Erik Estrada

Who can forget Francis "Ponch" Poncherello, one of two ChiPs who dominated the California highways and TV sets across the nation in the late '70s and early '80s? Similarly, who can forget that it was always Ponch who kept falling off his bike, only to be rescued by the other, um, less tanned cop? No matter ... it's always Erik Estrada who we remember. The East Harlem native (of Puerto Rican descent) parlayed his early success into a long career on the telenovela circuit, cameos in film and music videos, and infomercials. But we'll always remember him as Ponch.