'Freddie' mirrors Prinze's early life
By Mike Hughes
Gannett News Service
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Freddie Prinze Jr. grew up with a name and face that were suitable for stardom.
Fortunately, that was far from Hollywood. He grew up in New Mexico and spent summers in Puerto Rico, and he emerged as the gentle guy depicted in ABC's "Freddie."
This is a new comedy carved from real life. His character:
All of those are pieces from Prinze's own life.
His dad, half-Puerto Rican and half-Hungarian, was a comedian and TV star whose "Chico and the Man" premiered in 1974. He died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in 1977 when his son was less than a year old. The family retreated to Albuquerque, N.M., where Prinze grew up with his mother, grandmother and aunts. Money was tight — he juggled three jobs as a teenager — and the culture was Italian.
Still, the Puerto Rican roots weren't lost.
"My mother always thought that was really important," Prinze says. "I spent every single winter break and summers in Puerto Rico with my (paternal) grandmother. ... She didn't believe Puerto Rico was part of America. She said, 'When you're in America, you speak English. When you're in France, you speak French. When you speak to God, you speak in Spanish.' "
New Mexico was far from Hollywood in geography and attitude. "The chance for a big future just doesn't occur as much there," says Conrad Jackson, his high school pal and now a writer on the show.
Prinze moved to Los Angeles, "and I quickly saw how insane this city is," he said. His uncle, who manages actors, told him to study acting.
"That's what I did every single day," Prinze says. "I didn't have a date for about 11 months."
The dating would follow. Prinze starred in generic teen movies ("She's All That," "Summer Catch," "Head Over Heels").
He married Sarah Michelle Gellar, his co-star in "I Know What You Did Last Summer" and two "Scooby-Doo" movies.
According to ABC, he recently finished "Pool Hall Prophets" with Ving Rhames, "Nailed Right In" with Alec Baldwin and will lend his voice to the animated "Happily N'Ever After," also starring his wife and Sigourney Weaver.
Working with Jackson and producer Bruce Helford, he crafted "Freddie," reflecting a period in his real life.
"I had a touch of tragedy in my family," Prinze says. "Everyone was forced to move in with me for a significant amount of time — the four of them. I ... quickly lost my bedroom, (but) I wouldn't trade (that time) for anything in the world."
