The good news is that Erik Estrada has finally found some work. The bad news is that it’s in a movie being filmed at Liberty University, which has the folks at Liberty terribly excited to have a genuine Hollywood “star” — albeit one who couldn’t even get into the Surreal Life house –on campus.
Lynchburg, Va., has become the epicenter for the upcoming faith-based film, Finding Faith, and Liberty University is right at the heart of the project.
Finding Faith aims to educate families on the importance of Internet safety through a powerful drama based on the real-life story of a girl who was abducted after falling prey to a skillful online predator. It stars Erik Estrada, a Hollywood legend and activist best known for his role on the 1970s and ’80s television series CHiPS. The film is set to release in early 2013 after a nationwide screening tour later this year.
Yeah, Estrada is a “legend” — in the sense that there are mythical stories about his career in the distant past. How amusing.
22 comments
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slc1
July 17, 2012 at 11:41 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Although the gentleman is far from an A list actor (or even a B list actor), he seems to have been keeping himself busy in both Tinsel Town and TV.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0261805/
Kevin
July 17, 2012 at 11:45 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
It’s a living…
He also does infomercials for real estate developers in Florida…I’m sure there’s no swamp land anywhere nearby.
'Tis Himself
July 17, 2012 at 11:47 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Actually Estrada is less of a has-been than you think. In the 1990s he was the male lead in a very popular telenovela (Latin American soap opera) which ran for several years.
oranje
July 17, 2012 at 11:52 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Activist?
cptdoom
July 17, 2012 at 11:53 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Bwahahahahaha!
Seriously, Erik Estrada and Liberty? Oh my.
Including that story about how his agent paid a cocktail waitress $250,000 to marry him, $250,000 to have his kid and $250,000 to divorce him. Sort of a Rock-Hudson-like relationship, if you know what I mean (wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more).
I needed that laugh today.
Janine: Fucking Dyke Of Rage Mountain
July 17, 2012 at 11:58 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I hate Marko and his mail box head.
(Sealab 2021 reference.)
erichoug
July 17, 2012 at 11:58 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Hey! Lay off Ponch.
jayhawk
July 17, 2012 at 12:00 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
“In the 1990s he was the male lead in a very popular telenovela (Latin American soap opera) which ran for several years.”
That is interesting because, and I do not know if it is true because the source of all knowledge, Wikipedia does not mention it, but I heard when he started on CHiPs, he didn’t speak Spanish and had to learn some for his role as Ponch.
Also from Wikipedia: As of 2009, Estrada was a full-time deputy sheriff in Bedford County, Virginia.[12]
Wow, a real cop!
erichoug
July 17, 2012 at 12:00 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Also, I’m not sure how correct it is to call him a “has been” I’m not talking about the bottoming out of his career but I am talking about the fact that CHiPs was the pinnacle of his fame. not sure he ever actually was. But the man definitely works.
Akira MacKenzie
July 17, 2012 at 12:01 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Janine @ 6
Don’t you mean BIZARRO Marko?
abb3w
July 17, 2012 at 12:02 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Estrada also did the voice for Marco on Sealab 2021.
Area Man
July 17, 2012 at 12:26 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
How did I ever miss Chupacabra vs. the Alamo? That’s what I get for blowing off the Academy Awards.
democommie
July 17, 2012 at 12:30 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
slc1 is correct that Estrada works; acting, not so much. He pretty much never acted. He just recited lines and used his (formerly) chiselled good looks to have lots of facetime on the screen. It’s too bad that Tammy Faye Messnerbaker is gone. Maybe he can call up Ron Jeremy and ask him to do a cameo in the film.
dingojack
July 17, 2012 at 12:35 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Oh – he was in a soap opera! That’s just one step up from doing ‘Death of a Salesman’ as dinner theatre!
[/snark]
Dingo
dWhisper
July 17, 2012 at 12:57 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
He always struck me as the kind of actor that doesn’t take himself seriously, even a little (as others have mentioned, his Sealab work is evidence of that). I can appreciate that, and it’s evidenced by showing up in anything for Liberty.
cycleninja
July 17, 2012 at 1:12 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I’m stoked about the report of a guest appearance by Starsky and Hutch.
caseloweraz
July 17, 2012 at 1:33 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
His character’s name on Sealab 2021 was originally “Marco Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar Gabriel Garcia Marquez?”
Somebody deserves 100 years of solitude for that.
Larry
July 17, 2012 at 1:36 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Let me ask this about Ponch being a has-been. Has he ever supplied his voice to a character on The Simpsons? That is the defining criteria for famous, has-been, or never-was.
lofgren
July 17, 2012 at 4:31 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Why you gotta bust balls, Ed?
democommie
July 17, 2012 at 5:11 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
“Why you gotta bust balls, Ed?”
Whose?
chriswalker
July 17, 2012 at 7:35 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Actually, he was in season two. I don’t know why I knew he was on the show, but I’m proud I had to look it up to be sure.
abb3w
July 17, 2012 at 9:59 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
@18, Larry:
Does “Family Guy” count for half credit?