Freddie Prinze, Jr.

Frederick James Prinze Jr. (born March 8, 1976) is an American actor, television & film producer and screenwriter. He has starred in films such as ''I Know What You Did Last Summer'' (1997) and its sequel '' I Still Know What You Did Last Summer'' (1998), ''She's All That'' (1999), ''Summer Catch'' (2001), ''Scooby-Doo'' (2002), and its sequel '' Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed'' (2004). Prinze has also had recurring and starring roles in television shows, including '' Friends'' (2002), '' Boston Legal'' (2004), '' Freddie'' (2005–06) and '' 24'' (2010), and voiced Kanan Jarrus in the Disney XD series ''Star Wars Rebels''. He is the only child of comedian and actor Freddie Prinze.

Early life

Frederick James Prinze Jr. was born March 8, 1976 in Los Angeles, California, the only child of Katherine Elaine Prinze (''née'' Cochran) and actor and stand-up comedian Freddie Prinze. On January 29, 1977, Freddie Prinze died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, after which Prinze Jr. relocated with his mother to Albuquerque, New Mexico. He was raised Catholic, embraces his partial Latin ancestry (as his paternal grandmother was Puerto Rican, from Boquerón), and is fluent in Spanish. His mother is of Italian descent. By the age of 15, he was inspired to get into show business after his dying grandfather told him he needed to "fix" what his father had "f'd up." He soon thereafter saw Neil Patrick Harris at his high school getting kids excited about getting into acting, and he decided to do that. After graduating from high school in 1994, Prinze moved to Los Angeles to audition for television roles.

Career

Television and film

Prinze was cast in a guest role on the ABC TV series ''Family Matters'' in 1995. He then appeared in a few programs and made-for-TV movies, before making his motion picture debut in ''To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday'' in 1996. In subsequent years, Prinze appeared in youth-oriented movies ''I Know What You Did Last Summer'' (1997) and its sequel '' I Still Know What You Did Last Summer'' (1998), made him known to teenage audiences. His first leading role, the romantic comedy ''She's All That'' (1999), grossed $63 million in the United States.

Subsequently, he had leading roles in ''Wing Commander'' (1999), ''Down to You'' (2000), '' Boys and Girls'' (2000), '' Head over Heels'' (2001), and ''Summer Catch'' (2001), most of which were disliked by critics and had moderate box office success.

He played Fred Jones in the 2002 live-action film version of the popular cartoon ''Scooby-Doo'', and reprised the role in the 2004 sequel, '' Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed'', both alongside his wife Sarah Michelle Gellar and along with Matthew Lillard and Linda Cardellini. He guest starred on the popular NBC show '' Friends'' as a sensitive male nanny named Sandy on the series' 200th episode. He also appeared as Donny Crane, a character believed to be Denny Crane's son in the ABC legal drama-comedy '' Boston Legal''. Prinze starred in his own television sitcom, titled '' Freddie''. The sitcom is said to depict some actual events from his life, and was cancelled after one season in May 2006. He guest starred on ''George Lopez'' for a crossover with ''Freddie''. In 2004, Prinze accepted a special award from TV Land on behalf of his late father. He thanked his father's former co-star Della Reese for her continued advice and support. In 2006, he lent his voice to the character of Pi in the computer-animated film '' Shark Bait''. Also in 2007, he lent his voice to the character of Rick in ''Happily N'Ever After'' along with his wife Gellar, Wallace Shawn, Andy Dick, George Carlin, and Sigourney Weaver. In 2008, he auditioned for Jigsaw in '' Punisher: War Zone'', but was not given the part at the decision of Lionsgate Studios. He later was the voice of the titular character in the animated movie ''Delgo''. In 2010, Prinze guest starred on '' Psych'' as Dennis, a grade school friend of Shawn Spencer and Burton Guster. In March 2019, Prinze was cast as Nancy Drew's father, Carson Drew, in The CW mystery pilot ''Nancy Drew'', but was later replaced by Scott Wolf. He also voiced the future version of Tim and Jim Possible in the '' Kim Possible'' movie '' Kim Possible: A Sitch in Time''.

In March 2009, it was announced that Prinze had signed on to star as Bradley, aka Ultimatum, in the ABC show ''No Heroics'', a U.S. remake of the British show of the same name. The show was not picked up, but Prinze was cast as a series regular for the eighth season of the television show '' 24'', where he played Cole Ortiz, a new CTU operative.

In 2021, Prinze joined the reboot of ''Punky Brewster'' on Peacock, playing the title character's ex-husband.

Other work

He voiced a pilot in a '' Vatta's War: Trading in Danger'' graphic audio book. Prinze voiced different characters in BioWare video games: Lieutenant James Vega in ''Mass Effect 3'' and The Iron Bull in '' Dragon Age: Inquisition''. He returned to the role of James Vega again for the animated feature film '' Mass Effect: Paragon Lost'', dubbed by FUNimation. From 2014 until 2018, he was the voice of Kanan Jarrus, one of the last surviving Jedi Knights, on the Disney XD series ''Star Wars Rebels''. He reprised the role for the opening scene of the pilot episode of the Disney+ series ''The Bad Batch'' in May 2021.

Professional wrestling

Work with WWE (2008–2009, 2010–2012)

Prinze is a WWE fan and was seen on television in attendance at the March 2008 WrestleMania XXIV pay-per-view and its preceding Hall of Fame ceremony. He also made a cameo on an episode of ''The Dirt Sheet'', an online program hosted by wrestlers John Morrison and The Miz, and had created an official profile on WWE's "Universe" blog community where he would regularly write his thoughts about the current goings-on in the world of the WWE. His relationship with the company was furthered when he was hired as a member of the creative staff to contribute to weekly television and pay-per-view programming for the SmackDown brand. It was reported on February 22, 2009 that Prinze and WWE had parted ways. In January 2021, Prinze explained that he had actually chosen to leave the company at that time.

On August 17, Prinze appeared on '' Raw'' as a special guest host, where he was assaulted by then WWE Champion Randy Orton after refusing to bail Orton out of his tag team match with John Cena, who was due to challenge him in the upcoming SummerSlam. Prinze later returned to the program and got his payback during Orton's match with Cena against Big Show and Chris Jericho, by setting up a lumberjack match involving Mark Henry, Primo, Evan Bourne, Kofi Kingston, MVP, and Jamie Noble.

Prinze returned to WWE on October 1, 2010 in a role as a producer and director. On the November 1, 2010 episode of ''Monday Night Raw'', Prinze made an on-screen appearance as Vince McMahon's doctor, a dream sequence scene that coincided with Linda McMahon's attempt to win a seat in the Senate for the state of Connecticut. Prinze left WWE for a second time due to a comment made by Stone Cold Steve Austin to a contestant while taping an episode of the fifth season of ''WWE Tough Enough''.

Podcast (2021–Present)

In November 2021, Prinze started his own podcast ''Wrestling With Freddie''.

Personal life

Prinze married actress Sarah Michelle Gellar on September 1, 2002, in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico. The couple met several years before, while filming ''I Know What You Did Last Summer'' (1997), started dating in 2000 and were engaged in April 2001. They also co-starred in ''Scooby-Doo'' (2002), ''Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed'' (2004), ''Happily N'Ever After'' (2006), and ''Star Wars Rebels'' (2014–2018). Gellar also made a non-speaking cameo in Prinze's film ''She's All That''. They have two children together: a daughter born September 2009, and a son born September 2012,Hochman, David (September 9, 2013). "Still Crazy: Years after Mork and Buffy, Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar hope to rope us in with a new sitcom". ''TV Guide''. pp.16 – 19. and live in Los Angeles.

Prinze is an avid practitioner of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and has reached the rank of purple belt in the sport, having been promoted under Jean Jacques Machado.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Awards and nominations

See also

* List of Puerto Ricans

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Prinze, Freddie Jr.
1976 births
Living people
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
21st-century American male writers
American film producers
American male film actors
American male screenwriters
American male television actors
American male television writers
American male video game actors
American male voice actors
American people of German descent
American people of Italian descent
American people of Puerto Rican descent
American podcasters
American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu
American television writers
Film producers from California
Hispanic and Latino American male actors
Hispanic and Latino American writers
La Cueva High School alumni
Male actors from Albuquerque, New Mexico
Male actors from California
Male actors from Los Angeles
Male actors from New Mexico
People from Albuquerque, New Mexico
People from Los Angeles
Professional wrestling writers
Screenwriters from California
Screenwriters from New Mexico
Television producers from California
Writers from Albuquerque, New Mexico
Writers from Los Angeles