Mark Richard Hamill
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Mark Hamill originated the role of Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars trilogy beginning with Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope 1977. He reprised the role in the sequel trilogy and has voiced the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series 1992 longer than any other actor. He also won a British Academy Games Award for Performer and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2018.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Mark Hamill — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Mark Hamill by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Mark Hamill — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
Virginia Suzanne Johnson and William Thomas Hamill, a U.S. Navy captain, welcomed their son Mark Hamill on September 25, 1951 in Oakland, California. The family’s frequent moves took him to Japan, where he performed in high school productions. He attended Annandale High School in Virginia before his father was transferred, and also attended James Madison High School. Hamill majored in drama at Los Angeles City College and made his acting debut on The Bill Cosby Show in 1969.
In 1977, Hamill played Luke Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, a film that became an enormous unexpected success. He reprised the role in the sequels The Empire Strikes Back 1980 and Return of the Jedi 1983, earning Saturn Awards for Best Actor for both.
He returned as Luke Skywalker in the sequel trilogy: The Force Awakens 2015, The Last Jedi 2017, and The Rise of Skywalker 2019. Beyond Star Wars, Hamill co-starred in films like Corvette Summer 1978 and The Big Red One 1980.
He voiced the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series 1992, a role he has played in numerous adaptations. He also voiced the new Chucky in Child’s Play 2019.
On December 17, 1978, Hamill married Marilou York. They have three children: Nathan born June 25, 1979, Griffin born March 4, 1983, and Chelsea born July 27, 1988. Nathan was born in the United Kingdom while Hamill filmed The Empire Strikes Back.
Hamill has one sibling, Patrick, and is the fourth of seven children. He is a lifelong fan of Laurel and Hardy and the British rock group The Kinks.
Hamill’s portrayal of Luke Skywalker defined a generation of cinema and remains a hero in film history. His voice work as the Joker has been equally influential, with Hamill playing the character longer and in more adaptations than any other actor.
He was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2018, with George Lucas and Harrison Ford as speakers. In 2017, a street in San Diego was renamed Mark Hamill Drive in his honor. He also received a British Academy Games Award for Performer, a Disney Legends award, and an Inkpot Award.
The complete filmography of Mark Hamill — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
Every award, honor, and recognition received by Mark Hamill — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
Mark Hamill's bibliography — every authored, edited, and co-written book, ranked by edition count.
A wall of memorable lines from Mark Hamill — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
Acting in Star Wars, I Felt Like a Raisin in a Giant Fruit Salad, and I Didn’t Even Know Who the Cantaloupes Were.
I Had the Accident Way Before Star Wars Came Out, but What Really Happened Has Been Terribly Distorted. I Broke My Nose, That’s It! but I’ve Read Accounts About How My Face Has Been Reconstructed with Plastic Surgery and How I Was Pulling Myself Along the Highway with One Arm Looking for Help. I Even Heard That I Drove off a Cliff! That’s the Best One of All. Mark Hamill on His Auto Accident.
The Idea of the Force Is Basically Religion’s Greatest Hits.
You Know How There Are Some Stars Out There Who Know How to Market Themselves? I Don’t Have That.
I Never Saw Myself so Much as an Actor. I Wanted to Be a Cartoonist Like Charles M. Schulz and Create My Own World and Be Able to Have a Studio at Home and Not Commute and Be Able to Be with My Family. I Just Didn’t Have the Skills to Pull That off and so I’ve Gravitated Toward Theater Because I Like All of It.
I Think Theater Has Given Me the Opportunity to Show What a Character Actor I Can Be.
I Can’t Tell You How Much We Laughed on the Set to Have Alec Guinness in a Scene with a Big, Furry Dog That’s Flying a Space Ship.
I Love Comic Books.
I’m Waiting for My Body to Catch up with My Age.
I’ve Been Married to a Dental Hygienist for Years and If You Think I Haven’t Heard Use the Floss You’d Be Mistaken.
Ginny McSwain Is Quite Simply a Master of Her. Her Empathy with Actors, Her Easy Going Humor and Her Complete Understanding of Subtle Shading and Nuance Brings Out the Best in Every Performer. You Couldn’t Be in More Able Hands.
Walt Disney’s TV Program Pulled Back the Curtain on How Movies Were Made, Probably More Than Any Single Entity in the 60’S, and They’d Show You the Making of This, the Making of That and You’d See the Camera Crew and the Carpenters and the Wardrobe Department. There Was One That Had a Particular Impact on Me, Clarence Nash, This Distinguished Looking Man in a Suit Doing the Voice of Donald Duck.
When I Was Involved with ‘Star Wars,’ I Was Very Interested in All the Backstories, and I Used to Pepper George with All Kinds of Questions About Anything That Crossed My Mind, Because I Was Very, Very into It. but When the Job Came to an End, I Had to Move On.
People Say, ‘Oh, Now You’re Going to Be Able to Do a Whole Series of Luke Post Return of the Jedi.’ I Said, ‘I Don’t Think So.’ First of All, They Don’t Need to Tell Those Stories, but If They Do, They Could Get an Age Appropriate Actor.
Little-known facts about Mark Hamill — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
The boots Mark Hamill wore as Luke Skywalker in the first Star Wars film were kept by him. When the movie was re-released in the late 1990s, his son wanted to wear them to a showing. Hamill refused, explaining that fans might cause trouble if they recognized the boots.
He has played the DC Comics supervillain The Joker longer and in more adaptations than any other actor.
Mark Hamill’s voice is heard on the PA system announcing the first transport is away in Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back 1980.
He claims his vocal interpretation for the Joker on Batman: The Animated Series was inspired by a mixture of Hannibal Lecter and Jerry Lewis.
While typecast as a heroic character in live-action roles like Luke Skywalker, his voice acting career has typecast him as flamboyant villains like the Joker.
Hamill trained with swordmaster Bob Anderson for his role as Luke Skywalker; Anderson also trained David Prowse Darth Vader.
He performed most of his own stunts in The Empire Strikes Back, except the scene in Cloud City where he is sucked out of a window.
He appeared in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back 2001 with Carrie Fisher, their first film together since Return of the Jedi 1983. Neither knew the other was involved until after filming.
Hamill is one of three actors, along with Anthony Daniels and Billy Dee Williams, to reprise their roles from the original Star Wars trilogy in the NPR radio dramatizations.
After The Force Awakens 2015, autograph demands skyrocketed. Hamill kindly responded to fan requests to verify autograph authenticity via Twitter.
He has played the DC villain The Trickster in both live-action The Flash 1990 and 2014 and animated form Justice League 2001.
His daughter Chelsea is a huge fan of Criminal Minds 2005. He was offered the role of the Replicator in 2013, which thrilled her.
He performed almost all his own stunts in Return of the Jedi, except two: jumping off the plank into the Sarlaac and the catwalk scene where Darth Vader throws his lightsaber.
Though he shoots a pistol and swings a lightsaber right-handed in the original Star Wars trilogy, he eats and writes left-handed.
He was originally cast as David Bradford on Eight Is Enough 1977, but a car crash in December 1976 injured his face, forcing ABC to recast the role to Grant Goodeve.
In Tricksters 2015, he delivers Darth Vader’s famous line I am your father in a raspy voice.
He was almost tricked into appearing in The People vs. George Lucas 2010 but refused when he sensed an anti-Lucas vibe.
He has played Luke Skywalker on three different series: The Muppet Show, Family Guy, and Robot Chicken.
He, Joe Mantegna, and Elizabeth Taylor are the only actors to play both themselves and a fictional character on The Simpsons.
He received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on March 8, 2018, with George Lucas and Harrison Ford as speakers.
Hamill got along well with Return of the Jedi castmate Ian McDiarmid, as they both enjoyed British comedy.
He auditioned for American Graffiti 1973 and for the role of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Amadeus 1984, having played Mozart on Broadway.
George Lucas asked Hamill if he would play an Obi-Wan type Jedi Master in the sequel trilogy, which later became Star Wars Episodes VII-IX made by Disney.
He replaced Tim Curry as the voice of the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series.
Mark and Harrison Ford were both considered for the role of Schmendrick in The Last Unicorn 1982.
He accidentally hit Peter Stormare during a fight scene in Commander Hamilton 1998.
He is a lifelong fan of Laurel and Hardy and called into a radio show in June 2016 to discuss them.
He attended school in Yokohama, Japan, where he played Henry Aldrich in a high school production of Clifford Goldsmith’s What a Life.
He is a fan of Brooklyn Nine-Nine and the British rock group The Kinks.
He has three children: Nathan born 1979, Griffin 1983, and Chelsea 1988. Nathan was born in the UK while Hamill was filming The Empire Strikes Back.
He met Natalie Portman for the first time at the Golden Globe Awards on January 7, 2024.
A street in San Diego, Castleton Drive, was renamed Mark Hamill Drive on July 30, 2017.
He attended Annandale High School in Annandale, Virginia before his father was transferred.
He was offered a zombie cameo in Zombieland 2009.
He counts Peter Cushing, his Star Wars co-star, as an acting idol.
He was good friends with puppeteer Richard Hunt, who was called Uncle Richard by Hamill’s family.
He attended LACC Theater Academy, whose alumni include Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman.
Many voice-overs for Luke Skywalker in video games and other media were done by other actors; Hamill was never contacted for those.
His maternal grandfather was of Swedish descent; his other ancestry includes English, Irish, Scottish, and Welsh.
He campaigned for George McGovern during the 1972 presidential race.
He was an early fan of David Letterman, taping every episode and keeping a journal about the show.
He attended Hale Junior High School in San Diego, California.
He worked for free on the comedy-drama Britannia Hospital 1982.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Mark Hamill.
Celebrities similar to Mark Hamill — same craft, ranked by reach.
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