Robert Englund Biography
Born: June 06, 1949
Date of Birth: June 6, 1949
Born in Hollywood, Englund began his acting studies at the age of 12, eventually taking courses at an number of respected training grounds, including the Michigan Academy of Dramatic Arts, UCLA, and the Rochester, New York branch of RADA.
Following his first stage appearance in a Cleveland production of Godspell, Englund moved back to Hollywood. He was seen as kind of an all-purpose nasty in his early roles: gunning down Burt Reynolds in Hustle and slapping around Kris Kristofferson in A Star Is Born (but wisely staying out of Arnold Schwarzenegger's way in Stay Hungry).
In 1984, Englund starred in V, a phenomenally popular sci-fi series that caught the attention of aspiring horrormeister Wes Craven. Impressed, Craven cast Englund as the gooey-visaged, razor-clawed, dream-stalker Freddy Krueger in A Nightmare On Elm Street. The film was a huge hit, reviving and redefining the horror genre, and transforming Englund into the Boris Karloff of this generation.
Freddy films became pretty much an annual event -- and Englund's chief source of income. He stepped outside the role on occasion (but not too far) in similar gothic horror flicks like Danse Macabre and The Phantom Of The Opera, and by directing 966-Evil.
Besides playing Freddy in seven Nightmare films, he also resurrected the character in two TV series: Freddy's Nightmares and Nightmare Café.