Hollywood Walk Of Fame Officially Ponch'd
Erik Estrada can now add another line to his impressive biography: proud recipient of a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The trailblazing '70s TV heartthrob and current informed consumer and devoted family man accepted the honor this morning, a dutiful Mrs. Ponch at his side, trying his best to keep emotions in check as he explained what having his name immortalized on a patch of Hollywood Blvd. means to him:
"One, of course, a certain amount of success in the entertainment business, for which I really am extremely grateful and I'm very proud," Estrada said. "But equally important, it represents my childhood dream of becoming a police officer."
Estrada recently became a reserve officer for the Muncie, Ind., police department as part of his participation in the CBS reality television series "Armed & Famous." The show was canceled in January.
While Armed & Famous died too soon, the internets still allow us to relive some of the more courageous moments of this reserve officer and a gentleman's tour of reality TV duty, such as when Estrada participated in capturing a fleeing perp with the help of a vicious German Shepherd. Flanked by the brave men and women of the California Highway Patrol, here is a man who reminds all of us that in Hollywood, dreams really do come true—even if that dream is a thirty-year-old fantasy that the prop gun you were pointing at a pretend bad guy was the real thing.