Joseph Estrada was born on the 19th of April, 1937, to Engineer and Mrs. Emilio Ejercito. His father worked for the government. Joseph's mother, Maria Marcelo, studied music at the Colegio de Santa Rosa.

After high school, Joseph decided to study engineering to follow in the footsteps of his father. But in his third year at Mapua, he decided to try the movies.

Displeased with his decision to drop out of college, his parents forbade him to use his family name, which forced him to adopt "Estrada" (Spanish for street) as a screen name, and "Erap" ("Pare" or friend spelled backwards) as a nickname.

During his movie career, he played the lead role in more than a hundred movies and produced more than 70 films. He was the first FAMAS Hall of Fame awardee for Best Actor (1981) and also became a Hall of Fame awardee as a Producer (1983).

Estrada entered politics when he ran for Mayor of San Juan in 1968. He was only proclaimed mayor in 1969, after he won an electoral protest against Dr. Braulio Sto. Domingo. As mayor (1969-1986), Estrada was named one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) in Public Administration. He was also named Most Outstanding Mayor and Foremost Nationalist (1972) and Most Outstanding Metro Manila Mayor (1972).

After 16 years as San Juan Mayor, Estrada decided to run for the senate. He was proclaimed in 1987, and held office there for five years. In that span of time, he sponsored a total of three bills. He was one of the most vocal opponents of the RP-US Military Bases Agreement. On January 14, 1989, he was named Outstanding Senator by the Philippines Free Press.

On March 30th, 1992, Estrada officially announced his vice presidential candidacy under the Nationalist People's Coalition-Partido ng Masang Pilipino. The coalition's standard bearer Eduardo Cojuangco, Jr. lost his bid for the presidency, but Estrada won and took his oath to serve along with President Fidel Ramos.

After a week, the President named him Chairman of the Presidential Anti-Crime Commission.

Estrada is married to Luisa Loi Pimentel-Ejercito, a doctor of psychiatry, whom he met one summer while working as a clerk in a mental hospital. His characteristic way of speaking English has been immortalized in a book called "Eraption: How to Speak English Without Really Trial."