He was born as Mark Richard Hamill on September 25, 1951, in Oakland, California, as the fourth child of seven to parents, Bill and Sue Hamill. He has two brothers, Will and Patrick, and four sisters, Terry, Jan, Jeanie, and Kim.

Hamill’s father was in the military causing the family to move around frequently. Hamill ended up graduating from Japan’s Yokohama High School (now called Nile C. Kinnick High School). After high school he moved to Los Angeles where he studied at the Los Angeles City College and majored in theater arts.

He made his television debut in 1970 with a minor role in The Cosby Show. Then Hamill made several other small television appearances, including on General Hospital, before landing his unforgettable role as Luke Skywalker in 1977.

He went on the play Skywalker in 1980’s Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and in 1983’s Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. For his portrayal as Luke Skywalker in these Star Wars episodes, Hamill received the Saturn Award for Best Actor twice from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films.

For Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, Hamill did all his own stunts except in the scene at Cloud City where he is sucked out of a window. He also did all but two of his own stunts in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. His stunt double, Colin Skeaping, performed the two he did not do.

In 1977 Hamill suffered extensive damage to his face when he was involved in a car accident on his way to shoot one of the final scenes for Star Wars. It’s been rumored that Hamill had to have multiple plastic surgeries to reconstruct his face, but he has denied these rumors, claiming that he only broke his nose and needed one reconstructive surgery. Whatever number of surgeries Hamill required, he is seen with a new scar along his upper lip in the second Star Wars film. The scriptwriters explained this scar as the result of an encounter with Wampa the Hot.

Since his Star Wars days, Hamill has appeared in a number of movies and plays. He has also narrated the voices of several computer game characters including that of the Wolverine in X2: Wolverine’s Revenge. In 2005 Hamill did the voice-over role of the ruthless lieutenant Goro Majima in the PlayStation 2 game Yakuza.

Hamill is also the co-writer, with Eric Johnson, of the comic book mini-series The Black Pearl, published by Dark Horse Comics in 1996. He also wrote the introduction to the trade paperback Batman: Riddler Two-Face.

Hamill married Marilou York, a former dental hygenist, in 1978. They have three children: Nathan, born June 25, 1979; Griffin, born March 4, 1983; and Chelsea, born July 27, 1988.

YUDDY