Freddie Prinze Jr. Biography

Frederick James Prinze Jr. was born on March 8, 1976, in Los Angeles, California, US, as the only child of American stand-up comedian and actor Freddie Prinze and real estate agent Katherine "Kathy" Elaine Barber (née Cochran). In late 1976, his mother filed for divorce. On the night of January 28, 1977, while Freddie Prinze received a visit from his business manager, Marvin "Dusty" Snyder, he put a gun to his head and shot himself. He was rushed to the UCLA Medical Center and an emergency surgery was done before placing him on life support. He was eventually removed from the life support by his family and he died at 1 p.m. on January 29, 1977, when Prinze was not even a year old.

Prinze was raised Catholic in Albuquerque, New Mexico. While in death bed, his grandfather told him that he needed to "fix" what his father had "f'd up." This inspired the 15 years old Prinze to pursue a career in show business. He also got motivated in getting into acting after he saw Neil Patrick Harris encouraging kids at his high school to foray into acting. Resolved to build a career in acting, Prinze relocated to Los Angeles following his high school graduation in 1994, and started giving audition for television roles.

In 1995, Prinze landed up with a guest role in a single episode of the American television sitcom Family Matters. The following year, he made his debut in films with the American romantic drama To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday. Same year he received Mr. Golden Globe award.

One of his early starring roles was that of Anthony Pascal in the 1997 released American black comedy film The House of Yes. That year, he also starred as Aaron Sullivan in the American made-for-television thriller drama film Detention: The Siege at Johnson High.

He garnered attention of teenage audience starring as Ray Bronson in the blockbuster hit October 17, 1997, released American slasher film I Know What You Did Last Summer and in its 1998 sequel I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, which also became a box-office success.

He bagged his first leading role, that of Zachary "Zack" Siler, in the Robert Iscove directed American teen romantic comedy film She's All That. It premiered at the Mann Festival Theater in Westwood, Los Angeles, on January 19, 1999, and had a general release on January 29 that year. It reached the numero uno position at the box office in its first week of release and earned $103 million worldwide emerging as one of the most popular teen films of the late 1990s. Prinze won the Choice Movie: Actor award and Choice Chemistry for Sexiest Love Scene award (shared with Rachael Leigh Cook) during the 1999 Teen Choice Awards for his performance.

In the ensuing years, Prinze played lead roles in several other films including Wing Commander (1999), Boys and Girls (2000), Down to You (2000), Summer Catch (2001), and Head over Heels (2001), which however failed to impress both critics and audience.

His next notable starring role was that of Fred Jones in the 2002 American live-action/computer-animated supernatural adventure comedy mystery film Scooby-Doo. It was the first instalment in the Scooby-Doo live-action film series where Prinze starred along with his future wife Sarah Michelle Gellar besides Linda Cardellini, Matthew Lillard, Rowan Atkinson and Isla Fisher. It released on June 14, 2002, and became a super hit grossing $275 million worldwide. He then went on to reprise the role in the film’s 2004 sequel Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed that also became a commercial success, however considerably lagged behind its predecessor grossing $181 million worldwide. He co-produced and starred in the 2005 film called Shooting Gallery.

Meanwhile, he continued to work in different television productions which included essaying voice role in the 2003 American made-for-TV animated film Kim Possible: A Sitch in Time by Walt Disney Television Animation and featuring as Donny Crane in three episodes of the American legal comedy-drama television series Boston Legal between 2004 and 2006. He received special award from TV Land on behalf of his late father in 2004.

In 2005 and again during 2011–2018, Prinze played various voice roles in the Adult Swim aired American adult animated stop motion sketch comedy television series Robot Chicken. He co-created, starred in and executive produced his own television sitcom Freddie that was inspired by his real life and depicted some actual events from his life. It premiered on ABC on October 12, 2005, and ran for a season till May 31, 2006. In 2006, he played the voice roles of Pisces "Pi" and Rick in the computer-animated films Shark Bait and Happily N'Ever After respectively.

A WWE fan, Prinze attended the March 2008 WrestleMania XXIV pay-per-view and also the Hall of Fame ceremony held before it. He was seen making a cameo in an episode of the online program called The Dirt Sheet hosted by wrestlers John Morrison and The Miz. He also created an official profile on the "Universe" blog community of WWE and regularly penned down his thoughts on the current actions and events occurring in WWE. He was hired for the SmackDown brand of WWE as a member of the creative staff. On February 22, 2009, it was reported that he left WWE. He later appeared on Raw as a special guest host on August 17 that year. On October 1, 2010, he returned to WWE in the role of a director and producer. He featured as the doctor of Vince McMahon in a dream sequence scene on the November 1, 2010, aired Monday Night RAW episode.

In the meanwhile, he voiced the titular character in the 2008 American computer-animated adventure sci-fi romantic comedy fantasy film Delgo. He later voiced the lead role of Lieutenant James Vega in the 2012 animated feature film Mass Effect: Paragon Lost.

He played one of the main roles of Cole Ortiz in the eighth season of the American drama television series 24. It premiered on Fox in the US on January 17, 2010 and aired for 24 episodes till May 24, 2010.

One of his noted voice roles was that of Kanan Jarrus that he played in the American 3D animated sci-fi television series Star Wars Rebels. It premiered on Disney Channel on October 3, 2014, as an hour long TV movie called Spark of Rebellion and then premiered on Disney XD on October 13 that year and ran for four seasons till March 5, 2018. Prinze also lent his voice for a pilot in a Vatta's War: Trading in Danger graphic audio book, and in the BioWare video games Mass Effect 3 (2012–2013) and Dragon Age: Inquisition (2014–2015).

He plays one of the main roles of Travis in the American sitcom streaming TV series Punky Brewster. A revival of the 1984–1988 television sitcom series bearing same title, the series premiered on Peacock on February 25, 2021.

In 1997, while filming I Know What You Did Last Summer, Prinze met his future wife, actress Sarah Michelle Gellar. The two started dating in 2000 and got engaged in April 2001. They married a year later on September 1, 2002 in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Western Mexico in a ceremony that was officiated by American film director, producer, actor, choreographer, dancer and author Adam Shankman

Prinze and Gellar worked in several movies together including Scooby-Doo and its sequel, Happily N'Ever After and Star Wars Rebels. The couple live in Los Angeles with their two children, daughter, Charlotte, born in September 2009, and son, Rocky, born in September 2012.