Today's Birthday: 22 June
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Prinze, Freddie
Born Frederick Karl Pruetzel to a Puerto Rican mother (Maria) and a
Hungarian Jewish father (Karl), Freddie grew up in the Washington
Heights section of New York City. As a chubby child, he was often
bullied, but was quite creative and bright in his extracurricular
activities (he was known to have handmade a ham radio, which he used
regularly). Early on, he aspired to become famous, and, after enrolling
at Fiorella LaGuardia High School of the Performing Arts, he obtained a
job at the Improv Club, in New York, where people started to take
notice of his comedic talent (but the long hours he worked at night,
balanced by increasing absences in school, caused him to drop out of
high school to pursue comedy full-time). He changed his name to Freddie
Prinze (to indicate that he was "The Prince of Comedy"). In December
1973, he was invited to perform on "The Tonight Show with Johnny
Carson", which proved to be a breakthrough performance, as he was
invited to chat with Johnny after his performance (only two other
comedians have enjoyed that privilege). Soon afterwards, he won the
role of "Chico Rodriquez" in an NBC-produced TV series called
'"Chico and the Man" (1974)' (he and co-star 'Jack Albertson' forged a great friendship while working
on the show). In 1975, he released a comedy album, titled "Looking
Good", and further boosted his popularity with appearances on various
TV talk shows (such as the "Tony Orlando & Dawn" show). In Las Vegas in
August 1975, he married Katherine Cochran, with whom he had a son,
Freddie Prinze, Jr. (born on March 8, 1976 in Albuquerque, New Mexico).
He loved his role as a father, and his growing popularity. But all the
fame had a downside to it: Freddie developed an addiction to drugs
(namely Quaaludes and cocaine), and was subsequently arrested in Nov.
1976 for DUI. Also, his marriage to Kathy was dissolving, and they
separated. Things were unraveling quickly for him, and he started to
mention thoughts of suicide to many of his close friends and family
(including his best friends: singer 'Tony Orlando' and comedian
David Brenner). In January 1977, following his final public appearance
(at the Inaugural Ball for President Jimmy Carter), 22-year-old Freddie
called his mother, friends and manager and announced that he was
committing suicide. While his manager tried to stop him, he placed a
.32 caliber pistol against his temple and pulled the trigger.
Miraculously, he did not die right away, and was rushed to UCLA Medical
Center with a massive head wound. He was kept on life support until
January 29, 1977, when his family and friends decided to turn off the
life support, to let him rest in peace. On his TV show, his death
resulted in his "Chico" character being replaced by a young child; the
show was canceled soon afterwards. He was buried in Forest Lawn
Memorial Park, and his funeral was attended by many who had known him
(Jack Albertson, his co-star and friend, Tony Orlando, Sammy Davis,
Jr., etc.). He left behind a wife and infant son. On a positive note,
more than two decades after his death, his only son, 'Freddie Prinze, Jr.' , has
carried on the Prinze name and become a star in his own right.
Comedian Freddie Prinze seemed to have everything going for him by
1977. He was the star of a hit network series. Beautiful women were
drawn to his good looks and natural charm. He was the father of a baby
boy named after him. But there were a lot of things Freddie Prinze had
against him: a failed marriage, an expensive drug habit, and a morbid
fascination with guns. Freddie Prinze was born on June 22, 1954 and
grew up in Washington Heights, a poor section of upper Manhattan in New
York City. His father was a Hungarian immigrant, his mother a Puerto
Rician immigrant. At the age of 16, Freddie made his debut at the
Improv during one of that club's regular non-paying showcases. The
Improv was the hip Manhattan nightclub responsible for launching the
careers of such talented comedians as David Brenner and Robin Williams.
Freddie drew on his mixed heritage to make audiences laugh. The
Improv's owner, Budd Friedman, recalled that the teenager was an
instant success. TV appearances with Johnny Carson, as well as Jack
Paar led to Freddie being cast at age 19 in the TV series "Chico and
the Man," co-starring Jack Albertson. Freddie's rise to stardom was so
quick that he often had difficulty accepting it. To ease his
insecurities from the long working hours on his series, Freddie turned
to Quaaludes and other drugs. Freddie's apparent instability to sustain
a healthy romantic relationship also created problems. Women were eager
to date him, but he doubted their sincerity. Freddie was briefly
engaged to Kitty Bruce, daughter of the late comedian Lenny Bruce, one
of Freddie's idols. A short-lived marriage to Kathy Cochran in 1976
produced a son, Freddie, Jr. Freddie Prince, Sr.'s life came to an end
when on January 28, 1977, Freddie phoned several people, including his
personal secretary and his psychiatrist. Martin Snyder, Freddie's
agent, arrived at his apartment shortly after two in the morning in
response to a call a distraught Freddie made to him earlier that
evening. While Snyder was still in the apartment, Freddie phoned his
ex-wife and parents. After hanging up, he pulled a pistol from beneath
a couch cushion and fired into the right temple of his head killing
himself almost instantly. He was 22. Close friends, shocked at the
news, speculated that Freddie had not intended to kill himself but was
merely playing a prank that went wrong. A little later, police
invesigators found a note in Freddie's apartment which said, "I can't
go on," which may have been his suicide note. - Author: Anonymous
Matthew Patay
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Rothhaar, Michael
Michael Rothhaar has been a professional actor since 1975 and a
professional theatre director since 1985. He won the 1997 Los Angeles
Drama Critics Circle Award and the 1997 Drama Logue Award for
Outstanding Lead Performance in ARDÈLE, as well as the 1997 Drama Logue
Award in Direction for MRS. WARREN'S PROFESSION. Both productions were
for Pacific Resident Theatre. As an actor, he appeared on Broadway in
THE FRONT PAGE and THE CORN IS GREEN, in such feature films as THE
NUTTY PROFESSOR and SPACE JAM, Off-Broadway in FRANKENSTEIN and BRAND,
in the San Francisco company of THE FOREIGNER, the Los Angeles company
of SHEAR MADNESS, in the Geffen's production of UNCLE VANYA, and the
American premiere of DOG DAYS, (written and directed by Simon
Gray)...as well as working at The Mark Taper Forum...covering in
EXPECTING ISABEL. He has worked on various television series such as
FAMILY LAW, (recurring as Judge Prentiss), ALLY MC BEAL, ARLISS, NYPD
BLUE, THE X-FILES, MURDER ONE, STAR TREK-THE NEXT GENERATION, MURPHY
BROWN, BUFFY, THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, L.A. LAW, CIVIL WARS, PICKET FENCES,
STEP BY STEP, HUDSON STREET, DR. QUINN, MEDICINE WOMAN, MARRIED ...WITH
CHILDREN, SNOOPS and LOVE AND WAR. His credits also include numerous
appearances in regional theatre, notably: SLEUTH and CHARLEY'S AUNT at
the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, THE CAINE MUTINY COURT-MARTIAL,THE
TEMPEST and THE ANDERSONVILLE TRIAL at Michigan's Meadow Brook Theatre,
TERRA NOVA at the Washington Stage Guild in Washington, D.C., CANDIDA
and BEDROOM FARCE at Maryland's Olney Theatre, and the Los Angeles
Drama Critics Circle Award-winning production of THE VISIT at the
Pacific Resident Theatre. In the course of his acting career, Michael
has worked with such notable and talented individuals as Tony
Award-winning directors Jerry Zaks and Vivian Matalon, acclaimed
director Michael Langham, the distinguished English playwright Simon
Gray, as well as such accomplished performers as John Lithgow, Richard
Thomas, Imogene Coca, Wallace Shawn, René Auberjonois, Dennis Franz,
Kathleen Quinlan, Eddie Murphy, Robert Foxworth, Dixie Carter, Peter
Donat, Ray Walston, Peter Gallagher, Brent Spiner, Cecily Tyson, Orson
Bean, Alley Mills, Tony Danza, Mariel Hemingway, Alan King, John Astin,
Louie Anderson and Michael Jordan,. Michael served as the Artistic
Director of Pennsylvania's Allenberry Playhouse from 1987 to 1992. For
Allenberry, he has directed 40 productions, notably: LETTICE AND
LOVAGE, CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF, AGNES OF GOD, THE FOREIGNER, BLITHE
SPIRIT, DRIVING MISS DAISY, THE MIRACLE WORKER, STEEL MAGNOLIAS,
BROADWAY BOUND, THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK, LEND ME A TENOR, CABARET, GUYS
AND DOLLS and MY FAIR LADY. He has directed OTHERWISE ENGAGED, CANDIDA,
MRS. WARREN'S PROFESSION, WAITING FOR GODOT, THE PRIVATE EAR and
MACBETH ....ACCORDING TO THE FIFTH GRADE for Pacific Resident Theatre.
In Washington, D.C., he directed MRS. WARREN'S PROFESSION and THE
MILLIONAIRESS at the Washington Stage Guild. In 1994, he directed
SLEUTH, which toured southern California . Michael is the father of
Will Rothhaar, an accomplished actor in his own right, and the
step-father of Charles F. Linehan, recently engaged to be an Assistant
D.A. in Manhattan. - Author: Michael Rothhaar
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Campbell, Bruce (I)
"Uncle Sam's favorite son" as the lyrics to the theme of "Jack of All
Trades" go, was born June 22, 1958 (the youngest of 3 brothers) in
Royal Oak, Michigan. As a child, Bruce watched "Lost in Space" on TV,
and ran around dressed as Zorro. He got the acting bug at age 8; his
dad was performing in local community theater. At 14, Bruce got to play
the young prince in "The King and I" and even got to sing. He went on
to appear in several Community Theater productions, including "South
Pacific." However, he was also interested in directing, and shot
super-8 flicks with a neighborhood pal. Perhaps through fate, he met
future director Sam Raimi in a high school drama class in 1975. Soon,
along with Sam, and now a bunch of other high school pals, Bruce filmed
about 50 super-8 movies. During the summer of 1976, he was an
apprentice in northern Michigan at Traverse City's Cherry County
Playhouse, a summer-stock company. Bruce worked 18-hour days putting up
sets, being assistant stage manager, doing errands, etc. No money, but
it was a learning experience (it was show biz). He attended Western
Michigan University and took theater courses. Bruce became a production
assistant for a company that made commercials in Detroit. In the early
part of 1979, with buddy Sam Raimi, he decided to become a pro
filmmaker. Armed with a super-8 horror film "Within the Woods" which
they showed potential investors, they raised $350,000 to make "Evil
Dead," which Bruce co-produced and starred in as Ash. Four years later,
the completed film became the best-selling video of 1983 in England,
and New Line Cinema got it a US release. Around this time, he married
his first wife, and they had 2 swell kids. They raised 10 times as much
cash for the sequel "Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn" again co-produced by
Bruce and starring him as Ash. He moved to L.A. In 1990, while filming
"Mindwarp" he met his future wife (costume designer Ida Gearon) on the
set. In 1992, he rejoined Sam, and Bruce co-produced and starred as Ash
in the 3rd of the Evil Dead trilogy, "Army of Darkness" for Universal
Studios. On TV, Bruce directed many episodes of "Hercules: The
Legendary Journeys." Bruce also acted, as the recurring character
Autolycus, the King of Thieves; he portrayed this villain with zest in
both "Hercules" and "Xena." Bruce's latest venture is starring as the
title rogue of "Jack of All Trades." Everybody loves Jack. And
everybody's heard of him -- "There ain't a French or pirate rogue who
don't know Jack!" - Author: kdhaisch@aol.com
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