Biography Of Erik Estrada Essay, Research Paper

(Frank

Poncherello)

Erik was born on March 16, 1949 as Henry Enrique

Estrada in NY City. Back around 1968, he was in a

dance troupe and earned $38 a week with free lunches

and all the acting lessons he could take. In return, he had

to perform daily in downtown Los Angeles. He had a

10-day hospital stay in August 1979 caused by on-set

accident when he was thrown from his motorcycle and the

900-pound bike landed on him. At 5′10”, 160 pounds, he

was an inch shorter and 15 pounds lighter than Wilcox.

But his physical fitness routine helped him rebound from

his injury: 240 situps and 120 push ups on a daily basis.

He is going through custody disputes about his two boys

and he has “a steady girl”.

Erik was voted as one of “The 10 Sexiest Bachelors in the

World” in People Magazine on November 19, 1979. The

cover features Erik towering above the other men (Willie

Ames included) at the top of the page, cutting into the

People sign, with nothing but a big smile and a towel lying

across his shoulder. The magazine says,

For all his raw physical appearance, Estrada

regards himself as “gentle, kind and

considerate.” He buys his dates jewelry and

treats them to champagne and sushi

evenings. But Estrada has grown cunning. “In

the past, women I’ve dated always decided

to be actresses. I was just a means to an end

for them.” So what does he really look for in

a woman? The actor flashes a huge smile.

“T&A”

Erik lives out in the San Fernando Valley. He’s up in the

hills behind the Burbank airport and south of Universal

Studios. His house is way at the top of this hill and it’s

easy to spot. He did an interview on the Mexican Channel

from some show called CONTROL and it shows you

where Erik lives and the inside of his house. He has two

“CHiPs” motorcycles (sans the engines) sitting in the

middle of the house and old magazines with his picture on

the cover (TV Guide, People) plastered all over the walls.

He has really unusual wall paper (stripes & polka dots)

and a bunch of trinkets sitting around. He has all sorts of

little gumball machines and slot machines sprinkled

throughout his residence. The house wasn’t too big,

seemed like your average 4-5 bedroom track home

actually.

Starring Roles:

Where is Parsifal? (?)

The Repentant (?)

Silver Circle (?)

Vengeance of Little Saigon (?)

Will You Run With Me? (?)

The Ballad of Billie Blue (1971)

The Cross and the Switchblade (1972) [as

Nicky]

The New Centurions (1972)

Airport 1975 (1974) [as Julio]

Trackdown (1976) [as Chucho]

Midway (1976) (aka The Battle of Midway)

Fire! (TV-1977) [Frank]

“CHiPs” (TV-1977-83) [Officer Frank "Ponch"

Poncherello]

The Line (1980)

The Lost Idol (1980)

Jailbreakin’ (1980)

Shock Troop (1980)

The Bronx, Fort Apache (1981)

Honeyboy (TV-1982)

Lightblast (1985)

Hour of the Assassin (1987)

The Dirty Dozen: The Fatal Mission (TV-1988)

[as Carmine D'Agostino]

She Knows Too Much (TV-1989) [as Jimmy

Alvarez]

Alien Seed (1989)

Andy and the Airwave Rangers (1989)

Twisted Justice (1990) [as Commander Gage]

Spirits (1990)

A Show of Force (1990) [as Machado]

Night of the Wilding (1990) [as Joseph]

Guns (1990)

Caged Fury (1990)

The Last Riders (1991) [as Johnny]

Extralarge: Cannonball (TV-1991) [as

Gonzales]

Earth Angel (TV-1991) [as Duke]

Do or Die (1991) aka Girls, Games and Guns

[as Richard Estaban]

The Divine Enforcer (1991)

“Dos Mujeres, Un Camino” (Two Women, One

Road) (Mexican Univision Network 1993-94)

National Lampoon’s Loaded Weapon 1 (1993)

[as "Erik" with Larry Wilcox]

Angel Eyes (1993) [as Johnny]

The Final Goal (1994)

American Adventurer (TV-1996) [Host]

Fight Zone (Pay-Per-View 7/5/1996) [Host]

Visions (Completed)

Guest Appearances:

Hawaii-Five-0 (TV-1973) “Engaged to Be

Buried”

Owen Marshall, Counseler At Law (TV-1973)

“Once A Lion”

Kolchak, The Night Stalker (TV-1975) “Legacy

of Terror”

Medical Center (TV-1975) “The High Cost of

Winning”

Police Woman (TV-1975) “Don’t Feed the

Pigeons”

The Love Boat (TV-1978) “Going By the Book”

The Six Million Dollar Man (TV-19??) “The

Deadly Test”

The Mike Douglas Show (TV-1980)

Women Who Rate A 10 (TV-1981)

Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV-1988)

A Taco Bell commercial (TV-19??) ["Excuse me

ma'am...do you have a license for that taco?"]

“Cybil” (CBS-1995)

The Nanny (NBC-1994 or 95) [as himself]

Burke’s Law (TV-1994 or 95)

Music City Tonight (TV-1995) [as himself...sitting

next to Robert Conrad]

Psychic Revival Network (TV-199?)

Hunter “City of Passion” (TV-199?)

Mysteries Magic and Miracles (Sci-Fi-1996)

High Society (CBS-1996) “Alice Doesn’t Pump

Here Anymore” [as Pedro the Doorman]

Late Night with Conan O’Brien (NBC-5/1/97)

[guest]

Home Boys in Outer Space (UPN-5/6/97)

Good Morning America (ABC-5/7/97) [guest]

The Carol & Marilyn Show (TV-5/7/97) [guest]

Politically Incorrect (ABC-5/12/97) [guest]

Viva Variety (Comedy Central-5/13/97) [as his

mother]

Talk Soup (E!-5/23/97) [guest]

The Rosie O’Donnell Show (TV-5/27(28?)/97)

[guest]

The Daily Show (Comedy Central-1997) [guest]

Charles Grodin (CNBC-1997) [guest]

Geraldo (TV-1997) [guest]

Published Works:

Erik Estrada: My Road from Harlem to

Hollywood; ?1997

Transcripts:

Read a transcript of Erik’s 4/30/97 chat on AOL

Read a transcript of Erik’s 5/2/97 chat on MSN

Although Erik does not have a public e-mail address, you

can contact him at the address he supplied in the AOL

chat:

Erik Estrada

11288 Ventura Blvd.

Studio City, CA 91604