Bio
Robert Englund is an American actor and director, best known for playing the supernatural serial killer Freddy Krueger in the Wes Craven’s Nightmare on Elm Street film series, which celebrates it’s 40th anniversary this year.
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 in 1974. After supporting roles in films in the 1970s such as 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 is widely regarded as one of its iconic actors. He reprised the role of Freddy role in seven other films, including the 2003 film Freddy vs. Jason, as well as two seasons of the anthology series Freddy’s Nightmares.
Englund’s other feature films include Tobe Hooper’s The Mangler (1995), which is based on a Stephen King short story, the cult hit Killer Tongue (1996), Wishmaster (1997), Urban Legend (1998), 2001 Maniacs (2005), Hatchet (2006), and Fear Clinic (2014). His latest film, Abruptio (2023), which also starred James Marsters, Sid Haig, and Jordan Peele, received accolades across several horror and genre festivals.
On television, Englund has had multiple guest appearances on various popular series, including MacGyver, Knight Rider, Walker Texas Ranger, Masters of Horror, Supernatural, Hawaii Five-0 (2011), Chuck, Charmed, and Criminal Minds. He has also done significant voice work, including playing the Vulture on The Spectacular Spider-Man, The Riddler on The Batman, Felix Faust on Justice League, and Aetherack on Dota: Dragon’s Blood.
His most recent credits include playing Victor Creel on the hit Netflix series Stranger Things and voicing Corneilus Vanderhouven in the Apple+ series Curses.