  freddie james prinze, sr. (born frederick karl pruetzel; june 22, 1954 â january 29, 1977) was an american actor and stand-up comedian. prinze was the star of 1970s sitcom chico and the man. he also 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 hungarian immigrant who had arrived in the u.s. in 1934. prinze was raised in a mixed neighborhood in washington heights, new york city.nordheimer, jon. "freddie prinze wounded in head; police say tv star shot himself; prinze, the tv star, is wounded in head", the new york times, january 29, 1977. accessed june 11, 2008. 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 â 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. ==career== prinze worked at several comedy clubs in new york city, including the improv and catch a rising star, where he introduced himself to audiences as a "hungarican" (part hungarian, part puerto rican). for the sake of his budding comedic career, he changed his surname to "prinze", which he chose because, according to his friend, david brenner, he originally wanted to be known as the king of comedy. but [[alan
1954_births 1977_deaths 20th-century_American_male_actors American_male_television_actors American_people_of_German_descent American_people_of_Puerto_Rican_descent American_stand-up_comedians Burials_at_Forest_Lawn_Memorial_Park_(Glendale) Burials_at_Forest_Lawn_Memorial_Park_(Hollywood_Hills) Comedians_who_committed_suicide Fiorello_H._LaGuardia_High_School_alumni Male_actors_who_committed_suicide People_from_Washington_Heights,_Manhattan