FREDDIE PRINZE....THE SWEET LAUGHTERMAN

REMEMBRANCES

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BIOGRAPHICAL ARTICLE
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FREDDIE'S SON - FREDDIE PRINZE JR.
2001 LOS ANGELES TIMES PARADE MAGAZINE ARTICLE ON FREDDIE PRINZE JR.
REMEMBRANCES
ADMIRER COMMENT ARCHIVE
TRIBUTES - POETRY FOR FREDDIE
CREATIVE ADMIRER CONTRIBUTIONS
CREATIVE ADMIRER - 2
1975 GOOD HOUSEKEEPING ARTICLE
1976 TV SHOWPEOPLE ARTICLE
70'S MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES
VISITING FREDDIE
BOOK/ CD INFO
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This page is for anyone who
 had a personal encounter
with Freddie
while he was still with us.

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During the year of 1975 I had the awesome gift of having several "encounters" with Freddie backstage at NBC.  I was only 15 and had a friend who's mother was an employee on an NBC soap who would leave my name along with my best friend's on the list to get in.  We were always respectful of our incredible opportunity to be backstage and did our best to stay out of everyone's way.

I was madly in love (as much as a 15 year old could be) with Freddie.  The first time we went to Freddie's dressing room was about an hour and a half after the show had been taped.  My friend and I stood outside his dressing room , verbally trying to decide who would try to knock on his door to see if he was there.  There was a lot of "You do it"... "No, you do it"... "What do I say?"..."What if he gets mad?" going on outside the door. 
 
 Well, we didn't realize that Freddie was listening to our discussion and when we finally got the courage to knock on the door a very gruff sounding voice loudly asked "Who is it?".  We VERY meekly replied "Uh, Freddie...we just were wondering if we could say hi"?  Again, in a very gruff voice, he replied "Hold on".   Only a few seconds passed and we were quite worried when the door flew open quite fast and Freddie stood there with a stern look on his face...then he smiled his beautiful smile, kinda chuckled and said "Had you girls scared, didn't I ?".  (In a feminine voice he mocked our conversation)"What if he gets mad?".  We asked if he had heard the whole thing and he nodded smiling and replied "Yeeeeeesssss"(drawn out).
 
 He was closing his door as we talked and asked our names.  When he heard my friend's first name he said "Ahhh, you is my people". He then put his arms around both of our shoulders and said "C'mon walk with me to my car".  
 
Truly, after Freddie put his arm on my shoulder I floated...I know he asked us questions...nothing important...where do you go to school, etc, asked how we got backstage, would we be back..  Specifics on that conversation I couldn't give you because I ,at 15, was in a dreamlike state after that.
 
 We walked out of NBC to his parking space.  He said "Good night girls, you'll be back right?"  We replied "Yes".  He drove away with a beautiful smile on his face to our "Bye, Freddie's" and "thank you's".  We had about 5 more encounter's with Freddie after the first one...they were more relaxed and fun each time.  He was a kind, sweet, gentleman who took time out to make two fifteen year old, very naive girls always feel special whenever we encountered him.  I will remember watching his kindness with other's and experiencing his sweetness with myself and my friend always.
 
 He has never left my heart....

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I'd like to share our second encounter with Freddie at NBC studio's in 1975.
 
We went down the hallway to Freddie's dressing room and stood outside his door to see if we could hear anything.  We heard Freddie's voice.  We weren't sure if he was talking with someone, or on the telephone.  We decided to just wait down the hall instead of disturbing him.
 
There was only one way to get to the parking lot where he was parked and he would have to come by us.  At the end of the hallway was a large (extremely large) central area where they kept mainly game show sets and various props that were used often.

Well...being 15, the temptation was a little too much and we began to roam the game show props and started playing "pretend game show contestants" to pass the time.

We didn't see Freddie when he came out of the hallway because we were caught up in our "game" and our laughter.  All of a sudden we hear someone shouting "Security! Guard, guard!".  Our eyes must have been a foot wide when we frightenedly turned around to see Freddie standing between the end of the hall and the area where we were.  Again he shouted, "Guard!"
 
We ran to where he was and started to beg "Please, Freddie, we were just playing....we didn't break anything.... PLEASE don't kick us out.....don't you remember us.....we were just waiting for you..... we didn't want to disturb you........ Pleeeeeeaaaaasssssseeeeeee!".  We were begging a mile a minute and the expressions on Freddie's face were constantly changing from slightly amused to pretend stern when the guard showed up.  He asked , "Mr. Prinze, what's the problem?" By this time our puppy dog eyes were pleading , probably right through Freddie as we awaited what we thought was an inevitable fate. 
 
Freddie turned to the guard and said "I want to tell you something about these girls."  My friend touched Freddie's arm and I very quietly said "Freddie, please"(We were right next to him at this point).  Freddie gave us one of those stern looks again, turned to the security guard and said "These two girls...(we were ready for the worst)...whenever I'm working...." then he looked at us again, still sternly at first then switched on his beautiful smile and his twinkling eyes and finished by saying, "Make sure they are put on the list and let in." The guard said, "I will do that, Freddie" and walked away.
 
 We both started with our "Thank you, Freddie's" and asked him if we could give him a hug and he said, "Well, I think I deserve one", and we both gave him a quick hug.  He said "Walk with me", and we started for the parking lot.  I asked him, "Freddie, why did you do that?". He said ,  "What, scare you?" and he laughed.  I replied "Nooooo, tell the guard to always let us in if you are here."  He said, "You respect me......you waited this time till I came out and didn't knock on the door... I like that".  I replied , "That is so nice of you".  He replied in his "Chico"accent "I am a NICE boy".  We laughed and unfortunately we were exiting to the parking lot. 
 
He asked if we had seen the taping and we told him we hadn't because we had been at the Welcome Back Kotter set.  He started teasing us by saying "Oooohhh, now I get it...you're not really here to see me...you're just here for the Kotter guys...I see...use Freddie to get put on the list all the time." "Yeah...OK...Oh....Freddie, we'll be over to see you when we're done with the Kotter guys...I see".  He went on for a few minutes and I got tears in my eyes because I thought he really believed what he was saying.(Hey, I was 15)  I said " Freddie, we love you...we wouldn't use you".  He saw the tears in my eyes and gave me a hug and said "I was only teasing you, I forget how young you are". He asked, "Better now....see you next time....no crying....we have fun."  We replied "Be careful , Freddie"(In reference to driving home)..... to which he replied "I am always careful...bye, girls".
 
 We watched him drive away and went back into the building to (of course) pass the guard Freddie had spoken to on our way out.  We made a point of telling him goodnight and reminded him of what Freddie said.  He said, "You know, it's because you don't bother anyone" to which we replied "We try". 
 
We relived our second encounter with Freddie an endless amount of times going over every detail of his expressions, his eyes, his smile, his concern when he saw that I was about to cry.  We didn't ever want to forget any of it....and I haven't.  We always had our last encounter to fill our conversations, minds and hearts...until the next one.  Of course we were never sure if there would be a next one, but, we knew it wouldn't be for lack of trying on our part. 
 
I hope whoever reads this will see the Freddie we got to see....the kind Freddie...the fun Freddie.  Freddie was a big star at this time and was not gaining anything by being kind to us.  There was no one to impress, no publicity...just us. 
 
Thank You Freddie...again.

merrygoround

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The third time we were with Freddie was the only time we ever saw anyone with him. He was always alone. I didn't think it strange at the time (What can I say, I was 15), later I found it odd and sad.
 
We were standing in the hallway of Freddie's dressing room, about halfway down...waiting. All of a sudden Freddie's door opened and David Brenner walked out.  He gave us a little bit of a surprised look and asked if we were waiting for Freddie.  We replied "Yes" and he said that he didn't think Freddie would be out for awhile.  Then Freddie opened the door back up, peeked his head out and said, "It's OK" to David.  David replied "Sure?" and Freddie nodded.  David walked down the hallway and Freddie (head still peeking out) said "I'm going to be awhile, girls".  He seemed a little sad/serious and I replied "Do you want us to go?".  He replied "No, you can stay if you want...just going to be awhile."  We said 'O.K" and Freddie shut his door.

About 45 minutes passed by when Freddie came out (not his usual relaxed self), turned to close his door, said "Hold on" and went back into his dressing room.  He came back out with his forgotten script and said "O.K., who wants to carry my jacket?"  I, in lightening speed, replied "I will!". 
 
When we reached the end of the hallway a gentleman with two girls , one probably around 17 and one around 11 or 12 were walking our way when all of a sudden one of the girls started kind of half screeching "Oh my God, It's Chico".  The group stopped in front of the three of us and the girls proceeded to start their "Hi, Chico's" while the man (who must have been an employee) said "Freddie, I'd like to introduce you to my nieces". 
 
If I sound as if I have a little bit of disdain in this section you're wrong...I have a lot of disdain.  You see, as soon as the girl's called Freddie, Chico, instead of by his name his eyes and demeanor changed.  We hadn't seen that before.  He already wasn't in his normal mood and then these girls couldn't even acknowledge him for who he was.  I have to say at that moment we "hated" them for what we perceived as hurting Freddie. 
 
Yet, he was still Freddie, answering their questions, signed autographs, while the girls kept calling him "Chico".  At one point Freddie quietly said "Freddie" after one of the girls had called him Chico.
 
 We had moved away from the"attack" and were standing behind the girls facing Freddie. One of the girls turned around and said "Will you please take a picture of all of us with CHICO!"  I, (in a rather bad tone) replied "Sure, I'll take a picture of you with FREDDIE" with quite an emphasis on the Freddie.  So much so that she giggled and said "Yeah, I know, Freddie".  Freddie FINALLY let a smirk go and gave us a pretend stern look, to which we simply shrugged our shoulders.  We were ready to tear these girls apart limb by limb at that point. 
 
After the picture, Freddie started to pull away from the group and we "fell in" as he walked past us.  We walked quite a few feet in silence(also different) and then Freddie said with a bit of amusement in his voice, "I thought I was going to have to pull you off of them at any minute."  Well, that's all he had to do...he gave us the opening.  My friend said "I can't believe how rude they were calling you Chico" to which Freddie replied "People do it all the time".  I replied "It bothers you".  He thought for a moment, looked over as we were walking(made a point of looking me in the eye and said "Yes...it does".  He said " That's OK, some people like the real me, huh?" and gave my friend a side shoulder hug with his free arm. We of course in unison said " We love the real you" and he chuckled.
 
 I (remember...I'm 15...give me some slack) said " I want a hug, too "(pouting).  Freddie laughed, put his arm out and I moved over for my side shoulder hug.  We were at the parking lot and my friend asked "Freddie, are you OK, you seem sad tonight?" He replied  "What you girls are worried about me?".   We replied "Of course we worry about you".  He said "I'm tired, lots on my mind, thanks for asking."
 
When Freddie turned to put his jacket and script in his car he turned back and said "Hey, how come you've never asked for a picture?" My friend replied, "We just like being with you, a picture would be like a "Fan" thing." Freddie got this great smile on his face (eyes twinkling) and replied "Oh yeah, that's right, you're not my fans...you like those Kotter guys...OK...probably have a picture with Travolta...don't need one with Freddie.." and then he started laughing.  We were flustered saying "Oh Freddie, that's not true....we really just like being with you"(both of us kind of saying it at the same time...again).  He replied "I know, I know, it's OK...it's kinda nice". Freddie said "Gotta go girls , be careful going home" to which we replied the same "You, too Freddie".
 
 Needless to say our cameras (which were in our purses) weren't going to be coming out too soon after the comment Freddie made.  We felt very privileged to spend even one moment with Freddie and didn't want to "mess it up" for anything.   We talked about Freddie's sad mood and the hurt look in his eyes that we had seen. I was 15, madly in (very innocent) love and horrified to see pain in Freddie's eyes that we had never seen up to that point. 
 
I don't know why Freddie was nice to us, I've asked that question millions of times over the years. I don't care what the answer is...I"m just thankful for his kindness.
 
In answer to a couple of questions I've been asked......Yes, Freddie was beautifully tall (long legs),  and he always looked into your eyes (or tried to) when he spoke to you.  His eyes would enfold you (or at least that is what it seemed like)and he always smelled good(never reeked of cologne) and his hair was beautiful.  He seemed skinny to us though.  We thought he was much skinnier in person than on the TV.  We never witnessed him being angry or unkind.

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I will share our fourth meeting with Freddie. 

As usual we stood outside Freddie's dressing room door to see if we could hear him inside. We heard some muffled sounds so having confirmed that he was probably still in his room we went down to our usual "wait" spot.


We saw Freddie coming down the hallway after about 20 minutes and stood up to wait for him. When he was halfway to the place we were standing he stopped, smiled and said
 " And where have you girl's been?",
 "I thought you just went on to the next one...forgot about me..yesterday's news...'"

Then he continued to walk towards us as we started a barrage of "Freddie, we would never forget about you" "You don't really mean that do you?" " You know we love you" "We"ve been busy with school" "Our Mom's couldn't bring us" He laughed (Probably because we were talking a mile a minute and were very concerned that he did not think we forgot him) and said "OK, blame it on your Mom...Shame on you...It's my Mom's fault..OK" Then he laughed again, smiled so sweetly and said "So...how've ya been?" We replied "Good, how about you?" He replied "Working hard".
 
We were walking towards the parking lot and I asked Freddie "What do you do when you're not working?" Freddie said "I'm always working in one way or another". He asked "Did you see the taping?" My friend answered " No, we can watch the show at home...we come here to see you...you're not Chico."
 
He looked at us both for a brief moment and said "Sometimes you say just the right thing". We were a little surprised by the comment and said "Really, Freddie?" "Thanks" and he said "No...thank you" to which we teasingly said (in unison) "Noooo...thank you" to which he laughed, shook his head and said " Tu es muy loca". 
 
He said  "Well girls, I have to go...see you SOON ? Or will there be another excuse next time..."Oh Freddie sorry we couldn't come to see you..." to which we interrupted him with "We'll be back soon, no excuses...they were not excuses..they were real reasons.." He smiled and said (Interrupting us back)" I was kidding you guys...boy...we're OK now?" We laughed and said "Yes!" We said "Be careful getting home" (By this time he was sitting in his car) and he silently pointed to his cheek a couple of times. We both gave him a quick peck on the cheek and said "Bye Freddie" to which he just smiled and said "Bye girls".
 
When he drove off we both had a typical fifteen year old girl "OHMIGOD attack" about getting to kiss him on the cheek. We floated off to call my Mom to come pick us up and spent the rest of the evening analyzing the texture of his skin, being so close to him, etc.

It seems silly maybe as an adult and yet at that time it was one of the most incredible brief few seconds of my life.  A few seconds that became more precious when the opportunity of any future moments like those would never again be possible.  I miss you always, Freddie.


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This last meeting is always hard to remember simply because it remains to be one of the saddest days of my life.  I didn't know it would be the last time I ever saw Freddie in person again and it's always heart-wrenching to go back to that day but....here goes.

We hadn't been to the studio for about three weeks due to problems within my family.  We were sitting on the stairs down the hall from Freddie's dressing room waiting for him to come out.  We heard the door and peeked to see Freddie closing his door.  We ducked back and stood up when Freddie was just about at the end of the hallway. 
 
We came around the corner and both said "Hi, Freddie".  Freddie stepped back a little (we surprised him), chuckled and said "How've you been, girls?"  My friend said "Fine" and I just started to cry.  Freddie got a very confused look on his face and I turned away (I could not believe I was crying in front of him).  Freddie said "Mami, what's wrong...why are you crying?" and put his arm around me from the side.  I couldn't stop crying to say anything and Freddie said "Come here, come on, sit down, tell me why you cry?" 
 
We sat on the stairs and my friend said "Her parents are getting divorced, she hasn't been able to come here to see you and this is the last time she will get to see you before she leaves." Freddie still had his arm around me and when my friend finished he said "Oh baby, I am so sorry, it will all be OK" and gave me a side hug with both arms.   I kept my head down, kind of under his shoulder against his chest trying to stop my crying.  He lifted my head by putting his hand under my chin and lifted my face, kissed my cheek and said "OK, (in a heavy latin accent) you can no longer cry... I have kissed the tears away....do you want me to remember you crying....am I going anywhere....has my show been canceled....do you know something I don't know?"  He put a pretend serious look on his face and continued...(again in a heavy accent) "You have to tell me the truth...then I will cry with you...we all cry....you will see me again".  The entire time he was saying all of this he had a very caring concerned look in his eyes.
 
Even though he kept looking at me I kept putting my head down (even in my sadness I kept thinking how stupid I must look).  I started to smile because he sounded so funny with his mock accent and he said "That's my girl, that's what I will remember, your smile...no sadness." He took his arm from around my shoulder, took my hand and held it with his other hand and said"You will come back to visit right?"  I nodded my head yes and he said "Well, until then you can watch me every week on the show".   I replied, "That's not the same".  He replied,  "I know but, until you come back you can still see me".   He said "When you come back I will still be here...slaving away".  I replied, "I won't be able to come back for over a year" and started to cry a little again(not the sobs from before).  Freddie said "NO! NO! Tears go away...no, no...we won't have that" and I kind of chuckled (albeit a weepy chuckle but it was a chuckle).   He said "A year, five years, whatever...I have a good job...I'll still be here" and he laughed.  I looked at him and with probably the biggest puppy dog eyes I ever had I said "Promise?" He said (again in an accent) "Cross my heart" and made a cross against his chest.  I said "I'm so sorry I cried, I didn't mean to...I'm just going to miss seeing you so much".  He said "I will miss our little visits, too...but....you can see me when you come back, OK....no more crying... all better.... we can walk to the car now?" I smiled and said, "I'm sorry...I kept you from leaving".   He said, "You didn't keep me from anything, I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to be...don't worry about it".
 
 He got up and put his hand out for me to get up and we started to walk and he kept ahold of my hand.  He asked my friend if she would still be coming to the studio and she told him that her Mom only allowed her to come if we were together since she didn't like her other friends. He laughed and replied, "Moms are usually right you know?" to which my friend nodded. Freddie squeezed my hand and said, "You, OK?"  I nodded yes.  When we got to Freddie's car he put his stuff in the car and then turned back to us.  He looked in my eyes (which were starting to fill up with tears again) smiled a sweet smile and put his arms out.  I put my arms around his waist, laid my head against his chest and he put his arms around me and hugged me.  He kissed the top of my head and said quietly next to my ear "Come back and see me soon, OK?".  "Don't cry...I know it's hard...it'll be OK though....thank you".   I pulled back, looked at him and said "Thank you....for what?".  He smiled, gave me one last hug and quietly said in my ear again "For caring about me".  I tearfully replied, "I love you Freddie, thank you for everything".  He replied, "No problem".  He gave my friend a hug and she said "Bye Freddie, I'll try to come see you".   He said "Don't give your Mama a hard time" to which she replied, "I won't".  He went to get in his car turned around looked at me, came back and gave me one last quick hug and said "Bye, Mami...see you...soon".  I replied, "Bye , Freddie" and he got in his car, waved and drove off.

When you read this I think you will be able to understand why it is so difficult to share this last meeting with Freddie for so many reasons.
 
"See you....soon............"

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A Remembrance from Melissa Byers

I met Freddie through a poem, actually. I've always been fascinated by comedians, and I noticed Freddie and his talent long before Chico. I saw him on the Carson show talking about the upcoming show, and he mentioned that it was opening on a Friday the 13th. He joked around about it, but I think he was a little nervous. Anyway, I wrote him in care of the show before it had actually aired. Because it was so early, he wasn't getting the amazing volume of fan mail he got later, so he actually had a chance to read my letter and the poem. I told him that Friday 13 had always been lucky for me, and that I was sure it would be for him, too. I told him that the poem would help him through any tough spots. A few weeks later, he called me, and we talked for two hours. He said the poem had arrived at a moment when he was having some anxiety, and that it had, in fact, helped him through. He gave me his home address and phone number, and we stayed in touch, though not as often after the show really hit it big. I actually got to spend some time with him when he played at Valley Forge near here during the first hiatus of the show. By that time, he was with Kathy, so I met her, too. Eventually, when he got into the 'ludes, he kind of shut out everyone, and I couldn't get through to him. I saw him once more, but he was so wired and crazy that it wasn't the same. Still, I miss him.

HERE ARE MELISSA'S PHOTOS WITH FREDDIE
CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE

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