Freddie Prinze(1954-1977)
- Actor
- Writer
Freddie Prinze was born Frederick Karl Pruetzel in New York City, New
York, to a Puerto Rican mother, Aurea Elena Ruiz, and a German
immigrant father, Edward Karl Pruetzel. Freddie grew up in the
Washington Heights section of New York City. As a chubby child, he was
often bullied, but was quite creative and bright in his extracurricular
activities (he was known to have handmade a ham radio, which he used
regularly). Early on, he aspired to become famous, and, after enrolling
at Fiorella LaGuardia High School of the Performing Arts, he obtained a
job at the Improv Club, in New York, where people started to take
notice of his comedic talent (but the long hours he worked at night,
balanced by increasing absences in school, caused him to drop out of
high school to pursue comedy full-time). He changed his name to Freddie
Prinze (to indicate that he was "The Prince of Comedy"). In December
1973, he was invited to perform on "The Tonight Show with Johnny
Carson", which proved to be a breakthrough performance, as he was
invited to chat with Johnny after his performance (only two other
comedians have enjoyed that privilege). Soon afterwards, he won the
role of "Chico Rodriquez" in an NBC-produced TV series called
Chico and the Man (1974)(he
and co-star Jack Albertson forged
a great friendship while working on the show). In 1975, he released a
comedy album, titled "Looking Good", and further boosted his popularity
with appearances on various TV shows (such as the "Tony Orlando &
Dawn" show). In Las Vegas in August 1975, he married Katherine Cochran,
with whom he had a son, Freddie Prinze, Jr. (born on March 8, 1976 in
Albuquerque, New Mexico). He loved his role as a father, and his
growing popularity. But all the fame had a downside to it: Freddie
developed an addiction to drugs (namely Quaaludes and cocaine), and was
subsequently arrested in Nov. 1976 for DUI. His marriage
was dissolving, and he separated from his wife. He started to mention thoughts of suicide to many of his close
friends and family including his friends singer Tony Orlando
and comedian David Brenner. In January 1977, following his final
public appearance at the Inaugural Ball for President Jimmy Carter,
22-year-old Freddie called his mother, friends and manager and
announced that he was committing suicide. While his manager tried to
stop him, he placed a .32 caliber pistol against his temple and pulled
the trigger.He was rushed to
UCLA Medical Center with a massive head wound. He was kept on life
support until January 29, 1977, when his family decided to
turn off the life support.