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Robert Englund

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Robert Englund

Robert Barton Englund (born June 6, 1947) is an American actor and director. Englund is best known for playing the villain Freddy Krueger in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. Englund has received multiple accolades and honors, including a Saturn Award, a Fangoria Chainsaw Award, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Classically trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Englund began his career as a stage actor in regional theatre and made his film debut in Buster and Billie (1974), followed by supporting roles in films such as Stay Hungry (1976), A Star Is Born (1976), and Big Wednesday (1978). Englund had his breakthrough as the resistance fighter Willie in the miniseries V in 1983. Following his performance in the original A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), he became closely associated with the horror film genre, and his performance as Freddy is often referenced in American pop culture; Englund has reprised his role as Freddy in seven sequels, as well as the horror anthology series Freddy's Nightmares (1988–1990). Englund has acted in over 100 film and television productions throughout his career, and he has also directed the horror films 976-EVIL (1988) and Killer Pad (2008).

Englund was born on June 6, 1947, in Glendale, California, the son of Janis (née MacDonald) and Clyde Kent Englund, an aeronautics engineer who helped develop the Lockheed U-2 airplane. He is of part Swedish and Scottish ancestry. Englund began studying acting at the age of twelve, accompanying a friend to a children's theater program at California State University, Northridge.

While in high school, he attended Cranbrook Theatre School (organized by the Cranbrook Educational Community) in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. He then 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.

Englund had five successful years performing in regional theater including plays by Shakespeare and Bernard Shaw. He married for the first time in 1966 to a nurse Elizabeth Gardner. Shortly afterward, he returned to the West Coast in search of film work, and landed a supporting role in the film Buster and Billie, directed by Daniel Petrie.

In 1976, Englund auditioned for the roles of Han Solo and Luke Skywalker in Star Wars. While he didn't get either part, he suggested Mark Hamill for the role of Luke. Englund appeared in the 1977 film Eaten Alive directed by Tobe Hooper. He then played Ranger in Galaxy of Terror, produced by Roger Corman, which was released in 1981. Since then, Englund has made over 100 appearances on film and television. In his early film roles, Englund was usually cast as a nerd or a redneck, and he first gained attention in the role of Visitor technician and resistance fighter Willie in the 1983 miniseries V, as well as the 1984 sequel V: The Final Battle, and V: The Series, in which he was a regular cast member.

Englund went against type when he accepted the role of Freddy Krueger, the psychopathic burn victim and child murderer in Wes Craven's hugely successful A Nightmare on Elm Street in 1984. He 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). His association with the genre led him to top-billed roles in The Phantom of the Opera (1989), The Mangler (1995) – another film directed by Tobe Hooper, and 2001 Maniacs (2005).

Englund's portrayal of Freddy Krueger is notable for its longevity, with Englund playing the same character in eight consecutive films. Englund has said that he enjoys the role of Freddy as it gives him a break from always acting out the nice guy;[citation needed] indeed, many people[who?] who have worked with Englund attest to his congeniality. Makeup artists responsible for the Krueger makeup have commented that Englund was so friendly and talkative that it made the lengthy makeup application slightly more challenging.

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