Freddie Prinze, Jr.

Freddie James Prinze, Jr. (/ˈprɪnz/; born March 8, 1976) is an American actor. He starred in several films, such as I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997), I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998), She's All That (1999), Summer Catch (2001), Scooby-Doo (2002), Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004) and Delgo (2008). Prinze has also had acting roles in television shows, including Friends (2002), Freddie (2005–06) and 24 (2010). He is the husband of Sarah Michelle Gellar and worked for WWE as a producer and director. He is currently the voice of Kanan Jarrus in the Disney XD series Star Wars Rebels.

Early life

Freddie James Prinze, Jr., was born in Los Angeles, California. He is the only child of actor-comedian Freddie Prinze and real estate agent Kathy Elaine Barber (b. 1950). Prinze, Sr., died by suicide by shooting himself in 1977, a year after Prinze, Jr., was born. Prinze grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He was raised Roman Catholic, embraces his Hispanic heritage (his paternal grandmother was Puerto Rican), and speaks Spanish. After graduating from high school in 1994, Prinze moved to Los Angeles to audition for television roles.

Freddie Prinze

Freddie James Prinze, Sr. (born Frederick Karl Pruetzel; June 22, 1954 – January 29, 1977) was an American actor and stand-up comedian. Prinze was the star of 1970s NBC-TV sitcom Chico and the Man. He was the father of the actor Freddie Prinze, Jr.

Early life

Prinze was born Frederick Karl Pruetzel in New York City, the son of Edward Karl Pruetzel and his wife Maria Graniela Pruetzel. His mother was Puerto Rican and his father was a German immigrant who had arrived in the U.S. as a youth in 1934.

Prinze was raised in a mixed neighborhood in Washington Heights, New York City. When Prinze was a small child, his mother enrolled him in ballet classes to deal with a 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 discovered his gift for comedy while entertaining crowds in the boys' restroom. He dropped out of school in his senior year to become a stand-up comedian.