Freddy Krueger

Background:

"I saw an entire magazine of Freddy Krueger tattoos. Hey, I'm a classically trained actor who was doing [Anton Chekhov] and now there are thousands of people walking around America with my tattoo on them. I just take it as pop culture." Robert Englund

Robert Englund has starred in a number of horror films and starred as serial killer Freddy Krueger in the “A Nightmare on Elm Street” film series: "A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge" (1985), "A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors" (1987; earned him a Saturn Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor), "A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master" (1988; earned him a Saturn Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor), "A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child" (1989) and "Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare" (1991).

He also brought the Freddy Krueger character to late-night television with the anthology series "Freddy's Nightmares" (1988-1990) and would reprise the character in the films "Wes Craven's New Nightmare" (1994) and "Freddy vs. Jason" (2003).

"When I was 9, I went to a birthday party. We were supposed to see a cowboy movie but the programming got screwed up and we saw 'The Bad Seed' (1956) instead. Horrifying; for years I was frightened of girls with pigtails." Robert Englund

Besides portraying Freddy, Englund, who was first noticed on TV for his role as a sympathetic alien visitor named Willie in the NBC TV series and miniseries "V" (1984-1985) and whose film debut is "Buster and Billie" (1974), has appeared in films like "Eaten Alive" (1977), "Wishmaster" (1997), "Urban Legend " (1998), "2001 Maniacs" (2005), "Hatchet" (2006), "Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon" (2006) and "Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer" (2007).

He will next be seen in the upcoming films "Zombie Strippers" alongside porn star Jenna Jameson, "Land of Canaan" with Tara Reid, and "2001 Maniacs: Beverly Hellbillys," in which he will reprise his role of Mayor George W. Buckman.

Englund is member of the Actors' Equity Association, Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, and Directors Guild of America. He has directed the horror films "976-EVIL" (1989) and "Killer Pad" (2008) and is currently directing a remake of "The Vij."

On a more personal note, the boyish, 5' 10" gaunt player has been married three times but has no children.

Robert Barton

Childhood and Family:

Son to C. Kent Englund (an aeronautics engineer who helped develop the Lockheed U-2 spy plane) and Janis McDonald, Robert Barton Englund was born on June 6, 1949, in Glendale, California. At age 12, he began studying acting in a children's theater program at California State University. He appeared in several children's plays before attending the American branch of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, in Rochester, Michigan, where he spent a summer teaching at the Cranbrook Theatre School in Bloomfield Hills. In 1973, he returned to the Academy of Dramatic Art to teach while appearing at the nearby regional professional Meadow Brook Theatre.

Englund has married three times, once to Elizabeth Gardner on September 15, 1968, during his college heyday, and to actress Roxanne Rogers from 1986 to 1988, who appeared in the only movie he directed, “976-EVIL” (1989). He married his third and present wife, Nancy Booth, on October 1, 1988. Englund has no children and currently resides in Laguna Beach, California.

Englund is of Swedish descent but cannot speak Swedish fluently despite popular belief. He is an avid fan of "King of the Hill" (1997) and filmmaker Kevin Smith. He is also a keen surfer and has been shown on "Entertainment Tonight" (1981) talking about surfing.

“Surfing is real private. It's a solo, loner sport. A lot of guys like to go to the beach and bring a crowd, but not me. I like to be alone and out there with a couple of pelicans. I'm getting older now and though I still surf well, it's hard for me to paddle in big surf. I'm not surfing every day so I'm not in that good of a shape, and when I paddle, I might get caught in the impact zone and get my world rocked pretty good. So I'm doing a lot of boogie-boarding now. It's actually better exercise. I get a lot more waves and if I'm out in big surf, I can duck under the waves much easier. I was out on the water a couple of days ago. I had just the perfect day: Fifty-foot visibility, three to four foot surf. It was really fun.” Robert Englund

A Nightmare on Elm Street

Career:

Having studied acting since the age of 12, Robert Englund played every clown in The Shakespeare Festival from 1969 to 1972. In 1972, he landed his breakthrough stage role in the Cleveland stage production of Stephen Schwartz and John-Michael Tebelak's musical "Godspell" and later reappeared in the same play at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles in 1985.

In 1973, Englund headed to Los Angeles to audition for Terrence Malick's "Badlands." Although failing to win the part, he decided to stay in the City of Angels hoping to venture onto the wide screen. His dream came true in 1974 when he scored his film debut in director Daniel Petrie's tragic romance/revenge motion picture "Buster and Billie," in which he played a small role as Buster's (played by Jan-Michael Vincent) friend Whitey.

After returning to stage in a revival of Irishman George Bernard Shaw's 1923 play, "Saint Joan," at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles in 1975, Englund auditioned for the part of Luke Skywalker in George Lucas' ground-breaking epic space opera film “Star Wars” (1977). After failing to get the part, he suggested to a friend, Mark Hamill, that he try out for the part.

Englund got his first part in a horror feature in Tobe Hooper's "Eaten Alive" (1977), playing Buck. That same year, he made his TV-movie debut with the biographical drama about U.S. President John F. Kennedy's older brother Joseph, who undertakes a dangerous mission during World War II, "Young Joe, the Forgotten Kennedy."

In 1983, Englund first played the role of Willie, a sympathetic alien visitor, on NBC's two-part sci-fi "V." He later reprised the role of Willie for "V: The Series," which aired in the United States on NBC during the 1984–85 TV season, and in the miniseries sequel "V -- The Final Battle" (1984).

1984 saw Englund first play the role that would make him famous, Freddy Krueger, in writer/director Wes Craven's horror film "A Nightmare on Elm Street," featuring Johnny Depp in his feature film debut. According to Craven, Englund was not the first choice for the role and they had initially wanted a stunt man to play the part. However, Englund was sent a copy of the script and agreed to step in.

“Toward the end of the movie, we knew we were making a good little monster movie. But I don’t think any of us realized it was going to be a phenomenon and none of us certainly thought it was going to be around this long and touch this international horror in people. Now that I look back, I realize we were a little naïve because the idea of the bad dream—and of somebody being a dream demon and knowing your most private thoughts and fears and exploiting them—is such a great hook and so universal in its concept what we probably should have realized we were onto something. The horror movie, like the action movie, is very international in its appeal. It’s not culturally specific like a Jay Leno joke. It translates. It travels well internationally and the ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ movies travel even better because the hook is the bad dream, which everybody in the world has.” Robert Englund

Englund later reprised the character for five increasingly campy sequels, "A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge" (1985), "A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors" (1987; earned him a Saturn Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor), "A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master" (1988; earned him a Saturn Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor), "A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child" (1989), and "Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare" (1991).

In 1987, Englund recorded an album called "Freddy's Greatest Hits" as Freddy Kreuger. He also used the character to host the syndicated late-night television anthology series "Freddy's Nightmares" (1988-1990), a spin-off from the "Nightmare on Elm Street" series in which he also directed an episode titled “Cabin Fever.” He returned as Freddy Krueger in 1994 in the seventh entry in the "Nightmare on Elm Street" series of slasher films, "Wes Craven's New Nightmare," in which his character was chosen by a demonic force as its portal to the real world.

Besides portraying Freddy, Englund continued to work in other projects. He was cast as Dennis Shothoffer, a series regular on the short-lived CBS detective show, "Downtown" (1986), and produced the play "Savage in Limbo" at the Carl Theatre in Hollywood, California, in 1987. He also made his feature directing debut with the horror feature "976-EVIL" (1989), starring Stephen Geoffreys, Patrick O'Bryan, and Sandy Dennis.

Englund spent the early 1990s hosting "Shadow Theater," a horror compilation and interview series on the USA Network, and "The Horror Hall of Fame," a syndicated awards show. In 1992, he teamed up with Freddy's creator Craven on the short-lived NBC fantasy anthology series "Nightmare Cafe," playing mysterious proprietor Blackie, alongside Jack Coleman and Lindsay Frost. Three years later, in 1995, he portrayed Bill Gartley in the horror feature "The Mangler," for which he won a Best Actor Award at the Fantafestival.

In the late 1990s, Englund dropped the evil persona to play Father O'Neill in the sci-fi thriller series "Starquest II" (1997), and teamed up again with Wes Craven, who executive produced the horror demon feature "Wishmaster" (1997), to play antique collector Raymond Beaumont. He also co-starred as literature Professor William Wexler in the summer teen hit "Urban Legend" (1998).

Hitting the new millennium, Englund was cast in the horror/thriller made-for-television movie "Python." He then had his Freddy Krueger character resurrected in "Freddy vs Jason" (2003), which earned him a Chainsaw Award nomination for Best Actor.

When asked where he thinks the “Freddy and Jason” series fit in with the whole horror movie pop culture, Englund commented “What we have going here is an echo. This is nothing new. I think we are referring back to a simpler, more fun time. It goes all the way back to ‘Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man,’ and back to those great classic comic books from the '30s, '40s, '50s, '60s and '70s that combined superheroes, and combined super villains. We’re flashing back and revisiting those and using all the special effects and techniques that we have and also having fun with popular culture.”

He also hosted CBS’ reality show "Nightmare on Elm Street: Real Nightmares" (2004), starred as the cheerful, but sinister, Mayor Buckman in the Tim Sullivan-directed horror film "2001 Maniacs" (2005), a remake of the 1964 film "Two Thousand Maniacs," and was featured in Adam Green's slasher film "Hatchet" (2006), which was selected for the Fifth Annual Tribeca Film Festival 2006 and premiered to 5 sold out nights and rave reviews. Additionally, Englund had a brief cameo appearance in Scott Glosserman's horror film "Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon" (2006), starring Nathan Baesel, and played the maniac who butchers patients and staff members in Bob Keen's horror film "Heartstopper" (2006).

Recently, Englund co-starred with Trevor Matthews in Jon Knautz's action/comedy/horror "Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer" (2007) and Tom Sizemore in Trygve Allister Diesen and Lucky McKee's drama/thriller film based on the novel by Jack Ketchum, "Red" (2008).

Englund has completed his new film, "Zombie Strippers," a comedy horror film written and directed by Jay Lee which is based on the French existential Theatre of the Absurd play "Rhinoceros" by Eugene Ionesco. The film also stars porn star Jenna Jameson and is scheduled for a theatrical release on April 18, 2008. He also directed the comedic horror film "Killer Pad" (2008), featuring Daniel Franzese, Eric Jungmann, and Shane McRae.

Currently, Englund is directing a remake of "The Vij," a fantasy movie about a young priest possessed by an evil genie. He also stars in the film. As an actor, he will be seen in the upcoming films "2001 Maniacs: Beverly Hellbillys," a comedic horror by Tim Sullivan in which he will reprise his role of Mayor George W. Buckman, and Reginald La France's "Land of Canaan," a psychological thriller based on a true story of murder in the Nevada town of Goldfield. In the latter film, he will be joined by Tara Reid.

“I don't choose them [roles]. I go where I'm wanted. I've said no to stuff before, but mostly because I can't do two things at once. I'm of the opinion that you go where you're wanted. Who would know that by playing a nerdy alien and a child killer, I would have a 30-year career in Hollywood? I've outlasted so many people. I've watched people who were better actors than me disappear and they're selling insurance now. I'm an actor. Actors are supposed to act. I have friends in New York that won't leave New York and they're really talented people, but they'd rather take an acting class in New York than do a play in Florida or Boston. That's just weird to me, but they get into that ‘I've got to be in the center of the universe’ mentality. I'm not that way. I may be a B-movie star, but I work. I'm an actor. I like it that way. That's what I do. I don't know if we're artists. I think we're more like craftsmen and I approach it that way.” Robert Englund

Awards:

• Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films: Life Career Award, 2001

• Fantafestival: Best Actor, "The Mangler," 1995