Whatever happened to Freddie Prinze?

I’m old enough to remember comedian and TV star Freddie Prinze. I watched his sit-com Chico and the Man. I laughed and enjoyed the comedy.

But Mr. Prinze, only 22 years old, wasn’t laughing so much. And on a January night in 1977, Freddie Prinze, full of quaaludes and depression and drama, shot himself. His mom insisted that it was an accident and got the cause of death on his death certificate changed from suicide to “accidental shooting due to the influence of Quaaludes.” I don’t see that it really matters. Mr. Prinze ended his life at the age of 22 because of drugs and depression. The drugs deepened the depression and made him reckless and stupid.

I’m writing about this tragedy because today is Freddie Prinze’s birthday. He would have been 55 years old today.

But I’m also writing about Mr. Prinze, the talented but tragic comedian, because just this past week another talented young man destroyed himself with drugs and depression and bad decisions. I didn’t know D., but I do know his family. D. was taught about the Lord. He grew up in a family that loves Jesus with a mom and dad who loved D. He was homeschooled and went to church and memorized Scripture and had made a commitment to Jesus Christ.

However, D. had “graduated” to using cocaine about three months ago, and he came home a little over a week ago to get help. He was hearing voices and believed that implants in his head were monitoring his thoughts and telling him to do horrible things.

He told his dad he didn’t know what to do to make the voices stop. What he decided to do was to douse himself with gasoline and set himself on fire. His parents woke up to hear D. screaming in pain, and although D. was in agony, he was able to tell his dad that he was sorry before the paramedics came, sedated him, and took him to the hospital burn unit. D. never regained consciousness, and he died a couple of days later.

A friend of mine wrote about D.:

How did this happen? Why did it end this way? No one will ever have all the answers but there are some lessons here for anyone with eyes to see.

. No child of God is immune to sin. Each of us has freedom of choice and is responsible to God for his choices.

. God disciplines the child that He loves.

. If we continually reject the warnings of God at some point He will call His child home.

I choose to believe that D. was more afraid to continue to live than he was to die. I have no doubt that as the old gospel hymn goes, D. is now; “Safe in the arms of Jesus, safe from corroding care; safe from the world’s temptations, sin cannot harm him there.”

Why am I telling you all this story? Because it’s still happening. Kids, and some who should be past childhood, still think that illegal drugs are harmless, that maybe taking a few pills or a shot of something will make them feel better, will medicate the depression and the pain out of existence. I know some of them are thinking this way because they’ve told me: “it won’t happen to me. I just smoke a little weed. Nothing bad will happen to me. That’s a scare story.”

Well, yeah, I’m trying to scare you. But D. really did die just the way I described. I’m going to his memorial service this afternoon. And we’ll remember all the good things about him, how he had compassion for homeless people, how he made beautiful music, how he loved his family. But we’ll also remember what could have been, how D. could have been a blessing to his family instead of giving them a pain that will never go away completely. How he could have served the Lord with his music. How he could have lived.

I’m writing about what happened to Freddie Prinze and to D. because I don’t want it to ever happen to another family or to another talented young man. And they’re all talented and remarkable and loved, by God the Father even if they don’t feel loved by anyone else. Please pray for my friends the R family who have lost a son and a brother. And please examine yourself, and if you need it, get help. Make good decisions. Flush the drugs, whatever they are, down the toilet. Cling to the precious saving love of the Lord Jesus Christ and don’t let go.

Please.