

    Along with the lions and the tigers, Melanie and Don raised Dakota Johnson, 32, who herself is now an actress with with credits in movies such as ‘50 Shades of Grey’ and ‘The Social Network’.

    Dakota previously spoke of how her grandmother’s reserve was still active, but smaller, but admitted it was "psycho" to begin with.

    She said: “She has 13 or 14. There used to be like 60 cats, and now there’s just a couple. By the time I was born they were all in huge compounds and it was a lot safer. It wasn’t as totally psycho as it was when they first started.”

    Tippi’s animals famously featured in a Life magazine feature in 1971, showing Neal, a lion who made her home his own, such as cuddling with the family and getting into Melanie's bed. It was stupid beyond belief."

    Along with Dakota, the actor has four other children; Jesse Johnson, 38, whose mother is model Patti D’Arbanville and three kids with his current wife Kelley Phleger, a 21-year-old daughter named Grace, and two sons Jasper, 19, and Deacon, 15.

    © 2025 Bang Showbiz, NZCity

     Other Entertainment News
     29 Jun: Kneecap play Glastonbury set amid terrorism charge as police investigate crowd chants
     28 Jun: Sean 'Diddy' Combs and Harvey Weinstein cases test the limits and legacy of #MeToo movement
     27 Jun: Charlize Theron's daughter was reduced to tears by her mullet
     27 Jun: Demi Lovato is releasing her first cookbook
     27 Jun: Sharon Osbourne believes that Ozzy Osbourne's fans will "carry him" through Black Sabbath's farewell gig
     27 Jun: John Cena called out a fan for filming him without permission
     27 Jun: Tom Brady is reportedly set to attend Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez's lavish Italian wedding
     Top Stories

    RUGBY RUGBY
    Levi Aumua is departing the Crusaders after two Super Rugby seasons More...


    BUSINESS BUSINESS
    China's EV newcomer Xiaomi sells nearly 300,000 SUVs in an hour More...



     Today's News

    Cricket:
    Proverbial white smoke has emerged from the Australian cricket team's HQ in the Caribbean on their West Indies tour 11:37

    Rugby League:
    Warriors' reserve grade play-maker Tanah Boyd views himself as a logical replacement if halfback Luke Metcalf is ruled out for the NRL season with a knee injury 11:27

    National:
    Trump’s worldview is causing a global shift of alliances – what does this mean for nations in the middle? 11:17

    International:
    Musicians like Abel Selaocoe are broadening classical music to reflect our evolving stories 11:17

    Cricket:
    Black Cap Ish Sodhi's desperate to show his spinning evolution after earning a reprieve under incoming coach Rob Walter 10:47

    Environment:
    Warmer seas are fuelling the dangerous ‘weather bomb’ about to hit NSW 10:37

    National:
    Understanding the ‘Slopocene’: how the failures of AI can reveal its inner workings 10:27

    National:
    Sudan: foreign interests are deepening a devastating war – only regional diplomacy can stop them 10:17

    Law and Order:
    A 31-year-old man's been charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm in relation to a homicide investigation in South Auckland's Otahuhu 10:07

    Soccer:
    All Whites striker Ben Waine has completed a move from the south of England to the Midlands 10:07


     News Search






    Power Search


    © 2025 New Zealand City Ltd