American leading actor of a number of horror films, probably best known as Freddy Krueger in A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) and all of its sequels.

Englund, a boyish, tall and gaunt figure, became a cult favorite after that film but had started working in the 1970s. He was cast as a sex-crazed maniac in Eaten Alive (1977) by Tobe Hooper, who also directed The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974).

Englund went on to a number of low-budget horror films, including Galaxy of Terror (1981) and The Fifth Floor (1978). Then came his big break as Freddy Kruger in “Elm Street”, the man of nightmares with the disfigured face and a red striped shirt with his right hand as razor-sharp knives.

The film was directed by Wes Craven and was so successful for New Line Cinema that the company had Englund reprise Freddy in all of the subsequent – and wildly successful – sequels.

He played the title role in the semi-remake of the horror film classic, The Phantom of the Opera (1989) for 21st Century Film Corporation. Englund has frequently worked with Hooper, in such films as Night Terrors (1993) and The Mangler (1995).