Mark Hamill (actor)

Mark Richard Hamill (25 September, 1951, Oakland, California) is an American actor and voice actor. He is best known for his appearance in Star Wars as Luke Skywalker. Live-action and voice overs total over 200 appearances (including a regular in some episodes), further he has narrated and appeared in over 70 shows as himself. Hamill has also produced, co-produced and directed, as well as co-wrote a book.

Biography
Parents William and Suzanne Hamill (nee York), his father being in the United States Navy, Hamill grew up in a variety of places; California, Virginia, New York City, and Japan. After he graduated from Yokohama HS in 1969, the Hamill's moved back to California, where he entered Los Angeles City College as a Theatre Arts major. Mark married Marilou York in 1978 with whom he has three children and resides mainly in Malibu, California.

Background
Hamil's professional acting debut was on the original "Bill Cosby Show" in 1971. He played an ongoing role on the soap opera "General Hospital", and was a co-star in "The Texas Wheelers", the first comedy show not to use a 'laugh track'. He did a voice-over in the animated movie "Wizards" where his character resembles him. His film debut was in Star Wars in 1977.

Fame
For his portrayal of Luke Skywalker, Hamill was twice honored with the Saturn Award for Best Actor (Film) (given by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films), in 1980 for Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and in 1983 for Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.

Reprints of Joseph Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces (which influenced George Lucas as he was developing the Star Wars films) issued after the release of Star Wars in 1977, used the image of Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker on the cover.

Further work
After Return of the Jedi, 1983, Mark concentrated on theatre, and appeared in several Broadway plays, including "The Elephant Man", and "Amadeus". His most challenging role was the one he originated, that of Tony Hart in "Harrigan 'n Hart" where he sang and danced. He also did several off-Broadway plays.

Returning to film in 1989, Hamil made several guest appearances on television shows, including "Just Shoot Me!" and "The Simpsons". Other versatile voice overs include "Robot Chicken" and "Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce". He also played Fire Lord Ozai in "Avatar: The Last Airbender".

Hamill produced and starred in ComicBook: The Movie, much of which was filmed at the San Diego ComicCon in 2001. "The Black Pearl", a five-part graphic novel Mark co-wrote with Eric Johnson, was released on 18 September 1996; he recently plugged it in an appearance on "Third Rock from the Sun". It has been adapted into to a screenplay. He has done several projects in the computer games field; most notable is as Colonel Christopher Blair in "Wing Commander III", "Wing Commander IV", and "Wing Commander: Prophecy".

The New Scooby-Doo Movies

 * Corey Anders

Scooby-Doo On Zombie Island

 * Snakebite Scruggs

Scooby-Doo And The Alien Invaders

 * Steve

Night of the Living Doo

 * Mr. Shifty
 * Himself

What's New, Scooby-Doo?

 * Mortimer
 * Captain Guzman
 * Emperor Caeser Saladicus

Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA

 * 1984 Won Saturn Award Best Actor: Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)
 * 1981 Won Saturn Award Best Actor: Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
 * 1978 Nom Saturn Award Best Actor: Star Wars (1977)

Annie Awards

 * 2001 Nominated Annie Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting by a Male Performer in an Animated Feature Production: Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (2000) - As the voice of "The Joker".
 * 1994 Nominated Annie Best Achievement for Voice Acting: "Batman" (1992)

DVD Exclusive Awards

 * 2005 Won DVDX Award Best Live-Action DVD Premiere Movie: Comic Book: The Movie (2004) (Shared with: Scott Zakarin, Eric Mittleman
 * 2005 Nom DVDX Award Best Actor (in a DVD Premiere Movie): Comic Book: The Movie (2004)
 * 2005 Nom DVDX Award Best Director (of a DVD Premiere Movie): Comic Book: The Movie (2004) (V)
 * 2001 Won Video Premiere Award Best Animated Character Performance: Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (2000) Shared with: Bruce W. Timm (character designer: The Joker)

ShoWest Convention, USA

 * 1978 Won ShoWest Award Male Star of Tomorrow

Resume
Hamill has worked in a prolific amount of productions as a live actor, voice over, sound track on The Simpsons; co produced, produced, cast directed and directed as well as writing. His resume continues to build as does his list of nominations and awards. details on [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000434/ IMDb.com

Trivia

 * In Star Wars he performed a number of his own stunts.
 * George Lucas once asked Hamill to reprise the role of Luke Skywalker in a Star Wars sequel trilogy (Episodes VII, VIII and IX) as an Obi-Wan Kenobi type character who passes on the torch to the next generation of Jedi Knights and that it would be made around 2011. Lucas has recently dismissed it as nothing more than an off-hand comment.
 * On 11 January 1977, on the way to shoot one of the final scenes needed for Star Wars, Hamill was in a car accident, which caused damage to his face. An A&E Network Biography special from 2002, entitled Mark Hamill: A Force to Be Reckoned With, claims that the damage was extensive, and Hamill had to have multiple plastic surgeries to reconstruct his face. The nature of the accident was recounted in the A&E special by members of Mark's family, including his older brother, William, and his cousin, Eric Johnson. Other sources, however, claim that Mark stated he only broke his nose, needed one reconstructive surgery, and the severity of his physical injury was greatly exaggerated. In the second Star Wars film, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, he is seen with a new scar along his upper lip which may have been related to the accident. Luke's encounter with the Wampa on Hoth explains the scar in the movie.