We almost had A Nightmare On Elm Street and Halloween mashup in 1977! That's right, Robert Englund, the definitive Freddy Krueger, and Scream Queen Jamie Lee Curtis starred in an episode of The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries before they became the horror icons they are today.

About the Episode

Season 1, Episode 10 "Mystery of The Fallen Angels" was one of Robert Englund's earliest roles. We know Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger, the killer in a red and green sweater with knives for hands, but early on in his career he starred in this episode alongside Jamie Lee Curtis. In this episode, Englund stars as Gar, a member of a carnival biker gang alongside Curtis as another member named Mary. In the episode, Nancy and friends are at a benefit performance located at a carnival and they witness a jewelry heist. After one of Nancy's friends is accused, she decides to go undercover as a runaway and join the carnival and it's biker gang to uncover the truth of what actually happened. There is a truly iconic photo of Englund and Curtis from this episode. Donning a dirty and tattered long sleeve white shirt, Englund is giving his best blue collar biker. Curtis is rocking a denim button down that is tied up and her blonde hair is covered up by a red bandana. It's definitely giving Rosie the Riveter vibes.

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Robert Englund's Early Career

Englund's early career was spent performing in a regional theater where he starred in plays by Shakespeare and Bernard Shaw. Starting in 1974, he had a couple small roles in television and film, and he even was considered for some roles in Star Wars, even though the rumor of him auditioning for Han Solo turned out not to be entirely true. He was in the same studio to audition for Apocalypse Now and the crew of Star Wars was across the hall and asked for photos of him to see if he would fit any of the roles, physically, in the film. After being turned down for both auditions, Englund went on to star in this episode of The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries and from there starred in the movies Eaten Alive and Galaxy Of Terror. Early on, he was always typecast as a nerd or a hillbilly type. This changed when he starred in the television series, V, as a friendly alien. Wanting to break free from a typecast role, he auditioned for the role of Freddy Krueger in Wes Craven's A Nightmare On Elm Street and the rest is history.

RELATED: How Robert Englund Was Necessary For Freddy Krueger To Work

robert-englund-in-hardy-boys-nancy-drew-mysteriesJamie Lee Curtis' Early Career

Englund wasn't the only one who used this episode as a stepping stone to more opportunities. For Jamie Lee Curtis, Mary was her second role ever. She actually auditioned for Nancy Drew but was ultimately turned down for the main role. A consolation was her appearance in "Mystery Of The Fallen Angels," but ultimately it was the right path for her. Shortly after this role, she starred in the Charlie's Angels TV show and eventually was cast in Halloween as leading lady Laurie Strode. She was also fired from her role in the series Operation Petticoat, which gave her the opportunity to audition for Halloween.

Coincidence that two major horror icons got their starts together? Unlikely, as it was easy to see the two stole any scene they were in together, laughing and really selling their roles. Even though this part of their careers wasn't in the horror scope, it gave them the opportunity to keep pushing forward and star along bigger names that helped to propel them to their stardom.