Heather Langenkamp

Heather Elizabeth Langenkamp (born July 17, 1964) is an American actress, filmmaker, businesswoman, and radio personality. An influential figure in horror films, Langenkamp is best known for her pioneering role as the resourceful heroine Nancy Thompson in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise.

Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Langenkamp began her acting career after being cast as an extra in Francis Ford Coppola's drama films The Outsiders (1983) and Rumble Fish (1983). While studying at Stanford University, Langenkamp got cast as a pregnant teenager in the drama film Nickel Mountain (1984) before her breakthrough role as Nancy in Wes Craven's slasher film A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984).

Langenkamp reprised her role as Nancy in Chuck Russell's fantasy horror sequel A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) before finding television success with a series regular role as Marie Lubbock in the ABC sitcom Just the Ten of Us (1988–1990). Subsequently, she portrayed a fictionalized version of herself in Wes Craven's New Nightmare and figure skater Nancy Kerrigan in the television film Tonya and Nancy: The Inside Story (1994) before taking an extensive acting hiatus.

Langenkamp later executive produced and narrated the critically acclaimed documentary Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy (2010). Langenkamp has since returned to acting, portraying a traumatized daughter in The Butterfly Room (2012), a Starfleet security officer in Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), an enigmatic hospice owner in Mike Flanagan's Netflix series The Midnight Club (2022), and a neighborhood gossip in Flanagan's The Life of Chuck (2024). She also made her directorial debut with the short film Washed Away (2019).

Langenkamp co-founded 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). She has been a disc jockey for the Malibu radio station KBUU-LP since the 2010s.