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...
Roomed with Jay Leno when both were fledgling entertainers, during which time Prinze learned how to drive a car under Leno's tutelage.
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He appeared on the show Jack Paar Tonite (1973) with Charlton Heston, who said that he hoped one day he would able to say he was on the first show on which Freddie Prinze performed.
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He was posthumously awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6755 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on December 14, 2004.
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His last public performance was less than a week before his untimely death, at the Jimmy Carter Inaugural Gala in Washington, D.C.
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Explained how he got his professional last name by saying, "Bob Hope is the King of Comedy. Everyone knows that. I'd just be content with being the prince." He later altered prince to Prinze.
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Was pulled over by police on a highway on November 16, 1976, for DUI (Driving Under the Influence). At the time, he was under the influence of methaqualone, a prescription drug that was prescribed by his psychiatrist.
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Dropped out of the Fiorello LaGuardia High School of the Performing Arts to pursue his comedy career.
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During his lifetime he described his ethnic heritage as 'Hunga-rican' (Hungarian and Puerto Rican). While his mother was of Puerto Rican ancestry, his father Edward Karl Pruetzel was German, not Hungarian, born in Berlin, Germany, in 1914, to Friedrich Karl Prutzel and Eleonare Maria Schultes. Edward moved to the United States in 1934. Prinze's son, Freddie Prinze Jr., has stated that his father was of half German and half Puerto Rican ancestry.
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Following his untimely death, he was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) in Los Angeles, California, in the Court of Remembrance.
$950,000
