<span class="SFPTagline"> From SCIFIPEDIA </span>

Mark Hamill is the American-born actor who portrayed "Luke Skywalker," the hero whose character journey from wide-eyed farm boy (albeit on an alien desert world, Tatooine) to light-saber wielding Jedi Knight and galactic hero, forms the core of George Lucas's first three (or "second" three, depending how you look at it) Star Wars movies: A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi.

Mark Richard Hamill was born in California on September 25, 1951. His father being a naval captain, the family was forced to move numerous times during Hamill's formative years. These experiences prompted Hamill to resolve that, when he married and had children, he would provide them a more stable environment.

A drama major at Los Angeles City College, Hamill's earliest work was in the soap opera “General Hospital” and in such series as "The Texas Wheelers," "One Day at a Time," “Owen Marshall,” “Matlock,” “Petrocelli,” and TV movies such as “Sara T: Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic” and “The City.” His life changed when he was cast as Luke Skywalker, thus cementing him as a hero in the eyes of science fiction fans everywhere and inspiring kids all over the country to throw on karate gis, grab broomsticks, and engage in pretend lightsaber duels.

Hamill married dental hygenist Marilou York in 1978, and together they had three children over the next ten years: Nathan, Griffin and Chelsea. Keeping his promise to provide a steady homelife for his family, Hamill avoided taking any subsequent movie jobs that would require extensive time away from home. Fortunately, since Lucas had given Hamill a percentage of all income generated by "Star Wars" merchandising, money was not an issue. He continued to do genre projects such as Time Runner and the video game Wing Commander, and also appeared as "The Trickster" in the Flash television series. This laid the groundwork for his most acclaimed voice work, as "the Joker" in Batman: The Animated Series. Replacing Tim Curry in the role, Hamill's stint (which included appearances in Batman: Mask of the Phantasm and Batman Beyond) was so memorable that many fans lobbied for him to play the role in live action in the sequel to Batman Begins.

In 2002 he created the alter ego of Alan Swan and ran around the San Diego Comic Convention as “Swan,” filming a mockumentary called “Comic Book: The Movie.” Supposedly charting the comic career of non-existent hero Commander Courage, the straight-to-DVD endeavor included guest appearances by Hugh Hefner, Sid Caesar, Kevin Smith, Bill Mumy, Paul Dini and Peter David, among many others. Hamill also wrote the comic book limited series The Black Pearl (no relation to the later Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl) which was collected as a trade paperback.

He has also carved a memorable theatrical career, having a second home for his family in a Central Park West co-op. He has appeared off-Broadway in “Room Service” at the Roundabout Theater, and on Broadway in “The Elephant Man," “Amadeus," “Harrigan and Hart,” "The Nerd," and "Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks." Memorably, during one early preview performance of the latter show, Hamill's co-star, Polly Bergen, became so annoyed over technical glitches that she stormed off the stage, leaving a stunned audience staring at an equally bemused Hamill alone on stage. Hamill paused a moment, then dropped character and said hopefully, "So...wanna know how a lightsaber works?"

External Links

IMDB - Mark Hamil

International Mark Hamil Fan Club