Heather Langenkamp

Heather Elizabeth Langenkamp (born July 17, 1964) is an American actress and businesswoman. Langenkamp is best known for portraying the resourceful heroine Nancy Thompson in the A Nightmare on Elm Street films, a role that has led to her being an influential figure in horror films.

Born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Langenkamp began acting professionally after being cast as an extra in Francis Ford Coppola‘s Tulsa-shot drama films The Outsiders (1983) and Rumble Fish (1983), the latter of which she had a line of dialogue which got her into the Screen Actors Guild. While her scenes were cut from both films, the experience motivated her to pursue an acting career.

Langenkamp appeared as the lead in the independent drama film Nickel Mountain (1984) before her breakthrough role as Nancy in Wes Craven's landmark slasher film A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). Langenkamp reprised her role as Nancy in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) and portrayed a fictionalized version of herself in the influential metatextual horror film Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994). In 2010, Langenkamp worked as the executive producer and narrator for the documentary film Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy, followed by another documentary, I Am Nancy (2011).

Langenkamp had guest appearances as two different characters on the ABC sitcom Growing Pains (1988–1990), for a total of five episodes. Langenkamp reprised one of her characters, Marie Lubbock, as a main cast member in the spin-off series Just the Ten of Us (1988–1990) for three seasons. Following an acting hiatus, Langenkamp returned to acting with the horror film The Butterfly Room (2012). She has since had roles in Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), the Netflix series The Midnight Club (2022), The Life of Chuck (2024), and Last Chance Motel (2026). Langenkamp co-runs the visual effects studio AFX Studio with her husband David LeRoy Anderson, where she has worked as a special make-up effects coordinator for films such as Dawn of the Dead (2004), Cinderella Man (2005), Evan Almighty (2007), and The Cabin in the Woods (2012).