Mark Hamill (born 25 September 1951) is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of farmboy-turned-Jedi knight Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars films. Hamill's film career since Star Wars has been undistinguished, and mostly connected to bad sci-fi movies that went straight to video, but he has been successful on Broadway, as a voice actor in animation, and as a comic book creator.

Perhaps the role for which Hamill is best known, Luke Skywalker aside, is the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series and the other animated series that followed it. His success in the role has led to various villainous and/or deranged roles in other animated series, including the Gargoyle in the animated series of The Incredible Hulk, the Hobgoblin in the Spider-Man animated series, Maximus in Fantastic Four, Cock-Knocker from Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and the deranged shock jock Dr. Jak in Phantom 2040 .

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, appeared as the Trickster in the live-action television series of The Flash.

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 (using series creator Chris Roberts' first name and a contraction of Bluehair, the unofficial name of the character in the first two games), 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 .) Other notable computer-game roles (voice only) include Lieutenant Mosely in Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers, several characters in the LucasArts game Full Throttle, and Wolverine in X2: Wolverine's Revenge, the tie-in game to the movie X2: X-Men United.

It is alleged that some time after filming Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope in the late 1970s, Hamill was involved in a motorcycle accident, which caused substantial damage to his face. Supposedly he was told by his surgeons that although facial reconstruction surgery could save his career in the short term, it would have only temporary results. Over time, the scarring would become increasingly visible, and he would have to rethink his acting career. However, Hamill has been quoted that these allegations are wildly exaggerated, and that all that happened was that he broke his nose. He also says that the accident took place "way before Star Wars."

Hamill married Marilou York in 1978; they have three children. Mark Hamill is also the co-writer of The Black Pearl , a comic book mini-series published by Dark Horse Comics.

External links

• Mark Hamill at the Internet Movie Database