Freddie Prinze

June 22, 1954 – January 29, 1977



 

Freddie Prinze
Freddie Prinze

 

Freddie was at the very height of his fame.  So much so, he was Tony Orlando’s best friend.

He was separated from his wife of 15 months, and living in a hotel located at 10300 Wilshire Boulevard.

 

 

In October of 2004, Findadeath.com friends Mary Ann and Joe cracked it.  We made arrangements that I was to show her and her husband around.  On her list of things to see, was Freddie’s suicide site.  Unbeknownst to her, they were staying in that veryhotel, but in a different room.  I love LA.  Mary Ann sends us this:  “Here are the pictures from the hotel we took. Hope you can use some of them. I tried to guess what you would take if you were there. The employees were very “turned off,” Joe said, when he asked to go in the room. They said other people have asked and they don’t do that. Oh well.

“I got the entrance to where he would park,

and a parking spot in the garage,

this picture of his door

and front window

and the view from his door and over the rail in front of his room.”

Thank you Mary Ann.  I tried responding to your emails, but they keep getting returned.  It was a pleasure meeting you and Joe.  Hope to see you again.

By January of 1977, Freddie had been despondent for several weeks over work and marital problems.  He was in the process of a divorce, involving their 10 month old son Freddie Prinze Jr, and Freddie mentioned several times that “I should end it all.” During the few days prior to his suicide, he had in his possession a 38-calibre revolver. He kept toying with it, loading and unloading it.

Freddie had a history of drug problems, taking Quaaludes and cocaine on a regular basis.  I don’t know if it’s true, but supposedly he took so much coke, he burned a hole in his nose, and he resorted to taking it anally.

The night before he died, he had received a restraining order from his wife.  This didn’t set well with him. He went on a downward spiral from there.  Early the next morning, he started making a series of goodbye phone calls.  One was to Marvin “Dusty” Snyder, Freddie’s business manager.  Dusty became concerned, and went to Freddie’s hotel room.

When Dusty arrived, he tried to get Freddie to calm down, and told him that he had much to live for.  Freddie continued to make the emotional phone calls with Dusty in the room.  He phoned his mother and said, “Mom, I love you very much, but I can’t go on.  I need to find peace.” Dusty is sitting there the whole time.  At 3:30 am, Freddie called his estranged wife, and supposedly said, “I love you, Kathy. I love the baby, but I need to find peace. I can’t go on.” He hung up the phone.

Dusty made a dive for the gun, but Freddie pulled away.  Dusty told him to “think about your mother, and your son.”  Freddie was sitting on the couch, and in one movement, the gun was at his head.  Snyder heard a muffled noise but didn’t realize what had happened until seconds later, when Freddie slumped sideways, with blood spilling from his head.  As one of Freddie’s friends once said, “It (the apartment) must have been very big, when he (Snyder) couldn’t get across the room in time.

An ambulance was called, and Freddie was taken to the UCLA Medical Center where he underwent surgery for the gunshot wound to his head.

 

 

His family kept a vigil at the hospital, and began to weep when one of the doctors came to them with the announcement, “It’s all in God’s hands.”  Freddie was given last rites.

He died at 1:00 in the afternoon, 33 hours after shooting himself.  He was 22 years old.

 

 

Police did find a note in Freddie’s room.  It said, “I must end it.  There’s no hope left. I’ll be at peace.  No one had anything to do with this.  My decision totally – Freddie Prinze P.S. I’m sorry.  Forgive me.  Dusty’s here.  He’s innocent.  He cared.”

Findadeath.com friend Jeneec sends us the transcript of his note “I wasn’t a true spic, a true Jew, true anything. I was miserable fat schmuck with glasses and asthma.” Verdict of suicide altered to reflect an “accidental shooting due to influence of Quaaludes,” despite suicide note.

Freddie’s funeral was held at the Old North Church, Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills.

 

 

 

 

It was attended by Freddie’s wife, Jack Albertson, Paul Williams (who was a pallbearer!?) , and Tony Orlando.  Tony gave the eulogy.

This is the very weird part.  In 1982, Prinze’s widow and son received nearly $1 million to settle assorted malpractice suits against Freddie’s psychiatrist and internist for over prescribing Quaaludes.  In January of 1983, a jury confirmed what his mother had pursued, that Freddie was acting under the influence of drugs, and that he was playing with the gun, and it accidentally went off (with a suicide note handy).  As a result of the verdict, the family received a life insurance pay out.

 

 

Freddie Prinze Jr is now one of the hottest (amongst other things) new stars.  He claims that his father’s spirit guides him though life.  He often visits his father’s grave, at Forest Lawn.  I was contacted to be on a VH1 show called Totally Obsessed recently.  Guess what my obsession is?  They emailed me here.  So I did about 3 interviews over the phone, HOURS long, one in person on camera.  They liked me, but they refused to mention Findadeath.com, so I said no.  It just pissed me off, because they found me through Find a Death, but they just wanted me to look like a lunatic.  I am a lunatic, but I have Find a Death to back me up.  So, fuck ’em.  The reason I mention this is because during the interview I had at MTV, I waited in the lobby, and Freddie Prinze Jr. sat in a chair next to me for a few minutes.  I so wanted to ask about his dad, but then realized that he wouldn’t have any first hand insight.  Plus, he did a meager Freddy in the Scooby Doo movies, so I maintained.  That is my story.

Some info send by friend of Findadeath.com John Raspanti: In 1977 the apartment complex Freddie was living at was called the Beverly Comstock. I went there once (in 1979) , and the door to his place just happened to be open. I mean, what was I supposed to do?  The place was huge (I think he was paying like 1200 a month. Seemed like a lot then).  I saw where the couch had been. The place was strange, very quiet…

Everyone liked Freddie, according to everything I’ve read, he was a very nice person.

In the month’s leading up to Freddie’s death, he became obsessed with viewing the death of John F. Kennedy.  He enjoyed the part where the bullet blew off part of JFK’s head. He also liked faking out his friends by firing a shot outside and then collapsing to the floor. His idol was Lenny Bruce who died of a drug overdose in 1966. Freddie dated Lenny’s daughter Kitty in 1975.  Freddie had attempted suicide before in 1971, by YEP, gulping some sleeping pills. He was 17.  Thanks, John!

Check out this site about Freddie, HERE. Thanks to Find a Death friend Jerri for the link.

 

View his grave.

 

 

9 thoughts on “Freddie Prinze

  • January 23, 2021 at 4:35 am
    Permalink

    Another sad one – so young! Hollywood’s a tough town for those unprepared or without a strong support staff or family. Remember his first appearance on Johnny Carson’s “The Toningh Show”. First time comedians usually took a bow after their performance but didn’t join the guests, unless asked. Carson waived him over to join an equally enthusiastic Sammy Davis Jr. sitting on the couch. Saw Freddy knew he’d “made it” sitting down. Very much a Hollywood throne & he’d just been crowned. “Chico and The Man” soon followed. Really talented guy with too much too soon.

    https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia1.popsugar-assets.com%2Ffiles%2Fthumbor%2F2Kpm5fdg9Wz5seqlMTi5mT9AVKI%2Ffit-in%2F2048xorig%2Ffilters%3Aformat_auto-!!-%3Astrip_icc-!!-%2F2017%2F06%2F05%2F112%2Fn%2F40891428%2Fe11332f151b404e6_3._P2DFRPR_EC002_H%2Fi%2FFreddie-Prinze.JPG&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.popsugar.com%2Flatina%2Fphoto-gallery%2F43608318%2Fimage%2F43608329%2FFreddie-Prinze&tbnid=GczR0rUzU88v4M&vet=12ahUKEwj6-L6k7bHuAhUTqlsKHZ2_C6QQMygMegUIARDyAQ..i&docid=78F60eeJu93IRM&w=2028&h=2302&q=freddy%20prince&client=ucweb-lite-b-bookmark&ved=2ahUKEwj6-L6k7bHuAhUTqlsKHZ2_C6QQMygMegUIARDyAQ

  • March 20, 2020 at 10:53 pm
    Permalink

    There was People that you could of Called. You never got to know your Son Freddie Jr or your Daughter in law or even your 1st. Grandchild. You had a gift I just sorry that. You Wasted it

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.