Marge Thompson

Marge Thompson is a supporting character featured in the 1984 horror film A Nightmare on Elm Street, directed by Wes Craven. She was played by actress Ronee Blakley. Marge Thompson's counterpart in the 2010 remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street is Gwen Holbrook, mother of Nancy Holbrook played by Connie Britton.

Biography
Marge Thompson was the former wife of Springwood, Ohio police chief Donald Thompson and the mother of Nancy Thompson. Many years ago, Marge, Donald and many other residents of the Elm Street district decided to dispense their own private justice against a renowned child murderer named Fred Krueger. The parents tracked him down to a boiler room where he used to bring his victims and trapped him inside. They set fire to the building and left Krueger to die. Although Freddy's corporeal remains were destroyed, his spirit lived on as a monstrous demonic entity that haunted people in their nightmares. Marge kept a hold of Freddy's signature weapon, a razor glove, and hid it in within a furnace in the Thompson home at 1428 Elm Street. Marge and Donald divorced soon after and Marge turned to alcohol as a coping mechanism. She was always careful to keep the knowledge of this incident a secret from her young daughter.

In 1984, Freddy Krueger's spirit began to exact it's revenge against the children of those responsible for his death. He had already murdered a fifteen-year-old girl named Tina Gray and was now setting his sights on Nancy Thompson. When Nancy began experiencing terrible nightmares, Marge had no idea that Freddy was the one responsible for her daughter's plight. She believed that Nancy was merely suffering from the loss of her best friend. She brought her to a dream clinic in the hopes of finding a solution, but the doctors were unable to provide her with any satisfactory answers. One bizarre element that came from the visit however was when she learned that Nancy had pulled a dark brown, dirty hat out of her dream. At this point, Marge had yet to make the connection to Freddy.

Back at home, Nancy inspected the hat and found Freddy's name stitched on the inside brim. She asked her mother about Freddy, but Marge pretended that she didn't know anything. The discussion got heated and when Nancy made a remark about her mother's drinking, Marge slapped her across the face. The argument ended when Nancy threw her vodka bottle onto the floor and stormed out of the house.

Eventually, Marge decided to tell Nancy the truth about Fred Krueger. She brought her down into the basement and showed her the razor glove that she kept tucked away inside the furnace. She explained how Freddy had murdered several local children in the neighborhood, but due to a technicality, the courts were forced to let him go. She told her about the night they trapped Freddy in the boiler room and burned him alive.

Fearing that Nancy might be at risk of endangering her own life, Marge had all of the doors and windows of their house sealed with iron bars. In an inebriated state, she told Nancy, "You are going to get some sleep if it kills me".

That evening, Nancy briefly fell asleep and when she awakened, she was able to pull Freddy Krueger out of the dream world and into the real world. Freddy stalked Nancy all throughout the house, and when he wasn't able to latch onto her, decided to go after her mother instead. He attacked Marge in her bedroom while she was sleeping. Nancy and her father burst into the room in time to see Freddy towering over top of her, with her body erupting into flames.

Dream appearance
Marge Thompson also appeared in Nancy's final dream at the end of A Nightmare on Elm Street. In the dream, Marge walked Nancy outside to see her off to school. She was completely lucid and declared that she was going to give up drinking. After waving goodbye to Nancy and her friends, she is attacked by Freddy who pulls her through the window of the front door.

Notes & Trivia



 * Actress Ronee Blakley gets second billing in A Nightmare on Elm Street after John Saxon.


 * In A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, it is said that Marge Thompson died in her sleep.


 * A coincidence on Elm Street? Actress Ronee Blakley starred in the 1975 film Nashville playing a character named Barbara Jean. Ronee's counterpart from the remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street, Connie Britton is the star of the TV series Nashville.