Mark Hamill, most known for playing Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars film franchise, was born on September 25th, 1951, in Oakland, California.
The talented and celebrated Hamill began his acting career in the ’70s, initially starting with one time roles on various television shows. His role as Luke Skywalker is forever a part of pop-culture, making him a living Hollywood legend! Hamill’s career spans over 60 years, so, with that in mind, let us hop right into it!
From 1970 to 1977, Hamill had one-time parts in a multitude of TV shows. Some of those shows included famous sitcoms and dramas, such as The Partridge Family, One Day at a Time, and General Hospital. He even had reoccurring parts on the shows Jeannie and The Texas Wheelers. Although, his true claim to fame came in 1977 when took on the role of Luke Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope!
The Star Wars franchise was already a pop-culture staple, but Hamill’s portrayal of Luke Skywalker added a new layer of depth to the franchise. The first film he appeared in was a huge hit; it made 775.8 million dollars at the box office!
Hamill reprised his role over ten times following Episode IV! He did this in the form of traditional acting and voice work! From 1978 to 198 in over five other Star Wars production, including Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi. Hamill did not return to the Star Wars franchise until 2014.
In 2014, he voiced the character of Darth Bane on an Episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars! A year later, he reprised his rule as Luke Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens. The movie was a huge success and made 2.066 billion dollars at the box office!
You can also hear his voice in Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens video game. Hamill reprised the rule again in 2017 with the eighth film, Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi, and again in 2018 on Star Wars: Forces of Destiny. In 2019 he returns to the big screen again as the beloved character in Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker! That was the last time we saw Hamill portray the role – for now!
Whew! That was a lot to go over; let us move onto some other fantastic roles of Hamill’s!
Hamill has 350 acting credits to his name, with some of them including wildly popular TV shows! Some of those shows include,
- Codename: Kids Next Door (2002 – 2007)
- Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005 – 2008)
- Regular Show (2009 – 2017)
- Avengers Assemble (2017 – 2019)
- Robot Chicken (2005 – 2019)
And those are just a few of the many! He is one busy man!
Hamill has four projects in post and pre-production. One of them is a TV series called Invincible, an Amazon Original animated series based on the Invincible comics by Image Comics! He voices the character of Art Rosebaum.
Mark Hamill is a pop-culture icon who has dominated his profession for over six decades! His contribution to the film and television industry should not go unnoticed. We cannot wait to see him take on the role of Art Rosebaum in the upcoming animated Invincible series!