Hollywood Memorial

Comedian Freddie Prinze seemed to have everything going for him. By 1977 he was the star of a hit network series, beautiful women were drawn to his good looks and natural charm, he was the father of a baby boy named after him; but there were a lot of things Freddie Prinze had against him: a failed marriage, an expensive drug habit, and a morbid fascination with guns. At the age of 16, Freddie made his debut at the Improv during one of that club’s regular non-paying showcases. The Improv’s owner, Budd Friedman, recalled that the teenager was an instant success. TV appearances with Johnny Carson as well as Jack Paar led to Freddie being cast at age 19 in the TV series ‘Chico and the Man,’ co-starring Jack Albertson. Freddie’s rise to stardom was so quick that he often had difficulty accepting it. Freddie turned to Quaaludes and other drugs, and his apparent instability to sustain a healthy romantic relationship also created problems. Freddie was briefly engaged to Kitty Bruce, daughter of the late comedian Lenny Bruce, one of Freddie’s idols. A short-lived marriage to Kathy Cochran in 1976 produced a son, Freddie Prinze, Jr. Freddie Prince, Sr.’s life came to an end when on January 28, 1977, Freddie phoned several people, including his personal secretary and his psychiatrist. Martin Snyder, Freddie’s agent, arrived at his apartment shortly after two in the morning in response to a call from the distraught comedian. While Snyder was still in the apartment, Freddie phoned his ex-wife and parents and after hanging up, pulled a pistol from beneath a couch cushion and fired into the right temple of his head. He was just 22. In a crypt in Forest Lawn in Hollywood Hills.