Freddie Prinze, Jr.

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Freddie Prinze, Jr.

Prinze in April 2007
Born Freddie James Prinze, Jr.
March 8, 1976 (1976-03-08) (age 33)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation Actor
Years active 1995 – present
Spouse(s) Sarah Michelle Gellar (2002-present)

Freddie James Prinze, Jr. (born March 8, 1976) is an American actor. He rose to fame during the late 1990s and early 2000s, after starring in several Hollywood films aimed at teenage audiences, I Know What You Did Last Summer and its sequel, as well as She's All That, and Scooby-Doo. Prinze has also made appearances in television sitcoms, including Friends. He is a former member of World Wrestling Entertainment's creative team as the Smackdown brand writer.

Contents

Early life

Prinze was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Kathy Elaine Cochran (née Barber), a real estate agent, and Freddie Prinze, an actor and comedian[1]of Puerto Rican[2] and Hungarian Jewish[3][4] descent, who killed himself in 1977 after Kathy had left him and had filed a restraining order against him. In a 1999 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Prinze stated that his mother is of English, Irish and Native American ancestry (adding that "My grandma and grandpa, who raised me for the first few years, were straight-up English and Irish");[5] in a 2007 interview, however, Prinze, Jr. described his mother as coming from an Italian American family.[6] Prinze, Jr. was raised Roman Catholic[7] and embraces his Puerto Rican heritage.[8][6] He grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico and spent summers in Puerto Rico,[6] where he learned about Spanish and Puerto Rican culture from his paternal grandmother.[9] He speaks fluent Spanish and Italian.[6] He showed an interest in acting from an early age and attended La Cueva High School in Albuquerque. After graduating in 1994, Prinze moved to Los Angeles to audition for television roles .[10]

Career

Prinze was cast in a guest role on the ABC TV series Family Matters in 1995. He then appeared on a few special 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 experienced success with appearances 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 well-known among teenage audiences and his first leading role, the romantic comedy She's All That (1999), was very successful at the box office, grossing $63 million[11] 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 generally disliked by critics[12] and had moderate box office success.[13] In 2000, he was named one of People magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People in the World".

In 2002, he played Fred Jones in the live film version of the popular cartoon, Scooby-Doo, and repeated the role in the 2004 sequel, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed. He starred in both Scooby-Doo movies alongside his wife, Sarah Michelle Gellar. He guest starred on the popular NBC show, Friends, as a sensitive male nanny named Sandy. 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. The show lasted one season (fall 2005 - spring 2006) before being canceled in May 2006. He guest starred on the George Lopez Show for a crossover with Freddie. In 2004, the actor 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 Sarah Michelle Gellar, Wallace Shawn, Andy Dick and Sigourney Weaver.

In March 2009, it was announced the Prinze had signed on to star as Bradley, aka Ultimatum in the ABC show No Heroics, a US remake of the British show of the same name.[14][15][16] The show was not picked up, but shortly after Prinze was cast as a series regular for the eighth season of the megahit television show 24, where he will be playing a new CTU operative.

World Wrestling Entertainment (2008-2009)

Prinze is also a known fan of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and was shown 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, view and created an official profile on WWE's "Universe" blog community where he regularly writes his thoughts on the current going-ons 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 contributing to weekly television and pay-per-view program[17] for the SmackDown brand.[18] It was later reported on February 22, 2009 that Freddie Prinze Jr and WWE parted ways.[19]

Personal life

In the mid-1990s, Prinze dated actress Kimberly McCullough for more than three years.[20] He married actress Sarah Michelle Gellar on September 1, 2002, in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, in southwest of México. The couple met several years before, while filming I Know What You Did Last Summer,[21] started dating in 2000 and were engaged in April 2001. Gellar played a small role in She's All That. In 2007, for their fifth year of marriage, Gellar legally changed her name to Sarah Michelle Prinze.[22][23]

He also enjoys tap dancing and collecting comic books. He is an avid soccer fan and supports Arsenal F.C., and is a fan of East Asian cinema.

It was reported by People Magazine on April 9, 2009 that Prinze and Gellar are expecting their first child.

Filmography

Year Film Role Notes
1996 To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday Joey Bost Film debut
1997 The House of Yes Anthony Pascal
I Know What You Did Last Summer Ray Bronson
1996 Hostage High Aaron Sullivan
1998 I Still Know What You Did Last Summer Ray Bronson
1999 She's All That Zach Siler
Wing Commander 1st Lt. Christopher Blair
2000 Down to You Alfred 'Al' Connelly
Boys and Girls Ryan Walker
2001 Head Over Heels Jim Winston
Summer Catch Ryan Dunne
2002 Friends Sandy TV Series; Guest Star
Scooby-Doo Fred Jones
2004 Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed Fred Jones
2005 Freddie Freddie Moreno TV series; main character
2006 Shooting Gallery Jericho
Shark Bait Pi Voice only
2007 Brooklyn Rules Michael
Happily N'Ever After Rick voice only
2008 Delgo Delgo voice only
Jack and Jill vs. the World Jack
2010 24 Davis Cole Series regular

See also

References

  1. ^ Freddie, Jr. Prinze Biography (1976-)
  2. ^ Freddie Prinze Jr . com
  3. ^ Nordheimer, Jon (1977-01-29). "Freddie Prinze". The New York Times. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0F16F83E5D167493CBAB178AD85F438785F9. Retrieved on 2008-04-10. 
  4. ^ Maeder, Jay (1999-06-09). "FREDDIE PRINZE EVERYTHING IN THE WORLD". New York Daily News. http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/1999/06/09/1999-06-09_freddie_prinze_everything_in.html. Retrieved on 2008-04-10. 
  5. ^ Munoz, Lorenza (1999-01-28). "MOVIES; Growing Into His Own Man". The Los Angeles Times. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/38549818.html?dids=38549818:38549818&FMT=FT&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jan+28%2C+1999&author=LORENZA+MUNOZ&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=MOVIES%3B+Growing+Into+His+Own+Man. Retrieved on 2008-04-10. 
  6. ^ a b c d Jacobs, Jay S. (2007-05-12). "Freddie Prinze, Jr. & Mena Suvari". PopEntertainment.com. http://www.popentertainment.com/prinzesuvari.htm. Retrieved on 2007-10-12. 
  7. ^ http://jam.canoe.ca/Television/2005/10/05/pf-1248526.html
  8. ^ Hispanic Magazine.com - September 2005 - Cover Story
  9. ^ Zap2it - TV news - 'Freddie' Prinze Savors Tough Demands
  10. ^ Freddie Prinze, Jr. is Freddie Moreno on Freddie
  11. ^ She's All That (1999) - Box office / business
  12. ^ rottentomatoes.com
  13. ^ Freddie Prinze, Jr. Movie Box Office Results
  14. ^ http://www.shockya.com/news/2009/03/20/freddie-prinze-jr-joins-the-cast-of-no-heroics/
  15. ^ http://www.filmjunk.com/2009/03/20/freddie-prinze-jr-to-star-in-no-heroics-us-remake/
  16. ^ http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/ustv/a150064/freddie-prinze-jr-cast-in-no-heroics.html?imdb
  17. ^ World Wrestling Entertainment (2008-07-30). Prinze, Jr. Joins WWE Creative Team. Press release. http://corporate.wwe.com/news/2008/2008_07_30.jsp. Retrieved on 2008-08-02. 
  18. ^ Ross, Jim (2008-07-31). "Give Adamle a Chance… McCain’s Former MMA Views Concern me… Smackdown’s Closing segment Friday night is a classic… SNME…". JR's Blog. JRsBArBQ.com. http://www.jrsbarbq.com/2008/07/31/give-adamle-a-chance-mccains-former-mma-views-concern-me-smackdowns-closing-segment-friday-night-is-a-classic-snme/. Retrieved on 2008-08-02. "Freddie Prinze, Jr. is going to be involved creatively in the Smackdown brand from what I gather." 
  19. ^ http://nodq.com/wwe/237332564.shtml
  20. ^ Freddie Prinze Jr . com
  21. ^ Freddie Prinze Jr. -Articles
  22. ^ Kaplan, Don. FRESH PRINZE: 'BUFFY' TAKES HER HUBBY'S NAME. New York Post. November 16, 2007.
  23. ^ Gellar Takes Prinze's Name. SFGate.com. November 16, 2007.

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