Keeping up with Erik Estrada

He rode a motorcycle and battled crime.  In the 1970s and early 1980s, Erik Estrada's face was plastered everywhere.  He played Ponch, a California motorcycle cop with a megawatt smile, on the hit TV series CHiPs.

Erik was born Henry Enrique Estrada in East Harlem, New York City on March 16, 1949. in the city's Spanish Harlem neighbourhood.  He is the son of Carmen Moreno, a seamstress, and Renildo Estrada. a small business owner.  Erik is of Puerto Rican heritage.  He attended Louis D. Brandeis High School in Manhattan, and he strongly considered becoming a police officer.  In a 2007 interview with Parade, he was asked if law enforcement had played a bigger part in his life than CHiPs.  He replied, "Well, I was going to be a New York cop before I became an actor.  I couldn't take the test until I was 18, and at 17, I got bit by the acting bug.  I gave myself until I was 30. If I had some success, fine.  If I didn't, I'd come back and fulfill my dream and my mother's dream."

Erik decided to focus on acting after joining his high school drama class.  After graduation, he studied at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) in New York City, a private conservatory for the performing arts.

Erik had first appeared on screen in commercials for Fritos.  As a child, he played the Frito Bandito, which became the company's symbol.  Erik's parents split up when he was a toddler, and he lived with his mother, Carmen, his grandfather, his brother Joey, and his sister Carmen.  His father was rarely seen.

When Erik's parents divorced, he moved in with his mother and her new husband, Poncho Dostela.  It was Dostela who inspired Erik to pursue his dream of an acting career.  After completing acting courses, Erik landed his first professional role in the 1970 film The Cross and the Switchblade.  The film is based on a non-fiction book of the same name by David Wilkerson, a Christian evangelist.  in the film, Pat Boone plays Wilkerson, while Erik portrays Nicky Cruz, a member of a teenage street game who is transformed by Wilkerson's ministry;

In 1974, Erik was cast in the hit film Airport '75.  He played the role of an onboard engineer who sacrifices his own life in order to disarm a terrorist who had hijacked a Boeing 747.  He played another heroic role as an engineer in the historical 1976 film Midway.   

Prior to his role on CHiPs, Erik made guest appearances on several TV series, including Hawaii 5-0 (1973), Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law (1973), Emergency! (1974), Kojak (1975), Mannix (1975), The Six Million Dollar Man (1975), Police Woman (1975), Medical Center (1975), Barnaby Jones (1976) and Baretta (1976).

Erik Estrada is best known for his starring role as California Highway Patrol officer Francis (Frank) Llewelyn "Ponch" Poncherello in the hit TV police drama CHiPs.  (CHiPs is an acronym for California Highway Patrol.). The series ran on NBC from 1977 to 1983). Erik's co-star was Larry Wilcox, who played Officer Jon Baker.

CHiPs was highly popular, and the series established Erik as a bona fide television star.  CHiPs decals appeared on lunchboxes. Photos of Erik and Larry appeared on posters and magazines everywhere, as well as other CHiPs paraphernalia.

Although Erik and Larry played police partners on the show. they did not have the smoothest relationship off screen.  Larry was originally intended to be the show's star.  However, he was soon overshadowed by Erik's growing popularity.  Erik was one of the few Latinos in prominent roles during that time, and he was considered a leading heartthrob of that era.  This caused some tensions between the two actors. 

It's interesting to note that the CHiPs police officers never drew their guns.  In his interview with Parade, Erik waxed nostalgic about the '70s era.  He stated the following: "What I see is that we never drew our guns.  We were in a time in America when life was really fantastic.  It was the '70s.  There was disco.  Free love!  The streets weren't as nasty as they are now because they hadn't turned cocaine into crack yet.  AIDS hadn't hit the streets.  It was a great time in America.  Our show was on Sunday night, and it was basically about showing respect for law enforcement and dealing with people on a verbal level.  Not pulling guns and blowing their brains out."

In 1981, Erik missed three episodes of the fifth season of CHiPs, due to a contract dispute over syndication profits.  He was replaced by Caitlyn Jenner, then known as Bruce.  Jenner played Officer Steve McLeish.  The Olympic athlete was already working for NBC Sports as a commentator and was an experienced motorcyclist.  Once Erik reached an agreement with MGM, Jenner's character slowly faded from the show, after a total of seven episodes.

Estrada and Wilcox with Jenner

During CHiPs' run, Erik had a supporting role in the Vietnam-era drama The Line (1980).  He also had the lead role and produced the 1982 TV movie Honeyboy, which received favourable reviews.  In Honeyboy, Erik portrayed Rico "Honeyboy" Ramirez, a Puerto Rican from the south Bronx, who finds fame and fortune as a middleweight boxer.  Morgan Fairchild also starred in the film.

After CHiPs ended its run, Erik's career hit a snag.  He struggled to find work, and he accepted roles in low budget films and TV series.  His luck changed in the early 1990s, when he appeared in a Mexican "telenovela" (soap opera).  Since Eric didn't speak Spanish well, his lines were fed to him over an earphone during production.  When he landed the role of Johnny. a Tijuana trucker, in Does mujeres, um camino (Two Women, One Road), he had to take extensive Berlitz Spanish lessons before he could begin.  One hundred episodes of the TV drama were originally planned.  However, four hundred episodes were eventually produced, and the "telenovela" revived Erik's sagging career.

Does mujeres, um camino was enormously popular in Mexico. and other places in the Spanish-speaking world.  The series helped to win Erik a great number help to win him a new set of fans.

  

In 1994, Erik began co-hosting a syndicated outdoor adventure show titled American Adventurer.  The series aired until 2004.  He also began appearing on talk shoes and hosting events.

In 1998, Erik reunited with former co-star Larry Wilcox for the TNT made-for-TV film CHiPS '99.  The TV movie helped to spark a new interest in the original series.

In 2001, Erik was cast as Eduardo Dominguez on the daytime drama The Bold and the Beautiful.  In the 2000s, he continued to act, mainly in comedies or in Disney films for children.  Erik has also appeared on reality shows such as The Surreal Life, along with rapper Vanilla Ice and former televangelist Tammy Faye Messsner.  In 2007, he was seen on Armed and Famous, in which celebrities work alongside police officers 

Most recently, Erik has guest-starred in episodes of the drama Sangre Negre . . Black k Blood (2022, two episodes), the sitcom Call Me Kat 2023, and the futuristic science fiction series Fallout (2024)

Erik Estrada has been married three times and divorced twice.  On November 25, 1979, he wed Joyce Miller.  The couple divorced in 1980.  They did not have any children.

In 1985, Erik married to Peggy Lynn Rowe, an entertainment executive, songwriter, and producer. They divorced in 1990.  The couple had two sons, Anthony Erik (born 1986), and Brandon Michael-Paul (born October 28,1987).  Brandon Estrada became an accomplished pole vaulter.

Brandon Estrada

On September 20,1997, Erik married for the third time, to film sound technician Nanette Mirkovich.  Nanette is also known as an actress, especially for her role in the 1996 feature film Inside Out.  Nanette was born in raised in California, and she is of Russian and Hispanic descent.  Erik and Nanette have a daughter, Francesca Natalia (born January 5, 2000 in Burbank, California).

Below is a photo of Erik, Nanette and daughter, Francesca.

END NOTES

* Erik supported Republican senator John McCain in the 2008 American presidential election.

* Erik's older brother, Joey Del Valle, passed away on December 19, 2017.  Joey was an NBC staff photographer for some three decades.  Born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, he was raised in New York's Spanish Harlem.  Prior to joining  NBC, he worked as a fashion and advertising photographer.  Joey Del Valle died in Los Angeles after a lengthy illness.  He was 72 at the time of his passing.

* Erik is supportive of police office organizations around the world.  Several years ago, he realized a childhood dream by becoming a sworn police officer for the Muncie, Indiana Police Department.  He then moved to Virginia where he served as an I.C.A.C. (Internet Crimes Against Children) investigator for eight years in Bedford County, Virginia.  On July 1, 2016, he became a reserve police officer in St. Anthony, Idaho, where he was filmed patrolling on a police motorcycle.

* Erik wrote his 1997 autobiography with Davin Seay..  It is titled Erik Strada: My Road from to Hollywood.  The paperback edition was published in 1998.  In the memoir, Erik wrote about his Hispanic heritage and other topics.

* Erik received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on April 29, 2000.

* Erik is active in youth and political movements. He advocates against drug addiction, alcoholism and smoking.

* Erik loves music and has appeared in videos for his favourite artists. In addition to his on-camera performances, he has provided voice work for cartoons such as Maya & Miguel, an animated children's PBS series, JoJo's Circus, a stop-motion animated series and Sealab 2021, an adult animated series.

SOURCES: Biography (www.biograhy.com): "Erik Estrada: As Frank 'Ponch' Poncherello on the police drama 'CHiPs' Erik Estrada became one of the most popular television stars of the late 1970s and early 1980s;" The Hollywood Reporter; "Joey Del Valle, Longtime NBC  Photographer , Dies at 72," by Mike Barnes, January 16. 2017; Mental Floss (www.mentalfloss.com), "14 Things You Might Not Know about CHiPs," by Jake Rossen, September 14, 2017; Parade (parade.com), "Interview with Erik Estrada Estrada, May 30, 2007; Wikipedia, Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

- Joanne