Made burned and disfigured by make-up, clad in a dirty red and green sweater, wielding a razor-fingered glove and topped off with a fedora, when Robert Englund first appeared as the ghoulish Freddy Krueger in 1984's box office smash, A Nightmare On Elm Street, he knew he'd created something special. Little did he suspect with seven sequels and a TV series yet to come that Freddy would become the horror icon of the 80s, and Robert Englund the cult star of one of the most successful franchises in film history. After all, things could have been so very different. A classically trained thespian, schooled at the American branch of RADA, Robert's first love was really the stage. However a dispirited return to California instead brought surprise success as a screen actor, with Robert cast alongside such Hollywood legends as Henry Fonda, Burt Reynolds, Sally Field and Barbra Streisand not to mention receiving a knuckle sandwich from Kris Kristofferson. Despite stints in horror films such as Tobe Hooper's Eaten Alive and the Roger Corman flick Galaxy of Terror where he encountered a young James Cameron Robert never set out to become a cult actor. But then came his first major break as Willie, the lovably innocent alien in the hit science fiction series V and paychecks and fandom followed. A year later Freddy Krueger tore his way into our nightmares and Robert's future, stalking the dark places of celluloid unsconscious, was sealed. Now, in Hollywood Monster, he peels away the mask to look back on his unusual and amazing career, and reveals how a working stiff actor brought to life one of cinema's most enduring villains. Robert Englund gained international cult stardom as the razor-fingered horror villain Freddy Krueger in Wes Craven's 1984 classic, A Nightmare on Elm Street - a role he reprised in seven sequels. Englund has also directed and starred in many films and TV shows, including the beloved science fiction series V. www.robertenglund.com Alan Goldsher is the author of seven books and has co-written with numerous celebrities and public figures.