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Mark Hamill
Mark Hamill at the premiere of F.I.S.T., (1978)
BornMark Richard Hamill
Height5 ft 7 (170cm)
SpouseMarilou York

Mark Richard Hamill (born September 25, 1951) is an American actor and voice actor. Hamill is best known for his portrayal of Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars films, Colonel Christopher "Maverick" Blair in the Wing Commander franchise, and as the voice of The Joker in Batman: The Animated Series. After the Star Wars films, Hamill worked on Broadway, as a voice actor in animation and computer and video games, such as his role as Harabec Weathers and Caanon Weathers in Starsiege, and as a comic book creator.

Hamill was born in Oakland, California, to Bill and Sue Hamill. He was one of seven children; two brothers, Will and Patrick, and four sisters, Terry, Jan, Jeanie, and Kim. As a child, his father's military career meant numerous relocations, and he graduated from Nile C. Kinnick High School in Japan. He majored in drama at Los Angeles City College.

Hamill's early career included voicing the character Corey Anders on the Saturday morning cartoon Jeannie by Hanna-Barbera Productions. He also portrayed the oldest son David on the pilot episode of Eight Is Enough, though the role was later performed by Grant Goodeve. He acted in TV series such as The Texas Wheelers, the first comedy TV series without a laughtrack, General Hospital, One Day At A Time, and Matlock. One of his earliest movies was the made-for-TV film The City.

In 1978, he married dental hygenist Marilou York. They have three children together, Nathan, Griffin, and Chelsea.

The original Star Wars trilogy

For his portrayal of Luke Skywalker, Hamill was twice honoured 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.

George Lucas once asked Hamill to reprise the role of Luke Skywalker in a Star Wars sequel trilogy as an Obi-Wan Kenobi type character who passes 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.{fact}

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

Car accident

On January 11, 1977, a day before he was set to shoot one of the final scenes needed for Star Wars, Hamill was in a car accident that severely injured his face. An A&E Network Biography special from 2002, entitled Mark Hamill: A Force to Be Reckoned With, claimed the damage was extensive and that 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 Hamill's family, including his older brother, William, and his cousin, Eric Johnson.

Animation

DC Animated Universe

Hamill was the voice of the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series (which debuted in 1992), as well as most of the other spin-off series, video games, and films that followed it, and it is perhaps his most popular role outside of his work in the "Star Wars" series. He replaced Tim Curry, who had originally been cast in the role (coincidentally, Curry had also been considered for the role of the Joker in the 1989 Batman film but lost out to Jack Nicholson). Hamill had initially contributed to the series in a guest role as the evil businessman Ferris Boyle in the episode "Heart of Ice," and was later delighted when offered the role of the Joker, one of his favorite characters.

He received praise from fans and critics alike for his portrayal of the comic book icon, which combined the Joker's manic, darker qualities with a theatrical, bombastic flair. As a huge comic book fan (and creator) himself, Hamill has stated it was both an honor and a thrill to play the character. When asked by fans to act out the role in person, he would often insist that they turn around so as to not ruin the illusion.

He had many appearances as the Joker to date, like the two-part Justice League episode "Wild Cards". His last appearance, in terms of DCU chronological order, was in the direct-to-DVD film "Batman Beyond: Return Of The Joker." Wild Cards was the last one in which he appears as the Joker to air.

While many fans suggested that Hamill be chosen to reprise the role in live-action form for the upcoming The Dark Knight (2008) - the sequel to Batman Begins (2005) - Heath Ledger was ultimately cast.

Hamill also provided the voices for villains Solomon Grundy and the Trickster in the DC Animated Universe series Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. Hamill has since voiced the criminal Tony Zucco in The Batman, a more recent animated series which is unrelated to the various DC animated universe series.

Other villainous roles

His success in the role has led to various villainous roles in other animated series, including the Gargoyle in the animated series of The Incredible Hulk, the Hobgoblin in Spider-Man: The Animated Series, Maximus in Fantastic Four, Captain Stickybeard in Codename: Kids Next Door, and the deranged shock jock Dr. Jak in Phantom 2040. He even parodied his Joker role in the Tom and Jerry Kids episode "Droopy Man Returns," and in the Animaniacs episode "The Cranial Crusader," as "Johnny Bad-Note." He voiced Py-Ro in Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, Dr. Julius Pendecker in The Tick, and recorded voice tracks for Zim on Nickelodeon's Invader Zim. He ultimately was turned down for the role; the part was later given to Richard Steven Horvitz. Hamill also supplies the voice of the villain Undergrowth in the Danny Phantom episode "Urban Jungle." More recently, he provides the voice of the shadowed Fire Lord Ozai in Avatar: The Last Airbender and Skeleton King on Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go.

Anime

Two recent notable performances have included Colonel Muska in the English language version of Castle in the Sky and the Mayor of Pejite in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, both directed by Hayao Miyazaki and distributed by Disney. (His role as Muska, in particular, drew praise.) Hamill provided the voice of Commander Taylor in Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles, the sequel to the 1980s adapted anime series Robotech. He also voiced Christopher "Maverick" Blair in the animated series Wing Commander Academy.

Hamill provides the voice of Jameson Burkright in the mini-series comedy The Wrong Coast, and Yamma in the joint Cartoon Network/Production I.G. anime series IGPX Immortal Grand Prix.

Other work

After the success of the Star Wars trilogy, Hamill found that audiences identified him very closely with the role of Luke Skywalker. Not wanting to be type-cast, he left Hollywood and for a few years acted on Broadway. He starred in Amadeus, The Elephant Man, Harrigan and Hart (which was a musical), and other plays, for which he received positive reviews.

Despite his stints on Broadway, Hamill has had an expansive film career. He played the bad guy in the Swedish action movie Hamilton in 1998. Some of his other film credits include Corvette Summer, The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia, The Big Red One, Slipstream, The Guyver, and the 1995 remake of Village of the Damned. He also narrated the four-part documentary on the influence of science fiction in present society, The Sci-Fi Files. In 2001, Hamill starred in the feature-film Thank You, Good Night as a pragmatic father along side Christian Campbell, J.P. Pitoc, and Sally Kirkland.

File:The Trickster.jpg
Hamill as The Trickster.

In live-action television, Hamill had recurring roles in General Hospital and The Texas Wheelers (both pre-Star Wars), and, foreshadowing his later famous role of the Joker, he appeared as The Trickster in the live-action television series of The Flash, a role he would later reprise in the animated series Justice League Unlimited. He has also made cameo appearances on MADtv. He appeared on Saturday Night Live. Hamill appeared on an episode of 3rd Rock from the Sun, and acted as Luke Skywalker during one of the scenes. He appeared on an episode of Just Shoot Me! He also had a guest spot on The Muppet Show as both himself and his "cousin" Luke Skywalker, along with C-3PO, Chewbacca and R2-D2. In 1986, he appeared in one episode of the TV series Amazing Stories (TV series) ("Gather Ye Acorns") as Jonathan, who is advised by "Mother Nature's only son" to not discard his childhood belongings, which causes him trouble during his adult life. As he grows older, he is able to auction off his belongings and becomes rich as a result.

He also has done numerous voices for TV series and episodes: the Joker in the 2002 TV series Birds of Prey, Larry 3000 in Time Squad, Guiness on Samurai Jack, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, Swat Kats: The Radical Squadron, Principal John Smith on Totally Spies, Bruno the Kid on The Outer Limits, Dr. Cesarian on Stripperella, Family Guy, Grim & Evil, The Blues Brothers Animated Series, Cow and Chicken, The Legend of Calamity Jane, Two Stupid Dogs, The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest, Pinky and the Brain, Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, Loonatics Unleashed, and Night Light (Spongebob episode). He is also a recurring voice actor on Seth Green's Robot Chicken, and as of August 2006, on Adult Swim's Metalocalypse.

seaQuest DSV

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He played the recurring character Tobias LeConte on seaQuest DSV; a blind astrophysicist who was actually an alien from the planet Hyperion who fled to Earth to escape the tyranny of his homeworld. The Hyperions send a stormer, one of their foot-soldiers to Earth, that invades the seaQuest in search of Tobias. The stormer is ultimately killed, but, Tobias realizes he must leave Earth to protect the human race from future Hyperion attacks. Months later, seaQuest is forcibly captured by a stolen starship from Hyperion and brought back to their world to fight in their civil war. The crew, believing it to be Tobias who brought them to Hyperion, learn that he was a stormer-clone, who tricked the seaQuest crew into fighting for their tyrannical cause, with the real Tobias captured. The crew ultimately free the real Tobias, but, he warns them that the Hyperion ship must be destroyed. The crew agrees and elects to destroys the ship, not before seaQuest is destroyed herself, resulting in the apparent deaths of the majority of the crew. Tobias, and his rebel friends, use their advanced technology to rescue the seaQuest crew at the moment of their deaths and return them, and their vessel, to Earth; a process that takes ten years to complete. ("Dream Weaver", "Splashdown", "Brave New World")

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back

He appeared as Cock-Knocker in the film Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (his entrance heralded by a still shot of him with the caption, "HEY, KIDS! IT'S MARK HAMILL! (applause)", during which he used his "Joker Voice." He parodies The Trickster. He also parodies Luke Skywalker in a "bluntsaber" duel with Jay and Silent Bob in which he says, "Don't fuck with the Jedi Master, son." When his large, fake right hand prop is cut off in the film's duel, he sighs, looks at the camera and says, "Not again."

This is actually the first time both Hamill and his Star Wars co-star Carrie Fisher have appeared in a film together since Return of the Jedi. However, neither of the stars knew this fact until the film's premiere.

Comic Book: The Movie

He also directed and starred in the 2004 direct-to-DVD Comic Book: The Movie. A comic book fan who attended sci-fi and comic conventions as an ordinary fan before he became famous, Hamill has said his character was based on an exaggerated version of himself. He and his crew shot the mockumentary movie primarily during the 2002 San Diego Comic-Con, and enlisted even Stan Lee, Kevin Smith, and Hugh Hefner in small roles. The movie won an award for Best Live-Action DVD Premiere Movie at the 2005 DVD Exclusive Awards.

Wing Commander

File:BlairwcIV.jpg
Mark Hamill as Christopher Blair.

When the Wing Commander series of computer games started using full motion video cut scenes, Hamill was cast as the series protagonist, Colonel Christopher Blair, a role he played in Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger (1994), Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom (1995), and Wing Commander: Prophecy (1997). (In the 1999 Wing Commander film, set earlier in the series, the character was played by Freddie Prinze, Jr.) He did, however, have a cameo, as did many of the other actors who did a voice-over for the game. Hamill was also cast as the voice of Christopher Blair in the animated television series Wing Commander Academy.

Other computer and video game roles

Other notable computer-game roles (voice only) include Lieutenant Mosely in Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers, Assistant Director Wilson in Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix, several characters in the LucasArts game Full Throttle (including the game's main villain, Adrian Ripburger), and Wolverine in X2: Wolverine's Revenge, the tie-in game to the movie X2: X-Men United. Hamill also provided the voice for two of the primary characters of Starsiege, one of them a young warrior leading a rebellion against an empire.

He voiced the Joker in a few Batman games, notably Batman Vengeance and the Sega CD version of The Adventures of Batman & Robin. While some suspected that he reprised his role as Luke Skywalker for LucasArts' Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast and its sequel, Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, the character is in fact voiced by Bob Bergen (also the voice of Porky Pig and many others). Hamill has never voiced Luke Skywalker in any Star Wars game. He provided voices for The Scorpion King: Rise of the Akkadian. Hamill also voiced the role of Emperor Griffon in the PS2 RPG Dark Cloud 2.

He narrated a documentary on the United States' 1st Infantry Division. Footage from the documentary was used in the video game Call of Duty 2: Big Red One.

Mark Hamill's latest voice-over role is for the PlayStation 2 game, Yakuza, where he voices the role of Goro Majima, a crazed and ruthless lieutenant of a Yakuza family.

As a writer

Mark Hamill is also the co-writer of The Black Pearl, a comic book mini-series published by Dark Horse Comics. He also wrote an introduction to the Trade Paperback Batman: Riddler Two-Face which reprints various stories of the title villains to tie in with Batman Forever.


Filmography

Features

Upcoming

  • Conan: Red Nails (2007) (direct-to-DVD)

Short Subjects

References

  1. http://www.pupress.princeton.edu/titles/234.html
  2. http://www.stars.handshake.de/gossip.htm
  3. http://movies.ign.com/articles/359/359730p1.html

External links

Preceded byJack Nicholson Actors to portray the Joker
1993-2003 - DCAU 		Succeeded byKevin Michael Richardson
Preceded byoriginal Luke Skywalker
1977-1980 		Succeeded byBob Bergen

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