Forgot to add: I know what you mean about Robert Englund. I too could not see anyone but him playing Freddy, and I think he was approached for the remake, but declined.

And yeah, he camped it up in the sequels, although in some ways I can't blame him. He's a terrific actor -- I used to know someone who went to college with him, and she said "Bobby" dazzled everyone in his drama classes -- but once he played Freddy, he was indelibly and irreversibly typecast. So he used his subsequent portrayals of Freddy as a creative outlet.