Acting In 1970, Estrada made his film debut in the role of
Nicky Cruz alongside
Pat Boone, in the
independent film The Cross and the Switchblade. In 1972, Estrada appeared in a small role as a police officer in
The New Centurions, followed by a significant role in a major motion picture, the
disaster film,
Airport 1975, directed by
Jack Smight, where he played Julio, a
womanizing flight engineer on a
Boeing 747. In 1975, he again worked with Smight in
Midway, a successful military historical epic, as a fictional airman
Ensign "Chili Bean" Ramos. on
CHiPs in 1977 Beginning in 1977, Estrada co-starred as Frank "Ponch" Poncharello in
CHiPs, a television series. In 1978, he began training in martial arts with SeishinDo Kenpo instructor Frank Argelander (Frank Landers), preparing for a two-part episode of
CHiPs. The two appeared on the cover of
Fighting Stars Magazine, also in 1978 talking about Estrada's training regimen. On August 6, 1979, Estrada was seriously injured while filming a scene on the set of
CHiPs, fracturing several ribs and breaking both wrists after he was thrown from his motorcycle. Later in 1979, Estrada was voted one of "The 10 Sexiest Bachelors in the World" by
People and was featured on the cover of the November issue. In 1994, Estrada began co-hosting the syndicated outdoor adventure show
American Adventurer, which ran until 2004. In 1995, he made a special guest appearance as Ponch in
punk rock band
Bad Religion's music video, "
Infected", as well as in the video for
Butthole Surfers's video for "
Pepper". He has been seen on a few episodes of
Sabrina the Teenage Witch as himself, seen in a daydream cloud in Hilda's mind and also when Hilda zapped herself in his car while he drives it. In 1997, Estrada wrote his autobiography,
Erik Estrada: My Road from Harlem to Hollywood. In 1998, he returned as the character Francis "Ponch" Poncherello in the TNT made-for-TV movie ''
CHiPs '99, along with the rest of the original cast. In 2001, Estrada landed a role on the daytime drama The Bold and the Beautiful as Eduardo Dominguez. In 2002, he played a game-show host on the Disney Channel series Lizzie McGuire with Hilary Duff. He also made a guest appearance on an episode of Spy TV in 2002. He had a regular role doing voiceovers for the Cartoon Network show Sealab 2021, where he would parody himself. He appeared in an episode of another Cartoon Network show, Space Ghost: Coast to Coast, which features a character named Moltar who has an obsession with Estrada and CHiPS'', as a guest. Estrada has also guest-starred on the children's cartoon
Maya & Miguel. Estrada has appeared in music videos, such as
Eminem's music video "
Just Lose It". A band named after Estrada (
Estradasphere) is based in
Santa Cruz, California. Estrada also made guest appearances on
The Wayans Bros.,
Unhappily Ever After, the
Nickelodeon comedy
Drake & Josh,
NBC's
Scrubs and
My Name Is Earl, and
ABC's
According to Jim. Estrada has been in a long-running series of infomercials as a national spokesman for National Recreational Properties, selling undeveloped real estate property in
Siskiyou County, California;
Lake Shastina, California;
California City, California;
Ocean Shores, Washington;
Colorado, in addition to more recently,
Tellico Village, Tennessee; and
Bella Vista, Arkansas. Estrada began appearing in
Burger King TV commercials in September 2009. In the ads, he (playing himself) attended a class on endorsing products led by race car driver
Tony Stewart. During the spoof, Estrada seeks to understand why American consumers were not interested in purchasing his "Estrada" sunglasses that noticeably had his last name written boldly across the lens. Estrada appeared in many reality television shows. In 2004, he starred in both the second season of
The Surreal Life and in
Discovery Health Body Challenge. He also starred in the short-lived
CBS reality show,
Armed & Famous. In 2008, Estrada appeared in
Husband for Hire, a television movie starring
Nadine Velazquez and
Mario López. After a series of specials, in 2010, Estrada and
Laura McKenzie began co-hosting a show, ''
The World's Funniest Moments'', which began as a
myNetworkTV series hosted by
Arsenio Hall. In 2011, Estrada was a contestant on the
second season of the
Univision reality show
Mira Quien Baila, a weekly dance competition similar to
Dancing with the Stars, in which he finished in third place out of ten contestants. In 2013, he starred in
Finding Faith, a film about a young teenager who is kidnapped from a meeting planned online. It is based on true incidents investigated by the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Estrada toured with the film with the aim of educating parents and young people about the dangers of
online grooming. Estrada's experience in
CHiPs led him to become a reserve officer for the Muncie Police Department in
Muncie, Indiana. He became the spokesperson for the
C.H.P.'s "car seat inspection and installation" program. He made numerous appearances supporting automobile child-seat safety checks across the country. He appeared in
Española, New Mexico on May 28, 2009, to promote the "100 Days and Nights of Summer" traffic safety and anti-DWI campaign that involves the New Mexico State Police.
Law enforcement Estrada became a reserve police officer for the Muncie Police Department, depicted on
Armed & Famous. He moved to
Virginia, where he was an I.C.A.C. (Internet Crimes Against Children) investigator for eight years in
Bedford County, Virginia. As of July 1, 2016, he has been a reserve police officer in
St. Anthony, Idaho. While working in the department, Estrada has been filmed patrolling on a police motorcycle. ==Personal life==