Sangre negra erik estrada biography

Erik Estrada: —: Actor.

Erik Estrada, the star of one of American television's biggest hits in the late s and early s, traded in Hollywood stardom in the early s for a brand new career as the leading man in Latin TV's highest-rated telenovela (soap opera).

Estrada, a native of Spanish Harlem in New York City, made his professional film debut as a gang member in The Cross and the Switchblade, released in This was followed by a handful of television and motion picture roles, leading eventually to his breakthrough role as California Highway Patrol motorcycle cop Frank "Ponch" Poncherello on NBC's hit series, CHiPs.

The series, which spotlighted the exploits of Ponch and his partner Jon Baker, played by Larry Wilcox, premiered on September 15, , and ran on NBC until July 17, The role of Ponch, originally conceived by scriptwriters as sort of a second banana to Wilcox's lead role as Jon Baker, soon had to be expanded in response to the imme