This article is about the actor. For other people with this surname, see
Englund.
Robert Barton Englund (born June 6, 1947) is an American actor and voice-actor, best known for playing the fictional serial killer Freddy Krueger, in the Nightmare on Elm Street film series. He received a Saturn Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors in 1987 and A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master in 1988. Despite his reputation for appearing in horror films, Englund is a classically trained actor.1
Personal life
Englund was born in Glendale, California on June 6th 1947, the son of Janis (née McDonald) and C. Kent Englund, an aeronautics engineer who helped develop the Lockheed U-2 aircraft.23 He has Swedish ancestry.4 Englund began studying acting at the age of twelve in Normal IL.1 While he was in high school, he attended the Cranbrook Theatre School (organized by the Cranbrook Educational Community) in Bloomfield Hills. He then attended California State University Northridge for three years before transferring to Michigan's Oakland University, where he trained at the Meadow Brook Theatre,2 at the time a branch of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.1 Englund has been married three times. He currently resides in Laguna Beach, California.
Career
Since his first film, Buster and Billie, in 1974, Englund has made over 100 appearances on film and television. His early film roles usually typed him as a nerd or a redneck, and he first gained attention in the role of Willie, the lovably innocent alien in the 1983 miniseries V, as well as the 1984 sequel V: The Final Battle, and V: The Series.
After his huge success in A Nightmare on Elm Street, Englund became the first new horror movie star since Sir Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing in the 1960s. His association with the genre led him to top-billed roles in The Phantom of the Opera (1989), The Mangler (1995), and 2001 Maniacs (2005).5
Englund is one of only two actors to play a horror character eight consecutive times, the other being Doug Bradley, who portrayed the Pinhead character eight times in the Hellraiser film series. Englund has said that he enjoys the role of Freddy as it gives him a break from always playing the nice guy; indeed, many people 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.
Englund's TV appearances include starring in the short-lived series Nightmare Cafe (1992), in which he played Blackie, the mysterious proprietor of the title cafe, and reprising his role of "Freddy Krueger" in the series Freddy's Nightmares. His guest spots include the science fiction series Babylon 5, one episode of the show MacGyver as Tim Wexler, Masters of Horror, MadTV, Sliders, and Knight Rider, where he played a phantom haunting a film studio and Walking Tall: The Series. His work in voice-over animation includes magician Felix Faust in Justice League, The Riddler on The Batman and The Vulture on The Spectacular Spider-Man and on the upcoming series The Super Hero Squad Show . On the TV witch drama Charmed (Episode: "Size Matters"), he played a demon who used the services of a lackey to lure people into a decrepit household (where he lived in the walls) and shrank them down to action figure size. He also appeared on an episode of Married... with Children as The Devil.
Englund performed as host of the Horror Hall of Fame awards show three times from 1989-1991.
Englund made his directorial début with the 1989 horror film 976-EVIL. His second feature, Killer Pad, was released direct-to-DVD in 2008. He is currently in pre-production to direct The Vij, about a young priest who is led by an evil genie to commit murder, and who falls in love with an old witch who is not what she seems.
Robert Englund has written a memoir, Hollywood Monster: A Walk Down Elm Street with the Man of Your Dreams with coauthor Alan Goldsher, to be published by Pocket Books on October 13, 2009.
He stars also in the web series "Fear Clinic"6, he played in five episodes Dr. Andover.7
Englund recently noted he would welcome a guest appearance in the ABC revival of V in an interview with Todd Sokolove from Forces of Geek.8
In January 2010, it was announced that he will return as Captain Howdy and Jackson Roth for the sequel to Dee Snider's Strangeland, Strangeland II: Disciple.9
Englund had a guest appearances in the Slasher episode of Bones10, who potrayed a demented janitor at Brennan’s old high school.11
Filmography
Education
- Granada Hills High School, Granada Hills, Californiacitation needed
- University of California, Los Angeles, California
- Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan
- BA Theatre, California State University, Northridge
- Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London, England
References
External links
 Robert Englund&videoType=YouTube&summary=Freddy Krueger himself, Robert Englund, stops by the studio to chat and promote Freddy vs. Jason ( 03).&link=http://www.youtube.com/v/3e5t66ly6QY&fs=1&source=uds&autoplay=1&thumb=http://2.gvt0.com/vi/3e5t66ly6QY/default.jpg&celebrity=Robert Englund)
