Who is Mark Hamill?

Mark Hamill is best known for his portrayal of Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars trilogy - Star Wars (1977), Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) - a role he reprised in Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017) and Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019). He also starred and co-starred in the films Corvette Summer (1978), The Big Red One (1980), and Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014). Hamill's extensive voice acting work includes a long-standing role as the Joker, commencing with Batman: The Animated Series (1992).

He majored in drama at Los Angeles City College and made his acting debut on The Bill Cosby Show (1969). He then played a recurring role (Kent Murray) on the soap opera General Hospital (1963) and co-starred on the comedy series The Texas Wheelers (1974).

Released on May 25, 1977, Star Wars (1977) was an enormous unexpected success and made a huge impact on the film industry. Hamill also appeared in The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978) and later starred in the successful sequels Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983). For both of the sequels, Hamill was honored with the Saturn Award for Best Actor given by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. He reprised the role of Luke Skywalker for the radio dramatizations of both "Star Wars" (1981) and "The Empire Strikes Back" (1983), and then in a starring role in Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017). For the radio dramatization of "Return of the Jedi" (1996), the role was played by a different actor.

He voiced the new Chucky in Child's Play (2019), taking over from Brad Dourif.

Overview

Nicknames
?, Mark Hamil, Mark, William M. Patrick, Patrick Williams

Trivia

  • Has played the DC Comics supervillain, The Joker, longer and in more adaptations than any other actor.
  • He kept his Luke Skywalker boots, from the first "Star Wars" movie. When the movie was re-released to theaters in the late 1990s, he was asked if the boots could be worn to a showing. Hamill said no, saying he didn't think the person would "get out alive" if fans knew the boots were the originals.
  • Has actually played two roles in the original Star Wars trilogy. That's Mark's voice on the PA system announcing that "The first transport is away" in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980).
  • Claims his inspiration for the vocal interpretation as The Joker on Batman: The Animated Series (1992) came from a mixture of Hannibal Lecter and Jerry Lewis.
  • In an ironic counterpoint to his problem of being typecast as a upright hero like Luke Skywalker in live-action roles, he has found that his successful career as an animation voice actor has typecast him as a player of flamboyant villains like The Joker on Batman: The Animated Series (1992).