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Mark Hamill (1951)

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Background[]

Mark Hamill ( b. 25 September 1951 ) is an American actor and writer. He has appeared in live action classic stage theater, television and cinematic roles; and has an extremely prolific career in voice acting performances.

He is considered a worldwide icon for his performances as Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars Trilogy. He exclusively starred as the character for the three films from 1977 to 1983 as well as several other television guest appearances during this period. He would go on to reprise his character over thirty years later in a series of sequel Star Wars films.

However Hamil found himself typecast over the years for the very same role that brought him his fame―resulting in him branching out into voice acting roles in a number of video games and animated TV series and films; in particular he has become well known for his extended performances for over a decade as the Joker in virtually every single TV series and several related animated movies in the DC Animated Universe (DCAU) Franchise, creating one of the most defining and memorable performances of the Clown Prince of Crime.

Filmography[]

Trivia[]

  • 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.
  • Claims his inspiration for the vocal interpretation as The Joker on Batman: The Animated Series came from a mixture of Hannibal Lecter and Jerry Lewis.
  • He kept his Luke Skywalker boots, from the first "Star Wars" movie. When the movie was re-released to theaters in the late 1990s, his son asked if he could wear the boots to a showing. Hamill said no, telling him he didn't think the boy would "get out alive" if fans knew his boots were the originals.
  • Worked for free on the comedy-drama Britannia Hospital.
  • For the New Jedi Order novelization, he reprised his role as Luke Skywalker playing his own voice in a commercial.
  • He and Robert Englund are friends, the actor best known for playing Freddy Krueger in the Nightmare on Elm Street films. Englund, himself, auditioned for the role of Luke Skywalker and, when he did not get the role, he encouraged Mark to go and audition after him.
  • Is one of three actors, along with Anthony Daniels and Billy Dee Williams, to reprise their same roles from the original Star Wars trilogy in the NPR radio dramatizations of the trilogy.
  • Has played the DC Comics supervillain, The Joker, longer and in more adaptations than any other actor.
  • Does not like having a beard, but agreed to have one for the Star Wars sequel trilogy.
  • As an honor to him, the Castleton Drive in Clairmont, San Diego, was renamed into Mark Hamill Drive. The Castleton Drive was an important part of his life, as he lived several years of his childhood there after moving with his family to San Diego. He attended the ceremony on July 30, 2017.
  • He auditioned to play Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Amadeus, having played the role on Broadway. The role went to Tom Hulce.
  • Is the co-writer of The Black Pearl, a comic book miniseries published by Dark Horse Comics. He wrote an introduction to the Trade Paperback Batman: Riddler Two-Face which reprints various stories involving the Riddler and Two-Face to tie in with Batman Forever. He has also written several stories for Simpsons Comics, including "Catastrophe in Substitute Springfields!", which parodies DC's Crisis on Infinite Earths and also references several other classic comics.
  • Tweeted he has never met Natalie Portman and revealed that the Annie Leibovitz photo-shoot for Vanity Fair magazine which featured the stars of both Star Wars trilogies was actually shot individually.
  • He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6834 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on March 8, 2018.
  • He was offered a zombie cameo in the horror comedy Zombieland.
  • Good friends with fellow voice actor Charlie Adler.

Quotes[]

  • "I have a sneaking suspicion that if there were a way to make movies without actors, George (Lucas) would do it."
  • "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 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."
  • "Even if I was traumatized by something, I might take a year of meditation, but he would double down and come back harder. Jedis don't give up! But it's not my story any more and I just have to accept that. And I then bonded very deeply with Rian, but I had to let him know how I felt."

External Links[]

IMDb Profile

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