Freddie Prinze Jr says dad's death taught him important lesson he'd never know if he was alive

Freddie Prinze Jr. is the son of late actor and stand-up comedian who sadly died in 1997. His accidental death left a void in their family and reportedly taught his son to ‘never do stuff which can jeopardize the people you love.’

While the star’s Hollywood career began to take off after deciding to become an actor in high school, Freddie Prinze Jr. has since admitted the effects of his dad’s absence began to surface in his teenage years.

Freddie Prinze Jr’s dad accidentally died in 1977

The actor was born on March 8, 1976, to parents Freddie Prinze and Kathy Prinze.

Freddie Prinze was a comedian and actor who unfortunately died in 1977 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound when Prinze Jr. was less than a year old.

At the time, the coroner concluded Prinze Sr. died by suicide. However, six years later, a jury found “the shooting was accidental because the 22-year-old was under the influence of drugs and may have thought the pistol’s safety was engaged,” as UPI reported.

When he was in high school, Freddie Prinze Jr. decided to become an actor and later starred in movies such as I Know What You Did Last Summer, its sequel I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, She’s All That, Summer Catch, Scooby-Doo, and its sequel Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed.

Despite things soon taking off in Hollywood, not all was as well as it seemed behind the scenes.

Now at the current age of 48 years old, he has previously spoken about how the death of his father impacted his life.

According to Prinze Jr., he did not know his dad Freddie and did not miss him for much of his childhood. When he became a teenager, the effects of his dad’s absence began to surface.

He told the Chicago Tribune: “There was this huge need for a father figure and this search for who my father was.”

Prinze Jr. explained that nobody could talk to him about it “because everybody was kind of like scared and they didn’t know the right words to say, because they didn’t want to tell me that my old man did drugs and shot himself.”

His tragic death plagued on his mind for years

Freddie Prinze’s manager, Ron DiBlasio was willing to talk to Prinze Jr. about his father, reportedly telling him “the great stuff and the bad stuff”. However, the young actor reportedly had some difficulties processing all the information.

The star began to question why he wasn’t “good enough” for his father to stay as it plagued on his mind. While he now understands this wasn’t his fault, he admitted “when you’re 16, 17, there’s no other alternative.”

After many years, Freddie Prinze Jr. eventually saw his dad’s death differently.

He explained: “My old man taught me a lot of stuff in his death that I don’t even know if he would have been able to teach me had he been alive.”

The celebrity added: “And that was to never do stuff that can jeopardize the people you love and hurt them. And I would never want for my girlfriend or my friends to feel the way I felt when I was young, just to have this huge void in your life.”

In 2004, Freddie Prinze was posthumously honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his achievements in television at Hollywood and Highland Shopping and Entertainment Center.

If you are affected by any issues raised in the article or would like someone to speak to, please call the Samaritans for free on 116 123. You can also email them at [email protected] or visit samaritans.org to find your nearest branch in the UK. In the US, please visit Samaritans USA for more information.

You can also contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) or text 741741 to get in touch with the Crisis Text Line. Americans can now call or text 988 to reach out and speak to a counsellor.

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