Theories towards why Erik Estrada never became a major movie star

[TMC]

1. He’s Latino - Only a handful of Latino actors have ever been major box office draws in the US film market and none of them have been the darker-skinned individuals like Estrada. Latino actors have experienced an even more difficult time topping the box office in the United States than Black actors have.
2. He didn’t strike when the “iron” was hot - During his time on the NBC police procedural/action series CHiPs, Estrada did not appear in films during his hiatus. Whether or not that was a contractual restriction is uncertain. However it didn’t allow him to capitalize upon his television fame to carve out a film career for himself.
3. Estrada got a bad reputation during his time on CHiPs - Not only did he hold out for salary, he apparently didn’t get along with his co-stars during the series run. Production companies seemed to have witnessed this and decided not to work with him.
4. He never really developed any serious range - Good looking guy with brilliant smile is a stereotype, not a career. Estrada was never able to expand his range as a performer (No, Dos Mujeres, Un Camino doesn’t count) and so he was never able to attract any further roles of consequence.
5. He didn’t create a production company in the 1970s or 1980s - Given Hollywood’s racism, the only way that Estrada was going to get roles was to start a production company and search for projects and financing. He seems to have ignored that avenue and his lack opportunities was a result.

[rusty spike]

I think #3 really did him in (not getting along and being difficult).

I am just an outsider to the tv/movie industry, but I really think that you have to get along with producers and executives. I am not picking on Erik, but when actors/actresses develop a bad reputation, nobody at the top wants to take a risk on them.

A lot of people who watched CHiPs did so because it was a lighthearted series that focused on an ensemble cast, not just Frank Poncharello

[TMC]

Originally Posted by rusty spike

I think #3 really did him in (not getting along and being difficult).

I am just an outsider to the tv/movie industry, but I really think that you have to get along with producers and executives. I am not picking on Erik, but when actors/actresses develop a bad reputation, nobody at the top wants to take a risk on them.

A lot of people who watched CHiPs did so because it was a lighthearted series that focused on an ensemble cast, not just Frank Poncharello

As the old saying goes, we have to take this "blind item" with a grain of salt, but allegedly, Erik Estrada was accused of things that had it happened today, he would've undoubtedly been fired from CHiPs, and at its worst, the show would've been canceled.

[Tankeryanker]

Gee, maybe its not skin color but the fact that he sucked as an actor.

[Sgt. Saunders]

I don’t want to say that Mr. Estrada was overly narcissistic, but I’ve heard that he was in grave danger of suffocating in his own embrace.

[GentlemanJim]

A lot of people work in movies their entire lives without becoming dominant stars, so perhaps it's as simple as he was never able to capture the public's imagination? In contrast, look at all the people who become superstars despite having next to no talent?

To me, Estrada was too much a "smile". His smile dominated his presence, made me feel patronized. Lacking in charisma, as you might get from a Ricardo Montalban.

He's the kinda guy when you meet at a party you shake his hand, chat him up, and then move on. He's not the kind of guy you drag around introducing to all your friends...at least that's the way I felt.

[Sgt. Saunders]

In his autobiography, “Dropped Names,” actor Frank Langella recounted that he appeared as Zorro with Ricardo Montalban as the evil military commander of their California town in an ABC TV movie back during the 1970s.

When Frank Langella ran into Ricardo Montalban years later, Langella asked Ricardo Montalban what he was currently appearing in. To which “Khan” from “Star Trek” replied, “Cr@p, absolute cr@p!”

I guess Mr. Montalban was not very excited about appearing as Mr. Roarke in “Fantasy Island” or as the evil Mr. Pap Schmear in the uproariously funny “Naked Gun” films.

And, as Mr. Montalban was wont to say in those Chrysler commercials for the Cordoba car with “rich Corinthian leather”: “I like what they’ve done to my car!”