Horror icon Robert Englund turns 77 today

Robert Englund is best known for playing Freddy Krueger in the Nightmare on Elm Street film series

Horror icon Robert Englund turns 77 today



Actor Robert Englund is best known for playing the fictional serial killer Freddy Krueger in the Nightmare on Elm Street horror films turns 77 today. Born Robert Barton Englund on June 6, 1947, in Glendale, California. As a child, he had already decided he wanted to become an actor, and started studying at the age of 12. He attended UCLA for three years, before dropping out and transferring to Michigan’s Oakland University, where he trained at the Meadow Brook Theater, at the time a branch of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. His first professional gig was an appearance in a production of Godspell in Cleveland, Ohio. After a five-year of working in theatrical production, Englund moved to California to try his luck in movies. His first role was a supporting part in “Buster and Billie” (1974), following up the role with turns in “Sunburst” (1975) and “Hustle” (1975). Englund was briefly considered for the part of Han Solo in the 1977 film Star Wars and told his close friend Mark Hamill, who was sleeping on his couch, to go audition for the role of young Luke Skywalker, for which Hamill ultimately was cast. Englund’s first taste of horror was in the Tobe Hooper film “Eaten Alive” (1977). Director Wes Craven noticed him in his role as a sympathetic alien invader in the television miniseries “V: The Original Miniseries” (1983) and cast him for Freddy Krueger, in the “Nightmare on Elm Street” horror films. In early roles, Englund was generally cast as a nerd, but all this changed after Wes Craven’s “A Nightmare on Elm Street” (1984). This role catapulted him to fame, and Englund became the first new horror movie star since Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing in the 1960s. Englund reprised his role as Freddy Krueger in A “Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge” (1985),” A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors” (1987), “A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master” (1988), “A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child” (1989), “Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare” (1991), “Wes Craven’s New Nightmare” (1994) and “Freddy vs. Jason” (2003). Robert Englund was married to Elizabeth Gardner from 1968-1986, followed by Roxanne Rogers from 1986-1988. He has been married to Nancy Booth since 1988. He has no children.

By Ken Warren, 2018



Watch Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger) & Heather Langenkamp (Nancy) Return to Elm Street

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