Heather Langenkamp

Heather Elizabeth Langenkamp (born July 17, 1964) is an American actress, make-up artist and producer.^[2][3] She is best known for her role as Nancy Thompson from the A Nightmare on Elm Street films and she served as executive producer and narrator to the documentary Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy. She is also known for her role as Marie Lubbock on the sitcom Just the Ten of Us and has had numerous television guest appearances.

Life and career

1964–1983: Early life and career beginnings

Langenkamp was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Her mother, Mary Alice (née Myers), is an artist, and her father, Robert Dobie Langenkamp, is a petroleum attorney who served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Energy in both the Carter Administration (where he was largely responsible for realizing the Strategic Petroleum Reserve) and the Clinton Administration (where he was largely responsible for privatizing Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 1), and as Director of the National Energy & Environmental Law & Policy Institute of the University of Tulsa College of Law.^[4][5] She is of German, Scottish, and English ancestry.^[6] Langenkamp attended Holland Hall School in Tulsa ^[7] but later moved to Washington, D.C where she graduated from The National Cathedral School for Girls in 1982.^[8] Langenkamp's first acting venture was in her late teens: a small part in Francis Ford Coppola's The Outsiders (1983), filmed to a large extent in her hometown of Tulsa and in Rumble Fish. She managed to be an extra in both films but her scenes were cut out of both of the final films.^[9]

1984–1993: A Nightmare on Elm Street and early success

In 1984, Langenkamp made her film debut portraying Callie Wells in Nickel Mountain, which is based on the novel of the same name. While she was studying at Stanford University, Langenkamp rose to prominence when Wes Craven cast her as teen heroine Nancy Thompson in his hugely successful film A Nightmare on Elm Street, the first film in what became a series. Craven wanted someone very 'non-Hollywood' to play Nancy, and he believed Langenkamp met this quality.^[10] She beat out more than 200 actresses auditioning for the part.^[11] The film was both a critical and commercial success, earning a total of $25 million at the American box office.^[12]

She portrayed Beth in the television film Passions. In 1985, Langenkamp received the Best Actress Award at the Avoriaz Film Festival for her role as Nancy.^[13] She was later cast in the television film Suburban Beat alongside Dee Wallace. The following year, she guest starred in CBS Schoolbreak Special and ABC Afterschool Specials.

Langenkamp reprised her role as Nancy in the 1987 film A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, in which she co-starred alongside Patricia Arquette and Laurence Fishburne. The film gained generally positive reviews and was a commercial success. John Saxon and Robert Englund also returned with Langenkamp in Dream Warriors. The film focused on the survivors of Freddy Krueger's previous attempts and was Patricia Arquette's debut film.^[14] The same year, she portrayed Tracy in The New Adventures of Beans Baxter and Monica in Hotel.

In between starring roles, she played Marie Lubbock on the ABC television series Just the Ten of Us, which received critical acclaim and has gained a cult following. It was a spin-off of the popular ABC situation comedy Growing Pains (on which Langenkamp guest-starred), from 1988 to 1990. That same year, she and her castmates were nominated for the Young Artist Award for Best Young Actor/Actress Ensemble in a Television Comedy, Drama Series or Special. In 1989, she had a cameo role as a victim in Wes Craven's Shocker.^[15]

1994–present: New Nightmare and continued success

Langenkamp at the Fan Expo Canada in 2014

In 1994, Langenkamp returned to the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise when she starred as herself in the critically and commercially successful film Wes Craven's New Nightmare alongside Robert Englund. The same year, she portrayed Nancy Kerrigan in Tonya & Nancy: The Inside Story. In 1995, Langenkamp starred in The Demolitionist.^[16]

She portrayed Lou Ann Solomon in one episode of Perversions of Science. In 1999, Langenkamp was cast in the film Fugitive Mind. In 2000, she had guest role in 18 Wheels of Justice as a waitress. In 2002, Langenkamp portrayed Janet Thompson in an episode of JAG. After this appearance, she took a break from acting to focus on her family.^[17]

Langenkamp and her husband, David Leroy Anderson, own and operate AFX Studio, a Special F/X Make-Up firm that is credited with the special make-up for many successful films such as Dawn of the Dead, The Cabin in the Woods, Cinderella Man, Dogtown and Z-Boys, Frost/Nixon, Bruce Almighty, Evan Almighty, Dragonfly and Angels & Demons. In 2005, Langenkamp was cast in the Wes Craven horror film Cursed. The film had to be reshot and rewritten causing Langenkamp to leave the production due to scheduling conflicts.^[18]

In 2007, Langenkamp was cast in the indie documentary film The Bet. She starred in, executive produced, and narrated the 2010 documentary Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy, which was directed by Daniel Farrands and Andrew Kasch. In 2011, Langenkamp made her documentary entitled I Am Nancy, which was a critical success.^[19] I Am Nancy focused on Langenkamp's experience portraying Nancy in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise.

In 2012, Langenkamp starred alongside Barbara Steele and Ray Wise in the horror film The Butterfly Room.^[20] The following year, she had a supporting role in the film, Star Trek Into Darkness which was critically and commercially successful. Langenkamp is behind the special effects for the anthology horror series American Horror Story. In 2014, she made a cameo appearance in American Horror Story's fourth season, Freak Show, as Female Toulouse.^[21] The following year, she was cast in the short film Intruder.^[22]

In 2016, Langenkamp starred in Home. She is set to star in the upcoming films The Sub (2016),^[23] Getting the Kinks Out (2017) and The Survivors (2017).^[24][25] On September 22, 2015 it was revealed that Langenkamp, along with AFX Studio, is behind the special effects for Scream Queens.^[26] In 2015, Langenkamp portrayed Sharon Monroe in 4 episodes of The Bay. In February 2016, it was announced that Langenkamp will have a role in Hellraiser: Judgment (2017).^[27][28][29] Langenkamp does the special effects for the series Filthy Preppy Teen$.

Personal life

Langenkamp leads a local beach clean-up effort and runs the Malibu Gum Company, a firm that sells naturally made chewing gum packaged with trading cards depicting local surfers. She married Alan Pasqua while filming A Nightmare on Elm Street in 1984, but they divorced in 1987. Many elements of the plot for Wes Craven's New Nightmare are based on an incident in which Langenkamp received numerous threatening letters from an obsessed fan after the cancellation of Just the Ten of Us.^[30] Langenkamp is married to David LeRoy Anderson since 1989 and has two children.^[31]

Filmography

Film

Television

Other works

References

External links

• Official website
• Heather Langenkamp at the Internet Movie Database
• Heather Langenkamp on Twitter
• Heather Langenkamp at AllMovie
• Heather Langenkamp at the TCM Movie Database