Anecdotes

He's a keen surfer, and has been shown on Entertainment Tonight (1981) talking about surfing.

His father Clyde Kent Englund, an aeronautics engineer, helped design the Lockheed U-2 spy plane.

His performance as Freddy Krueger in Les griffes de la nuit (1984) is ranked #51 on Premiere magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.

Is an avid fan of the animated sitcom Henri pis sa gang (1997).

Ranked the #40 top villain for the American Film Institution's Top 100 list of 100 Heroes and Villains for his role as Freddy Krueger.

Wrote an unused treatment for Freddy 3: Les griffes du cauchemar (1987).

Has Danish, English, German, Scottish and Swedish ancestry. His surname is Swedish.

Married twice, the first occurred during his college heyday. He met his second wife Nancy Booth while working on his feature directorial debut La ligne du diable (1988).

He's an honors graduate from the Academy of Dramatic Arts at Oakland University in Rochester, MI. Before that, he attended California State University, Northridge and and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Despite popular belief, he cannot speak Swedish fluently.

Attended UCLA (for three classes) and the Academy of Dramatic Arts (in Rochester, MI). Other Academy of Dramatic Arts graduates include Curtis Armstrong and Richard Riehle.

While a student at the Academy of Dramatic Arts, he spent a summer teaching at Cranbrook Theatre School in Bloomfield Hills.

He has appeared in one film that has been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant": Les griffes de la nuit (1984).

In 1973, he returned to the Academy of Dramatic Arts to teach a stunts and stage fight class while appearing at the nearby regional professional Meadow Brook Theatre.

Member of Actors' Equity Association (1968-), Screen Actors Guild (1973-), American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, Directors Guild of America, and Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.

Shares graduation from Granada Hills High School with actor Ossie Beck and football player John Elway.

In October 2022, after the death of veteran character actor Andrew Prine, Englund's co-star in the miniseries V (1983), he had mentioned on Twitter/X that Prine had been modeled for his inspiration of Freddy Krueger after co-starring with Prine in the television movie Mind Over Murder (1979).

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6644 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on October 31, 2025. Director, producer, screenwriter and actor Eli Roth and co-star Heather Langenkamp were guest speakers at the ceremony.

He appeared in every movie of the Nightmare on Elm Street series except the 2010 remake.

Currently resides in Laguna Beach, California.