Celebrities from the Past

Have you ever been watching a TV show or a movie and you see a certain celebrity that you haven't seen in awhile and then you wonder where they have been? I have and decided to find out where some of my favorite older celebrities have been up to and why they haven't been on TV much lately.

Take Gary Coleman for example. He played on "Different Strokes" as the adopted son of a wealthy man and his daughter. The only thing I have seen him on lately are those "CashCall" commercial's. He talks about how when he needed money in a hurry "CashCall" was there to help. "They can deposit thousands of dollars into your checking account within 24 hours with just your signature." He says. Apparently he also played in a few shows like "The Simpson's" and "The Jamie Foxx Show" but only a few episodes. According to the website I found Gary Coleman was also in a "Klondike Bar" commercial in 1997.

Gary Coleman won the lawsuit against his parents for mishandling the money he made from "Different Strokes." He received $3.8 million from the lawsuit. It seems like a lot of these young actors have gone through this with their parents. It seems a shame that their own mother and father would steal their hard earned money from them. If I was an actress when I was a kid I would give my parents so much of my money and have them put the rest in a bank account where only I could touch it by the time I was 18. It would seem only fair to share the money with your mom and dad because after all they have been raising you.

Gary Coleman has done a lot through the years from running for U.S Senate in California in May of 2000 to appearing in "Moby's" music video called, "We Are All Made of Stars." He has been ranked #1 in VH1's list of "100 Greatest Kid Stars" and was also ranked #10 in "E's Most Cutest Kid Stars All Grown Up" in 2005.

Coleman is being portrayed as a character in the new Broadway Musical "Avenue Q" with his role being played by an actress by the name of Haneefah Wood and in London's West End by actor/singer Giles Terera.

Since March 2005 he has been a political analyst for "All Comedy Radio" and was a commentator for the Michael Jackson Trial. Gary also works as a security guard.

What about Erik Estrada? I bet everyone remembers him. He starred in "CHIP's" as Frank Poncherello, a bike riding cop who captured the bad guys and got all the women he wanted. I remember watching this as a kid and I enjoyed it very much. However before Erik starred in "CHIP's" he first wanted to be a real life policemen but instead ended up joining the drama club just to impress a girl he liked and has been hooked ever since. He then went on to play in "The Cross and the Switchblade" as a streetwise character. This movie is still shown at about 500 youth centers across America because of it's anti-drug and powerful life changing message. It is based on a true story.

He finally then landed roles in "Airport 75", "Midway" and "Trackdown" and also guest starred in "Hawaii 5-0", "Baretta" and "The Six Million Dollar Man." Then came 6 seasons of "CHIP's" and during a hiatus of the series he starred in and produced the NBC movie of the week "Honey Boy."

In 1999 Erik Estrada and his old buddy Larry Wilcox from the show "CHIP's" got together for a TNT movie reunion of "CHIP's." He is now starring in a new reality show on CBS that aired on January 10th, 2007. This new reality series shows Erik and 4 other celebrities getting sworn in and actually becoming cops and fighting crime. Also starring in this reality show is Jack Osbourne, La Toya Jackson, Trish Stratus and Jason "Wee Man" Acuna. This new show is called "Armed and Famous."

On April 19, 2007 Erik will be joining the rest of the most famous stars when he receives his very own "Hollywood Walk of Fame Star." These renowned stars salute the stars who made Hollywood great whether it was the silent film stars of the past or the modern day action stars in the present.

Erik Estrada lives in Hollywood Hills and has two sons, Anthony Erik and Brandon Michael-Paul. He is now happily married to his third wife, Nanette Mirkovich and has a beautiful daughter named Francesca.

David Hasselhoff is another one of my favorites. I loved his show "Knight Rider" which aired between 1982-1986. He also played in "Baywatch" between the years of 1989- 2000. From 1995 to 1997 he played in "Baywatch Nights" which ran for 44 episodes. This series combined the plot of "Baywatch" with crime and mystery elements. Two original cast members from the original "Baywatch" played in this which was David Hasselhoff as Mitchell Buchannon and Gregory Alan Williams as Garner Ellerbee.

Hasselhoff played on "The Young and the Restless" as Dr. William "Snapper" Foster for seven years. He was also in a number of films and TV series including "Still Standing" and "The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie" as a lifeguard who saved SpongeBob and Patrick. David says, "No one else could play the greatest lifeguard in the world." More movies he starred in were "Knight Rider 2000" and "Super Knight Rider 3000." I've never seen these ones and didn't even know they existed. I will definitely have to look these ones up.

David now has a hit role in the musical comedy, "The Producers" and even has a new music video out called "Jump in My Car." You can check out the video here.

He is currently married to Pamela Bach since December 8th, 1989 and they have two daughters, Taylor Ann who was born May 5th, 1990 and Hayley Amber who was born August 26th, 1992.