Kathy Prinze Life Story: The Wife Of Freddie Prinze
Miracles happen to those who believe in them. Kathy Prinze is more famously known as the gorgeous wife of Freddie Prinze, a stand-up comedian. Kathy Prinze spent her entire life being a caring and loving wife to her husband and an excellent mother to her child, Freddie Prinze Jr.
Let us now have a detailed discussion on the entire life of Kathy Prinze.
EARLY LIFE AND PROFESSIONAL DETAILS
It will not be wrong to say that Kathy Prinze’s life has taken a 360-degree turn, from being a waitress at a cocktail bar to becoming the wife of the famous actor and stand-up comedian Freddie Prinze. She is now also known as the mother of famous actor Freddie Prinze Jr.
Date of Birth:
Kathy Prinze was born on January 28, 1950. She is the daughter of James Edward Barber and Patty Elizabeth Cochran. She was born in West Virginia. By nationality, Kathy Prinze is an American. Kathy Prinze was named Katherine Elaine Cochran. She changed her name to Kathy Prinze after her marriage.
Educational Qualifications:
Kathy Prinze has led a very private life, so not many details are available about her early life. Although it is assumed that she must have completed her schooling and college at any American school or college.
Family Background
There are few details about Kathy Prinze’s family. Apart from the names of her parents, no other information about her siblings or relatives is available at the moment. She was married off three times, and her first marriage took place when she was only sixteen years old. She divorced two husbands before marrying the famous actor and comedian Freddie Prinze.
Kathy Prinze’s Husband: Freddie Prinze
Kathy Prinze was married at the age of sixteen to Robert Ray Kirkpatrick. On March 26, 1966, the couple married. It was the longest marriage that lasted in Kathy Prinze’s life. After divorcing Robert, Kathy married again and was again divorced. This time she married an American businessman, Russell Gail Rasmus.
They tied the knot on November 7, 1972, and divorced three years later, in 1975. In the year 1975, Kathy met Freddie Prinze, the successful actor, and comedian of America. They both fell in love and decided to tie the knot. At the time of their marriage, Freddie was 21 years old, whereas Kathy was 25 years old. The couple got married in Los Angeles on October 13, 1975.
Kathy and Freddie have a son together named Freddie Prinze Jr., who was born on March 8, 1976. In 1976, Kathy filed for divorce from Freddie Prinze. Kathy, filed for divorce with Freddie because he was cheating on her by having extramarital affairs with Pam Grier, an American actress whom Freddie was dating before marriage as well.
Freddie Prinze’s Brief Details:
Freddie Prinze was an amazing actor and comedian. He was 21 years old when he married Kathy Prinze, a woman who was four years older than him. Freddie Prinze died in 1977 due to a gunshot by his own hands.
In his late teens, Freddie Prinze started to do sit-ups because he was very fond of them. He later became an actor. Freddie Prinze was born in New York. He dropped out of LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts in his senior year to pursue stand-up comedy as a career.
He worked at various comedy clubs in New York, such as Catch a Rising Star, The Improv, etc. His first TV appearance was on Jack Paar Tonight, but his big break to fame came with his appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Carson. He was awarded a role in the NBS TV show Chico and the Man. He continued to act in it from 1974 until he died in 1977.
In 1975, he released a music album titled Looking Good (it was his catchphrase from the TV series), and he made many appearances on The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts.
In the year 1975, Freddie Prinze got married to his wife, then Kathy Elaine Cochran. They had a child together, Freddie Prinze Jr., born in 1976. Kathy filed for divorce in 1976. Before his marriage to Katherine Cochran, Freddie Prinze was in a relationship with Pam Grier, an American actress, and the cinema’s ‘first female action star,” according to Quentin Tarantino.
They met during the promotion of her film Coffy in 1973. It is said that Freddie Prinze was depressed in the last few years of his life. On January 28, 1977, he shot himself and died.
Controversies Regarding the Death of Freddie Prinze:
Freddie Prinze killed himself in 1977. He was just 23 years old at the time of his death. He was suffering from depression because his marriage was failing. His wife had filed for divorce, and she got a restraining order against him as well, which struck Freddie Kenzy. A suicide note was found on his couch that said “I must end it; there’s no hope left”. Freddie had the habit of playing Russian roulette to scare his friends as well.
Russian roulette is a game of chance where you put one single bullet in the revolver, spin the cylinder, and take the shot. But on the night of his death, he called many of his friends and loved ones to let them know about it and said farewell as well. Pam Grier was one of the last people he ever spoke to before releasing the gunshot.
After being discovered with a gunshot wound and unconscious, he was taken to the UCLA Medical Centre in Los Angeles. He was put on life support. His family decided to let go and removed him from life support; he died at 1 p.m. on January 29, 1977.
Reason Behind the Death:
His death was regarded as a suicide in 1977. But in 1983, his mother, wife, and son claimed that his death was medication-induced and not natural. They filed a civil case against Crown Life Insurance Company. The jury found that Freddie Prinze’s death was, in fact, medication-induced, accidental, and not just suicide.
This allowed the family to collect the life insurance proceeds of about 200,000 US dollars. This lawsuit was followed by a settlement involving Prinze’s psychiatrist and doctor to wrap up their malpractice suit for prescribing him overdoses of Quaaludes, a tranquillizer given to him.
Kathy Prinze’s Children:
Kathy Prinze and Freddie Prinze have one child together, known as Freddie Prinze Jr. Freddie Prinze Jr. was only ten months old when Kathy Prinze filed for divorce. Currently, Freddie Prinze Jr. is an excellent writer, producer, and actor.
Freddie Prinze Jr. had a painful spinal surgery in 2014. The surgery was painful, but he is still successful in taking care of himself to date. Freddie Prinze Jr. was brought up solely by his mother, Kathy Prinze, single handedly. She has raised a successful actor. He was raised in the deserts of New Mexico.
Professional Life:
Before meeting Freddie Prinze, she was working in a cocktail bar as a waitress. She was always known as the wife of Freddie Prinze and now as the mother of Freddie Prinze Jr. rather than for her own accomplishments.
Net Worth:
According to the NetWorth Post, Kathy Prinze is said to have a net worth of almost 18 million US dollars. Some of it came from her late husband, and some came from her work. Freddie Prinze had a net worth of $5 million when he died in 1977. Freddie Prinze had made money from his stand-up career as well as from his role in the NBC TV series Chico and the Man.
Where is Kathy Prinze Nowdays?
Kathy Prinze is leading a very off-the-grid kind of life, and not much is known about her. She is not currently married or dating. After her husband Freddy Prinze’s death, she has not been in any serious relationships, even though she had only lived with him for a year.
She currently lives alone and away from the limelight. After her husband’s death, Kathy took her son away from the glam of Hollywood when he was four years old so that he could have a more normal and happy childhood away from the limelight. He grew up in New Mexico with his mother and grandmother, and it is also said that Kathy was a very protective mother.
But allegations are thrown at Kathy Prinze for not being a supportive partner and wife while her husband was battling depression and drug addiction problems. She knew beforehand about his problems with addiction and yet decided to leave him after having a child, which led to severe stages of depression and anxiety.
Freddie’s mother, Maria, wrote a book in 1998 called The Freddie Prinze Story. In the book, she talked about how the people around him knew about his problems and his battles but did nothing about them. They knew he was physically and mentally exhausted, on the verge of a complete breakdown. Despite knowing all the situations, Kathy Prinze did not prove to be a good partner.
Freddie Mercury remains one of the ‘gone too early’ geniuses of Hollywood, right next to Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, and all the other creative geniuses who left the world too early. And Kathy remains someone who gained fame more through her marriage than through her own accomplishments. One should however appreciate Kathy because she was a single mother at the age of 27 and a widow with a ten-month-old son to raise and all of Hollywood’s glam around her.
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Frequently Asked Questions for Kathy Prinze
Kathy Prinze was married at the age of sixteen to Robert Ray Kirkpatrick. On March 26,
1966, the couple married.It was the longest marriage that lasted in Kathy Prinze’s life. After
divorcing Robert, Kathy married again and was again divorced. This time she married an
American businessman, Russell Gail Rasmus. They tied the knot on November 7, 1972, and
divorced three years later, in 1975.
Kathy Prinze has only one son, Freddie Prinze Jr., who was born in 1976.
Kathy Prinze was only 27 years old when she became a widow.
Kathy Prinze was born on January 28, 1950.
Currently, Kathy Prinze is not dating anyone and is leading a single life.
