Editing Freddie Prinze (section)

== Career ==
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[[File:Chico and the man.JPG|thumb|left|Prinze (right) with [[Jack Albertson]] on ''[[Chico and the Man]]'', 1976]]
Prinze worked at several [[comedy club]]s in New York City, including [[The Improv]] and [[Catch a Rising Star (comedy clubs)|Catch a Rising Star]], where he introduced himself to audiences as a "Hunga-rican" (part Hungarian, part Puerto Rican). Although his mother was in fact Puerto Rican, his father was a German immigrant with Hungarian ancestry. Prinze's son, Freddie Prinze Jr., has stated many times that his father was half German/half Puerto Rican. This is also verified by census records as well as Prützel/Pruetzel family accounts. For the sake of his budding comedic career, he legally changed his surname to "Prinze". According to his friend [[David Brenner]], Prinze originally wanted to be known as the king of comedy, but since [[Alan King]] already had that last name and [[sobriquet]], he would be the prince of comedy instead. During 1973, Prinze made his first television appearance on one of the last episodes of ''[[Jack Paar]] Tonite''. In December 1973, his biggest break came with an appearance on ''[[The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson]]''. Prinze was the first young comedian to be asked to have a sit-down chat with Carson on his first appearance. Prinze appeared on and guest-hosted ''The Tonight Show'' on several other occasions. He also appeared on'' [[The Midnight Special (TV series)|The Midnight Special]]'' to perform his comic routine.

From September 1974 until his death in January 1977, Prinze starred as Francisco "Chico" Rodriguez in the [[NBC]] TV series ''[[Chico and the Man]]'' with [[Jack Albertson]]. The show was an instant hit. Prinze made several appearances on ''[[The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast]]s'', most notably the roasts for [[Sammy Davis Jr.]] and [[Muhammad Ali]]. In 1975, he released a comedy album that was taped live at [[Mister Kelly's]] in Chicago entitled ''Looking Good''—his catch phrase from ''Chico and the Man''. In 1976, he starred in a made-for-TV movie, ''[[The Million Dollar Rip-Off]]''. Prinze had a little-known talent for singing, examples of which could be heard in the background of the title song of the [[Tony Orlando and Dawn]] album ''To Be With You'', in his appearances on their variety show, and on rare occasions on his own [[Situation comedy|sitcom]]. About four months before his death, Prinze signed a five-year deal with [[NBC]] worth $6 million.