Heather Langenkamp

Heather Elizabeth Langenkamp (born July 17, 1964) is an American actress, director, writer, producer, and disc jockey. Langenkamp is best known for her acting work within the horror genre, as well as television sitcoms. Langenkamp was inducted into the Fangoria Chainsaw Hall of Fame in 1995 and one of her films is preserved in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.

Langenkamp was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She appeared as an extra in the Francis Ford Coppola productions '' The Outsiders'' (1983) and ''Rumble Fish'' (1983) before making her debut as a leading actress in the little-seen '' Nickel Mountain'' (1984). Langenkamp had her breakthrough role as Nancy Thompson in Wes Craven's slasher film ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' (1984). She reprised her role as Nancy in '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors'' (1987) and portrayed a fictionalized version of herself in '' Wes Craven's New Nightmare'' (1994). Her other feature films include '' The Butterfly Room'' (2012), ''Portal'' (2019), '' Little Bites'' (2024), and '' The Life of Chuck'' (2025).

On television, Langenkamp is best recognized for appearing on the ABC sitcoms ''Growing Pains'' (1988-1990) and '' Just the Ten of Us'' (1988-1990), and the NBC television film '' Tonya and Nancy: The Inside Story'' (1994) as figure skater Nancy Kerrigan. Langenkamp experienced an acting resurgence after being cast as Dr. Georgina Stanton in Mike Flanagan's Netflix series '' The Midnight Club'' (2022).

Langenkamp runs AFX Studio with her second 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). She has worked on two documentaries about her experiences with the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' franchise: executive producing and narrating '' Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy'' (2010), and starring in and producing '' I Am Nancy'' (2011). She has been a disc jockey for the Malibu radio station KBUU-LP since the 2010s, going under the pseudonym Sandy Bottoms. She wrote and directed the short film ''Washed Away'' (2019).

Early life

Heather Elizabeth Langenkamp was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Her mother, Mary Alice (née Myers), is an artist and an abstract expressionist painter. Her father, Robert Dobie Langenkamp, was a petroleum attorney and a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Energy. She later moved to Washington, DC, where she attended the National Cathedral School for Girls, graduating in 1982.

Career

1983—1984: Early roles and ''A Nightmare on Elm Street''

At age eighteen, Langenkamp worked for the '' Tulsa Tribune'' where she saw an advertisement looking for extras for Francis Ford Coppola's '' The Outsiders'' in the summer of 1982. Auditions occurred at a nearby elementary school where the casting director took a Polaroid of her; Langenkamp got a call back to appear in a high school scene, in which she had to wear attire based on 1950s fashion. Coppola was shooting another film in Tulsa the same summer, ''Rumble Fish'', after ''The Outsiders''; Langenkamp's friend got a phone call to appear in a street scene, and her friend's mother felt more comfortable with Langenkamp going with her to the set at night. The casting director allowed her to join and gave dialogue to Langenkamp—in which she did several takes of her saying dialogue to Matt Dillon's character; ''The Outsiders'' and ''Rumble Fish'' did not include her scenes but helped her get into the Screen Actors Guild. These positive experiences made Langenkamp feel like she should attempt to pursue an acting career in Hollywood.

While studying at Stanford University, she would travel to Los Angeles on the weekends to pursue auditions, where she had her first official Hollywood audition for Drew Denbaum's independent drama film '' Nickel Mountain'' (1984). While auditioning, her rented car got hit by a runaway truck on Cahuenga Boulevard. Denbaum and the casting director helped Langenkamp during the ordeal. She bonded with them and got cast in the lead role of Callie Wells. She has expressed regret for doing the nude scene as she feared voicing her discomfort while filming—as she was an up-and-coming actress. Her next role was Beth, the daughter of Joanne Woodward and Richard Crenna's characters in the CBS television film '' Passions'' (1984). The direction towards her character received praise. Langenkamp reflects, "It was a complex part. Richard plays a philandering husband who has a son with his mistress, so my character was acting like a bridge between these two families."

Langenkamp became aware of auditions for a horror film known as ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' (1984) at the end of 1983. Casting director Annette Benson was familiar to Langenkamp as she had brought her in to read for the lead role in '' Night of the Comet'' (1984). She auditioned for the highly sought after role of fifteen-year-old heroine Nancy. There were not enough chairs to accommodate the number of actresses auditioning. Craven stated that he wanted someone very "non-Hollywood" and someone who embodied the "all-American, girl-next-door" for the role and believed that Langenkamp had these qualities. Craven informed her that she got the part in January 1984.

The people in Langenkamp's life told her she would regret starring in a slasher film at the beginning of her career, as it would affect her future acting jobs due to the genre having a stigma attached to it during the period. In 2024, Langenkamp stated, "I have to say, I did suffer that for a few years. But now, 40 years later, I’m definitely very happy that I didn’t listen to anyone.” The film grossed $25.5 million at the United States box-office and was a critical success upon release. In 2021, the Library of Congress inducted ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' into the National Film Registry.

1985—1994: Television stardom and ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' sequels

In 1985, Langenkamp got cast as Hope Sherman in the NBC television pilot ''Suburban Beat'', one of four housewives living in the fictitious Jericho Downs, who work together to solve crime. The pilot was unsold. Craven approached Langenkamp to reprise her role of Nancy in the sequel '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors'' (1987), about the survivors of Freddy Krueger's previous attempts; it opened to box office success in 1987 grossing over $44 million. Later, she had a guest appearance as Tracy in the television series ''The New Adventures of Beans Baxter'' and Monica on the soap opera ''Hotel'' (both in 1987). Langenkamp obtained further recognition when she portrayed lead character Marie Lubbock on the ABC television series '' Just the Ten of Us'', a spin-off of the popular ABC situation comedy ''Growing Pains'' (on which she guest-starred), from 1988 to 1990. Langenkamp had a cameo role as a victim in Craven's horror film '' Shocker'' (1989). Langenkamp portrayed the figure skater Nancy Kerrigan in the NBC television film ''Tonya & Nancy: The Inside Story'', released in 1994, which focused on Tonya Harding's husband's attack.

Langenkamp returned to the ''Elm Street'' franchise with '' Wes Craven's New Nightmare'', which is a standalone film, and follows the journey Freddy Krueger takes to the real world. She instead starred as a fictionalized version of herself, based on a stalking incident she was subject to that involved a fan angry over the cancellation of her show, ''Just the Ten of Us''. On the film, Langenkamp stated "It's a really interesting concept, and it's one of the only horror movies where the monster's really in the background, at least until the end. But it's all about our mentality about fear." It was released in 1994, and opened to critical praise, being cited as an influential "metahorror" film. Joe Leydon of ''Variety'' stated that she "proves she is still one of cinema’s most resourceful scream queens here." Langenkamp became pregnant with her daughter during the final stages of filming for ''New Nightmare'' and attests that after this production, she struggled to put in the effort required for a successful acting career while balancing family life, resulting in a hiatus in pursuing roles.

1995—2010s: Hiatus

Langenkamp starred in Robert Kurtzman's low-budget superhero film '' The Demolitionist'' (1995). In 1997, she portrayed housewife Lou Ann Solomon under the pursuit of shapeshifting aliens in an episode of the short-lived science fiction horror television series '' Perversions of Science''. She later starred in the direct-to-video film '' Fugitive Mind'' (1999). Langenkamp played Janet Thompson in an episode of '' JAG'' (2002). After this, she took a break from acting to focus on her family.

In 2005, she was cast in the Wes Craven horror film '' Cursed''. The film had to be reshot and rewritten, causing her to leave due to scheduling conflicts. Langenkamp starred in, executive produced, and narrated the 2010 documentary '' Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy''. Langenkamp later produced and starred in the documentary '' I Am Nancy'' (2011), which focuses on why villains become the focal point in popular culture rather than the hero and the connection her fans have to Nancy. The following year, Langenkamp appeared as the daughter of Barbara Steel's character in Jonathan Zarantonello's horror film '' The Butterfly Room'' (2012). Film critic Kim Newman, writing for ''Screen International'', singled Langenkamp out in his review, "Langenkamp—little-seen since her interesting turn in Wes Craven’s ''New Nightmare''—is outstanding."

As a partner in her husband's Special FX Make-up company, AFX Studio, she worked on the horror-comedy film ''The Cabin in the Woods''. In 2013, Langenkamp had a small role of an alien in the film, ''Star Trek Into Darkness'' in which her husband David LeRoy Anderson designed all of the Special FX make-up. In 2014, she made a cameo appearance in the fourth season of the horror anthology series ''American Horror Story'', titled ''Freak Show'', as a Tupperware party lady.

In 2015, Langenkamp portrayed Sharon Monroe in four episodes of the drama series '' The Bay'', and narrated the short horror film ''Vault of the Macabre II''. In 2016, she starred in the horror drama film ''Home''. She has a cameo appearance in the horror sequel film '' Hellraiser: Judgment''. Also that year, she portrayed the adult version of the "final girl" Donna Boone in the Syfy television horror film '' Truth or Dare'', guiding a group of teenagers with their battle with a deadly spirit that left her physically scarred several years prior.

2022—present: ''The Midnight Club'' and acting comeback

Langenkamp started the 2020s with roles in voice acting, providing a voice role in an episode of the Cartoon Network adult animated horror comedy '' JJ Villard's Fairy Tales'' (2020) and the voices of Dazzle Feather, Mayflower, and a confused mother in the animated adventure film '' My Little Pony: A New Generation'' (2021). On February 1, 2021, reports confirmed Langenkamp as being a cast member in Mike Flanagan and Leah Fong's 10-episode Netflix horror mystery-thriller series '' The Midnight Club'' (2022); an adaptation of Christopher Pike's 1994 novel of the same name as well as various other Pike novels. Langenkamp portrays Dr. Georgina Stanton, an enigmatic doctor who runs Brightcliffe Hospice, the primary setting of the series. The series premiered on October 7, 2022. While intended to have multiple seasons, Netflix ultimately canceled it in December. Langenkamp felt a personal connection to the role, stating "It was really exciting to me. You might know I lost my own son to brain cancer four years ago, and when I read the sides for the audition, I literally burst into tears because I really felt like it was a ghost story of my very own—like something very supernatural was happening that I was being asked to play this role."

In 2024, Langenkamp had a supporting role as Ellenor in Spider One's horror film '' Little Bites'', which was executive produced by Cher, followed by the crime film ''Plea''. Speaking of her role of Ellenor: "I really responded to the way my character, Ellenor, thrusts Spider’s terrifying story in a new direction. I love that I get to deliver a kind of wisdom that older women often carry with them and are mysteriously duty-bound to pass along." Flanagan later cast Langenkamp in the supporting role of Vera in his science fiction drama film '' The Life of Chuck'' (2025), based on the 2020 Stephen King novella of the same name. ''The Life of Chuck'' was released theatrically nationwide in the United States by Neon on June 13, 2025. Langenkamp is set to star in the upcoming horror films ''Last Chance Motel'', ''Dirt'', and ''Stalked''.

Personal life

Langenkamp's first husband was musician Alan Pasqua, from 1984 until 1987. Her second husband is make-up artist David LeRoy Anderson, whom she met at a wrap party for the 1988 film '' The Serpent and the Rainbow''. The couple were introduced by casting director Jill Simpson, a good friend of Langenkamp from when they worked together on '' The Outsiders'' (1983); Simpson also worked on ''The Serpent and the Rainbow''. Anderson proposed to Langenkamp on the set of ''Pet Sematary'' (1989) and they wed that year. Anderson and Langenkamp had two children: Daniel "Atticus" Anderson, who died in 2018 of brain tumor complications at age 26, and daughter Isabelle Anderson.

Selected filmography

Film

Television

Music video

* "Sleeping Bag" (1985), by ZZ Top

Awards and nominations

References

Sources

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External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Langenkamp, Heather
1964 births
20th-century American actresses
21st-century American actresses
Actresses from Tulsa, Oklahoma
American film actresses
American television actresses
Living people
National Cathedral School alumni
Stanford University alumni