Where Are They Now? — Mark Hamill

The Force has very much been with him.

Name: Mark Hamill

Born: September 25, 1951 in Oakland, California

Luke Skywalker in 'Star Wars

Family Life: Wife, Mary Lou - Married December 1978 - present)

3 children, Nathan Hamill (June 1979), Griffin (March 1983), Chelsea (July 1988).

He was originally cast as David on "Eight Is Enough" (1977), and asked to be released from his contract before 'Star Wars' came out because he sensed the movie would be successful and Mark wanted to focus on his movie career. ABC refused to release him from his contract, thinking that having a successful movie star connected with the show would help 'Eight is Enough.' But Mark was involved in a car crash (December 1976) and injured his face. This made him unavailable for shooting the TV series, and ABC was forced to recast the role of David, which then went to Grant Goodeve.

Made his acting debut on "The Bill Cosby Show" in 1970.

Had a voice role in the cult classic film/cartoon Wizards (1977)

Did most of his own stunts in the Star Wars movies.

Appeared in “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” (2001), which also starred Carrie Fisher. It was the first time the two had starred together since Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983). Neither of them knew that the other was involved in the project until shortly after filming had been completed.

Claims his inspiration for the vocal interpretation as 'The Joker' on the animated "Batman" (1992) came from a mixture of Hannibal Lecter and Jerry Lewis.

In 1995, he appeared in 'Village of the Damned' for director John Carpenter. That same year, Carpenter released another movie: 'In the Mouth of Madness'. A newspaper boy was played by Hayden Christensen, who went on to play his father (Anakin Skywalker) in the 'Star Wars' prequels.

Where Is He Now: Mark is still acting in films, stage and doing voice- overs for animation. Plus Mark was one of the first stars to jump on the video game craze and has been a featured player/actor or voice in many of them.

One thing that Mark does lament about is his voice has been type-cast. Yep, he has done such a wonderful job as flamboyant villains like the Joker, that these are the only type of voice roles he seems to be offered. In fact, he's got two such voice roles in production or post-production now.

In 2003 he performed in "Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks" at the Belasco Theater on Broadway.

And in 2004 he directed his first film. No other news on if this will be a new direction for him. To be honest once you see his credits you'll understand just how busy this guy is.

Interesting tidbit from Cyndi Boyar (called "Make-up artist to the stars"). She was supposed to work with Mark on a show called 'Dot.com' that was to begin shooting the week of September 11th. After the attacks this show (like so many others) got cancelled.

Cyndi also said, "I can tell you out of all the wonderful celebrities I have worked with in my almost 20 years in this business, he is one of my favorites. He is always happy and would make me laugh. A real pleasure to work with."

Write To Mark Hamill:

Mark Hamill

PO Box 124

Malibu, CA 90265