Freddie James Prinze, Jr. was born on March 8th, 1976 in Los Angeles although he grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. He attended Alberquerque's La Cueva High School where he regularly cut classes and rarely studied unless something ignited his imagination, like reading aloud from Oedipus Rex. Then, says his 12th-grade literature teacher, Patsy Boeglin, "I think everybody could see his passion." Aware of his late father's success as an entertainer, Prinze too felt the calling to perform. Throughout his youth, Freddie acted with the Albuquerque Children's Theatre and the Duo Drama Company. Freddie attended three different schools during his childhood, these were Eldorado, Sandia and La Cueva.

Shortly after his graduation, in 1994, he took a local acting class and then made the leap to Los Angeles, driving in a beat-up, gas-guzzling old Jeep and arriving with little money. He lived with family friends in the San Fernando Valley and worked at their Valley Ranch Barbeque Restaurant in Van Nuys.

Soon after he garnered featured roles on several episodic series. One of these was "Family Matters" in which Freddie had a four-line part in the episode "The Gun". He played a punk kid who brought a gun to school. "That was my big break, and I thought it was huge," says Freddie. He then went on to appear in a few afterschool specials including "Too Soon For Jeff", and "Detention: Siege At Johnson High" co-starring Rick Schroeder and Henry Winkler as well as a part in the TV series "The Watcher".

Freddie then got his big break opposite Claire Danes, Peter Gallagher and Michelle Pfeiffer in 'To Gillian On Her 37th Birthday'. Freddie played the character Joey Bost, Claire Danes unsuitable boyfriend, complete with fake tattoos and piercings. "Kissing Claire was good," he remembers. "I was really nervous, though. I hadn't kissed many girls in real life."

Next for Freddie was a part in Mark Waters black-comedy "The House Of Yes" about a family as they prepare for that year's formal Thanksgiving dinner. There is a turkey in the oven, or so we are led to believe, and everyone is preparing in a "special" way for Marty, the absent member of the brood to return home. He returns with his new fiancee Lesley, weathering a storm to get back to the bosom of his family. Lesley a simple girl, knows little about the impending in-laws, only that they have a few quirks. Shortly into the evening (sometime after the electricity goes out), she learns that the family is severely dysfunctional, and that may not be the worst of it. The film premiered at The Sundance Film Festival and has since been nominated for numerous awards including the Golden Hugo at the Chicago International Film Festival.

The role that Freddie is recognised from most is horror hit "I Know What You Did Last Summer". This film is about four teens who accidentally hit a young boy on the magic night of high school's end. They decide not to go to the police but instead dump the body. Freddie plays, Jennifer Love Hewitt's character, Julie's boyfriend, Ray. "It's a situation where Ray starts from being somebody who really lets you down, because he helps convince Julie the right thing to do is get rid of this, because he sees his whole world closing in on him at this moment. because he's the one who was driving," Freddie says of Ray. "He comes full circle. He goes from somebody who really lets you dow to somebody who wants to do right, to somebody who ends up saving the day. So it's a thing where he goes on a long journey, and that's the main reason I wanted to do the role."

Freddie is currently taking a long break after filming three movies in a role. Of these three Boys and Girls has just been released in cinemas and Head Over Heels will be out February 14th 2001 with Summer Catch to follow in Spring 2001. - biography and images courtesy of "FreddiePrinzeJr.com".