Gone Before His Time: Freddie Prinze Sr.

Anyone born in the 21st century most likely would be referring to the actor Frediie Prinze Jr who starred in the Scooby Doo feature films, and in his own TV series titled simply Freddie, and married his co-star Sarah Michelle Gellar.

But back in the mid1970s, there was a new half hour sitcom titled Chico and the Man, starring the gruff and old veteran actor Jack Albertson who owns an auto repair garage, and he takes on a young but very talented mechanic named Chico Rodriguez (Freddie Prinze). In real life Chico, was an up and coming but very young stand up comedian named Freddie Prinze. Freddie changed his surname from Frederick Karl Pruetzel, to Freddie Prinze which sounded like a Prince.

I never missed one episode of this TV comedy Chico and the Man, and as this documenatry points out, Freddie Prinze was a top comedian appearing on numerous TV shows and magazine covers.

Unlike many other documentaries which tend to praise and adore their main character, we see and hear about both the talent and the demons of Freddie Prinze. It is a biographical story from his early beginnings in comedy to the heights of Hollywood stardom coming mainly from his TV appearances and not from films.

I give the film a favorable 8 out of 10 IMDb rating. It is well worth watching.