On this day in comedy on June 22, 1970, Comedian, Actor, Writer, Freddy Soto (Alfred Soto, Jr.) was born in El Paso, Texas.
Soto broke into comedy at the top: he was a limo driver for the legend, Richard Pryor. Before long he was on his way downhill – he became the doorman at the World-Famous Comedy Store. Next thing you know he changed up again. Soto became a national headliner.
Things moved fast. Soto toured with Pablo Francisco and Carlos Mencia as “The Three Amigos” in 2001 and 2002. He cranked out two comedy specials; one for HBO the other for Comedy Central. Soto appeared on The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He also had a role in the Adam Sandler film, Spanglish. Everything was going fine and then tragedy struck.
Freddy Soto died on July 10, 2005. He had performed a set at the Laugh Factory, went to a friend’s house, fell asleep and never woke up. Four months later, the coroner’s report stated the cause of death was a combination of alcohol, fentanyl (a morphine-like substance) and Xanax. He was 35 years old.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
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