Freddie Prinze

Freddie Prinze (June 22, 1954 – January 29, 1977) was an American actor and stand-up comedian. In his short career, he was best known as the star of Chico and the Man. He was the father of actor Freddie Prinze, Jr. Prinze was born Frederick Karl Pruetzel at St. Clair's Hospital in New York City, the son of Maria and Karl Pruetzel. His mother was Puerto Rican, and his father, a Hungarian of Lutheran and Jew background, immigrated to the U.S. from Germany in 1934. Prinze was raised in a Hispanic section in Washington Heights, New York City. He began his education at a private Lutheran school, in a religious compromise by his parents (though his mother took him to Catholic mass on Sundays). When Prinze was a small child, his mother enrolled him in ballet classes to deal with his weight problem. Without telling his parents, Prinze successfully auditioned for the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts, where he was introduced to drama and continued ballet and where he... full article at wikipedia