A longtime legend of the horror genre was unrecognizable when he was spotted out and about this week at the age of 77.

In the early years of his career, he auditioned unsuccessfully for one of the main roles in what was then the brand new Star Wars franchise.

He achieved his own icon status in the next decade, the 1980s, when he appeared in one of the best-remembered scary movies of all time.

As the fearsome antagonist, he sent chills down the spines of moviegoers around the world, and his character’s name is still a byword for monstrous horror villains.

But when he was seen in real life in Los Angeles this week, he was the image of a kindly gentleman stepping out for a casual sunlit stroll.

Can you guess who he is?

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The actor in question is Robert Englund, who originated the role of Freddy Krueger in the 1984 horror classic A Nightmare On Elm Street.

He received classical training in acting at the renowned Royal Academy Of Dramatic Art in London before embarking on his career back in Hollywood.

Back in the 1970s, Englund auditioned unsuccessfully for the first Star Wars film, aiming for the Han Solo role that ultimately went to Harrison Ford.

He has since claimed he was the one who persuaded Mark Hamill to audition for his star-making Luke Skywalker role in the original 1977 Star Wars picture.

‘And then I went home and told a little kid that was sleeping on my couch, after a six-pack of Heineken, all about [Star Wars], and his name was Mark Hamill,’ Englund said.

‘I said: “Hey, Lucas is doing this space movie. Maybe you’re right for it. The lead guy’s like a teenager….” So Mark got on the phone to his agent and I think he went up the next day. He nailed it, and the rest is history,’ he told Yahoo! Movies.

Hamill himself has disputed Englund’s version of events, insisting on Twitter: ‘Robert was 1 of several actors who told me about #StarWars-When I told my agent-She’d already set up an audition & still gets annoyed he takes the credit.’

He added: ‘Sleeping on his couch is nonsense! I’d been a working actor for over 6 years & had my own Apt. #SettingTheRecordStraight’.

In the early 1980s, he featured in the TV franchise V as Willie, a rough-hewn fighter in the human resistance against an alien invasion.