Henry Enrique “Erik” Estrada was born on 16th March 1949, in East Harlem, New York, of Puerto Rican descent. He is a reserve police officer, an actor and a voice actor and became known after playing the role of the officer Francis (Frank) Llewelyn “Ponch” Poncherello in the television series “ChiPs”. The actor then became a real cop and worked as a deputy sheriff in Bedford County, Virginia.
So just how rich is Erik Estrada? Sources estimate his net worth is $2 million. He has made almost all his money in the television industry, as an actor and a voice actor, during a career in the entertainment industry spanning more than 40 years. Significantly, he started making serious money with his role in “ChiPs”, a television drama series aired on NBC between 1977 and 1983, beginning with $5,000 an episode in 1977, raised to $9,000 for each episode in the following season, $25,000 an episode in 1980, and in the last season he made $45,000 for each episode of “ChiPs”.
Erik Estrada Net Worth $2 Million
Erik Estrada grew up in the Spanish Harlem. As a child, he wanted to become a police officer, but at the age of 18 he started going to auditions and soon after he began a career as an actor. He became known in 1970, after being a member of the cast in “The Cross and the Switchblade” and he had his first role as a policeman in 1972, in “The New Centurions”. In 1977, he obtained the role of Frank Llewelyn “Ponch” Poncherello in “ChiPs” and he became the most popular actor of the series, plus during which he was voted one of the “Ten Sexiest Men in the World’ by People magazine. The police television drama not only oughting Erik Estrada wealth, but also made him popular. He was also part of the cast for a reunion television movie of the series, in 1998.
After the “ChiPs” success, Erik Estrada had numerous roles in films and television series, including “Hunter” (1987), “She Knows Too Much” (1989), “Spirits” (1990), “The Naked Truth” (1992), and “High Society” (1996). As a voice actor, he performed in “Sealab 2021”, “Higglytown Heroes”, “Phineas and Ferb”, “Maya & Miguel”, “Adventure Time”, and “Planes: Fire & Rescue”. Erik Estrada also made money as a producer for “CHiPs ’99” in 1998. He was also an associate producer for “Alien Seed” in 1989 and “Caged Fury” in 1990.
He added money to his net worth as actor in several telenovelas. His biggest role was Johnny, in the television series “Two Women, One Road” (“Dos mujeres, un camino”), for which the media have written that Erik Estrada made more than $1 million in about 400 episodes. Another source of money and popularity is his appearance in reality shows. He was a cast member for “The Surreal Life”, “Armed & Famous”, and “Discovery Health Body Challenge”.
Erik Estrada also builds his earnings from appearances in TV commercials for big brands, such as Burger King and National Recreational Properties.
Erik is also a writer; his autobiography, “Erik Estrada: My Road from Harlem to Hollywood” was published in 1997.
In his personal life, Erik Estrada has married three times. He was married to Joyce Miller(1979-80), and to Peggy Rowe(1985-90) with whom he has two sons. Erik has a daughter with Nanette Mirkovich, to whom he has been married since 1997. The actor is an activist, speaking for the American Heart Association and promoting traffic safety for children.
Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama, ALMA Award for Outstanding Actor in a Made-for-Television Movie or Mini-Series
Movies
Airport 1975, CHiPs '99, Caged Fury, The Cross and the Switchblade, The New Centurions, Twisted Justice, The Last Riders, Alien Seed, The Dirty Dozen: The Fatal Mission, Light Blast, Loaded Weapon 1, Night of the Wilding, Do or Die, A Show of Force, Tuesday Never Comes, Husband for Hire, Panic in th...
TV Shows
Maya & Miguel, Armed & Famous, The Surreal Life, Sealab 2021, Dos mujeres, un camino, CHiPs, The World's Funniest Moments
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Quote
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[2011, as a guest on The Enrique Santos Show, on running into comedian George Lopez and challenging him to a fight after Lopez had been constantly badmouthing him in his stand up routines because Estrada wouldn't sign an autograph nor shake his hand when Lopez was a kid] I extended an olive branch in my hand and he wouldn't take it, so then I said, then the street came out in me, then I said, "But look, if you want to settle your beef with me, let's me and you go behind that truck right now, mutual agreement" - because, you know, I carry a gun and a badge, but I would've given it to the other cops that were working security- and I said, "Let's go behind the truck and settle it, man, you know. If you really hate me that much, wouldn't you just like to take a shot? Let's do it" and he says, "I'm a comedian, not a fighter" and I said, "No, you're not, you're a bully with a microphone" and it stayed like that and that was it... No, I'm done with him, man. He's doomed anyway. He's got a lot of karma to pay for. You don't take a kidney from your wife and pull that on her (cheating with prostitutes). That's karma, the hand of God is going to get him.
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How are you going to believe a guy who got the gift of life from his wife, got a kidney, and she's divorced him because he's out banging hookers. [2011 - on his feud with comedian George Lopez and Lopez constantly badmouthing him because he refused to sign an autograph and to shake his hand when Lopez was a kid]
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[in 1994 interview about CHiPs (1977)] We never drew guns on our show. Ours was a more informational type of show with a lot of kids in it. It was a totally different show than what they do today.
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Fact
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Comedian George Lopez has had an ongoing feud for years with him, because Estrada wouldn't sign an autograph nor shake Lopez's hand when Lopez was a kid while Estrada was filming an episode of CHiPs near Lopez's neighborhood. Since then, Lopez vowed to make Estrada pay. In 2011, Estrada told a Miami radio show, The Enrique Santos Show, that he didn't remember ignoring Lopez, but that he was tired of Lopez thrashing his name and that he had seen Lopez at a church event and challenged him to a fight and that Lopez backed down, stating, "I'm a comedian, not a fighter". In 2015, with regards to Estrada, Lopez told the Huffington Post during an interview, "I'll fuck that motherfucker up.".
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Charleston, WV, USA: In capacity with the Safe Surfin' Foundation/Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces spent most of December 2011 working with West Virginia State Police cyber crimes task force. [December 2011]
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Best known by the public for his starring role as Off. Francis "Ponch" Poncherello on CHiPs (1977).
Father of Anthony Eric Estrada and Brandon Michael-Paul Estrada.
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Ranked #1 on the TV Guide's Network, "TV's 25 Sexiest Men In Uniform." (2009).
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He has joined forces with the Safe Surfin' Foundation & Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces around the country to protect children from sexual predators on the Internet.
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Ranked 15th on the TV Guide's Network, "TV's 25 Sexiest Men of All Time." (2008).
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Has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
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Was a reserve police officer with Muncie, Indiana police department from 2007-2010, completed full training in 2007. This was seen on the TV series Armed & Famous (2007).
When he landed Johnny in Two Women, One Road (1993) he had to take 30 straight eight-hour days of Berlitz Spanish lessons before he could begin. Originally slated for 100 episodes, the show went to 400-plus episodes, became the biggest telenovela in Latin-American history and revived Estrada's almost non-existent career.
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Puerto Rican by ethnicity.
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Once went to Thailand to attempt to circumvent the Screen Actors Guild and secure a sub-union job, the only work he could find.
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Left CHiPs (1977) in the fall of 1981 over a contract salary dispute with NBC and was briefly replaced by 1976 Olympic decathlon gold medalist Caitlyn Jenner.
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Is the face of D.A.R.E., an organization for a drug-free America.
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Has his own Official Website that he and his wife answer all their fans emails and talk with them on the forum.
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Daughter, Francesca Natalia, born 5 January 2000 in Burbank, California.
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Played in a Mexican "telenovela" (soap opera) in the early '90s. Unlike many characters he's played, Estrada doesn't speak Spanish, so his lines were fed to him over an earphone during production.