Welcome To Findadeath!
Freddie Prinze
Freddie was at the very height of his fame. So much so, he was Tony Orlando's best friend.
He was separated from his wife of 15 months, and living in a hotel located at 10300 Wilshire Boulevard.
In October of 2004,
Findadeath.com friends Mary Ann and Joe cracked it. We made arrangements
that I was to show her and her husband around. On her list of things to
see, was Freddie's suicide site. Unbeknownst to her, they were staying in
that very hotel, but in a different room.. I love LA.
Mary Ann sends us this: "Here are the pictures from the hotel we took. Hope you can use some of them. I tried to guess what you would take if you were there. The employees were very "turned off", Joe said, when he asked to go in the room. They said other people have asked and they don't do that. Oh well.
"I got the entrance to where he would park, and a
parking spot in the garage,
this picture of his door and
front window and the view from his door
and over the rail in front of his room."
Thank you Mary Ann. I tried responding to your emails, but they keep
getting returned. It was a pleasure meeting you and Joe. Hope to see
you again.
By January of 1977, Freddie had been despondent for several weeks over
work and marital problems. He was
in the process of a divorce, involving their 10 month old son Freddie Prinze Jr,
and Freddie mentioned several times that "I should end it all."
During the few days prior to his suicide, he had in his possession a
38-calibre revolver. He kept toying
with it, loading and unloading it.
Freddie had a history of drug problems, taking Quaaludes and cocaine on
a regular basis. I don't know if
it's true, but supposedly he took so much coke, he burned a hole in his nose,
and he resorted to taking it anally.
The night before he died, he had received a restraining order from his
wife. This didn't set well with
him. He went on a downward spiral from there.
Early the next morning, he started making a series of goodbye phone
calls. One was to Marvin
"Dusty" Snyder, Freddie's business manager. Dusty became concerned, and went to Freddie's hotel room.
When Dusty arrived, he tried to get Freddie to calm down, and told him
that he had much to live for. Freddie
continued to make the emotional phone calls with Dusty in the room.
He phoned his mother and said, "Mom, I love you very much, but I
can't go on. I need to find
peace." Dusty is sitting there the whole time.
At 3:30am, Freddie called his estranged wife, and supposedly said,
"I love you, Kathy. I love the baby, but I need to find peace.
I can't go on." He hung up the phone.
Dusty made a dive for the gun, but Freddie pulled away.
Dusty told him to "think about your mother, and your son."
Freddie was sitting on the couch, and in one movement, the gun was at his
head. Snyder heard a muffled noise
but didn't realize what had happened until seconds later, when Freddie slumped
sideways, with blood spilling from his head.
As one of Freddie's friends once said, "It (the apartment) must have
been very big, when he (Snyder) couldn't get across the room in time.
An ambulance was called, and Freddie was taken to the UCLA
Medical Center where he underwent surgery for the gunshot wound to
his head. His family kept a vigil
at the hospital, and began to weep when one of the doctors came to them with the
announcement, "It's all in God's hands."
Freddie was given last rites.
He died at 1:00 in the afternoon, 33 hours after shooting himself.
He was 22 years old.
Police did find a note in Freddie's room. It said, "I must end it.
There's no hope left. I'll
be at peace. No one had anything to
do with this. My decision totally -
Freddie Prinze P.S. I'm sorry. Forgive
me. Dusty's here. He's innocent. He
cared."
Findadeath.com friend Jeneec sends us the transcript of his note "I wasn't a true spic, a true Jew, true anything. I was miserable fat schmuck with glasses and asthma." Verdict of suicide altered to reflect an "accidental shooting due to influence of Quaaludes," despite suicide note.
Freddie's funeral was held at the Old
North Church, Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills. It was attended by Freddie's wife, Jack Albertson, Paul
Williams (who was a pallbearer!?) , and Tony Orlando.
Tony gave the eulogy.
This is the very weird part. In
1982, Prinze's widow and son received nearly $1 million to settle assorted
malpractice suits against Freddie's psychiatrist and internist for over
prescribing Quaaludes. In January
of 1983, a jury confirmed what his mother had pursued, that Freddie was acting
under the influence of drugs, and that he was playing with the gun, and it
accidentally went off (with a suicide note handy). As a result
of the verdict, the family received a life insurance pay out.
Freddie
Prinze Jr is now one of the hottest (amongst other things) new stars. He claims that his father's spirit guides him though life.
He often visits his father's grave, at Forest Lawn.
Some info send by friend of Findadeath.com John
Raspanti: In 1977 the apartment complex Freddie was living at was called the Beverly
Comstock. I went there once (in 1979) , and the door to his place just happened
to be open. I mean, what was I supposed to do? The place was huge (I think he was paying like 1200 a
month. Seemed like a lot then). I saw where the couch had been. The place was strange, very
quiet...
Everyone liked Freddie, according to everything I've read, he was a very nice person.
In the month's leading up to Freddie's death, he became obsessed with viewing the death of John
F. Kennedy. He enjoyed the part where the bullet blew off part of JFK's head. He also liked faking out his friends by firing a shot
outside and then collapsing to the floor. His idol was Lenny Bruce who died of a drug overdose in 1966. Freddie dated Lenny's daughter Kitty in 1975. Freddie had attempted suicide before in 1971, by YEP, gulping some sleeping
pills. He was 17. Thanks, John!
Check
out this site about Freddie, HERE.
Thanks to Findadeath friend Jerri for the link.
