Mark Hamill is best known for his portrayal of Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars trilogy -
Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977),
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and
Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) - a role he reprised in
Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015),
Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017) and
Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019). He also starred and co-starred in the films
Corvette Summer (1978),
The Big Red One (1980), and
Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014). Hamill's extensive voice acting work includes a long-standing role as the Joker, commencing with
Batman: The Animated Series (1992).
Hamill was born in Oakland, California, to Virginia Suzanne (Johnson) and William Thomas Hamill, a captain in the United States Navy. He majored in drama at Los Angeles City College and made his acting debut on
The Bill Cosby Show (1969). He then played a recurring role (Kent Murray) on the soap opera
General Hospital (1963) and co-starred on the comedy series
The Texas Wheelers (1974).
Released on May 25, 1977,
Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) was an enormous unexpected success and made a huge impact on the film industry. Hamill also appeared in
The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978) and later starred in the successful sequels
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and
Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983). For both of the sequels, Hamill was honored with the Saturn Award for Best Actor given by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. He reprised the role of Luke Skywalker for the radio dramatizations of both "Star Wars" (1981) and "The Empire Strikes Back" (1983), and then in a starring role in
Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017). For the radio dramatization of "Return of the Jedi" (1996), the role was played by a different actor.
He voiced the new Chucky in
Child's Play (2019), taking over from
Brad Dourif.