31 Awesome Facts About Mark Hamill You Probably Didn’t Know

Mark Hamill, famous for his role as Luke Skywalker of “Star Wars,” in in his late 60s, but he shows no sign of slowing down. His fan base seems to be getting bigger if anything. Here are a few interesting things about the legendary actor:

1. Hamill is one of the most prolific, dependable, and hard-working actors, who has worked in various different genres across different platforms. He is best known by his character Luke Skywalker, in the Star Wars franchise.
2. He was born Mark Richard Hamill on September 25, 1951, in Oakland, California, United States. His parents are Virginia Suzanne and William Thomas Hamill, the U.S. Navy Captain. He has two brothers and four sisters.
3. Hamill is of English, Scottish, Welsh, Irish and Swedish ancestry, and was brought up as a staunch Roman Catholic. His family was always on move due to his father’s work.
4. He studied in various schools in different cities right from his elementary years. He went to Walsingham Academy, Poe Middle School, Hale Junior High School, James Madison High School, Annandale High School, and Nile C. Kinnick High School, from where he graduated in 1969.
5. Watching ‘The Mickey Mouse Club’ after school was his favorite activity and he remains a keen comic book reader. He named his firstborn son Nathan Elias, after the famous Walter Elias, AKA Walt.
6. As a child, he harbored dreams of cartooning but a stint with the Drama Club at Nile C. Kinnick High School made him think again. After finishing school, he joined the Los Angeles City College to study drama. He rented a garden shed for $55 a month and worked as a janitor, copyboy, and soda jerk to support himself.
7. Hamill’s first acting job was at a Renaissance Faire, performing six skits a day for $8 a day. The network television beckoned and he appeared in the Bill Cosby Show in 1970, as a member of high school poetry club.
8. His career took off with recurring role in the soap opera ‘General Hospital,’ and went on to appear in number of television series such as ‘Partridge Family,’ ‘Room 222,’ ‘Jeannie,’ ‘One Day at a Time,’ before bagging the main role in ‘The Texas Wheelers.’
9. Hamill was cast as Luke Skywalker, in the adventure fantasy film ‘Star Wars: Episode IV –A New Hope,’ in 1977. It was by chance that Robert Englund suggested Hamill to audition for the role, and this role launched his career.
10. On January 11, 1977, five months before the release of the film Star War, Hamill was driving his new BMW along a freeway in Southern California. He was driving fast while listening to Tchaikovasky’s 1812 Overture and he was in a bad accident. Surgery repaired much of the damage, using cartilage from ear to rebuild his nose.
11. Hamill admitted he was once in relationship with his co-star Carrie Fisher. They were attracted to each other and would often make out. However, they mutually agreed not to consummate their relationship.
12. He again starred in the Star Wars sequel ‘The Empire Strikes Backs’ and ‘Return of the Jedi,’ in which he did all of his own stunts. He had to bang his head sixteen times on the ceiling of Yoda’s hut before the take was concluded. He also broke his thumb during the snow speeder scene, on the day his wife gave birth to their first son.
13. He kept his Luke Skywalker boots from the first ‘Star Wars’ movie. When the movie was re-released to theaters in the late 1990s, his son wanted to wear the boots to a showing. Hamill said no, thinking that the boy wouldn’t make it out alive if the fans found out about it.
14. On December 17, 1978, Hamill married Marilou York, a dental hygienist in a private ceremony. They have three children, Nathan, Griffin, and Chelsea Elizabeth.
15. He was honored with the ‘Saturn Award for Best Actor,’ by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films, for his performances in the Star Wars sequels, ‘The Empire Strikes Back,’ and ‘Return of the Jedi.’
16. After the success of Star Wars series, he became a teen idol, featuring on the covers of prominent teen magazine such as Tiger Beat among other. To distance himself from early blockbuster role, he started acting on Broadways in plays such as ‘The Elephant Man,’ ‘Amadeus,’ ‘Harrigan ‘N Hart,’ ‘Room Service,’ and ‘The Nerd.’
17. He returned to theatrical movie after six-year break, in the science fiction film 1989, ‘Slipstream,’ and went on to feature in the films such as ‘Fall of the Eagles,’ ‘Midnight Ride,’ ‘The Guyver,’ ‘Black Magic Women,’ and ‘Time Runner’ in the early 1990s.
18. Hamill featured as Colonel Christopher Blair, in the computer games series ‘Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger,’ for the full motion video cut scenes. He went on to feature in the subsequent series of ‘The price of Freedom,’ and ‘Prophecy.’
19. As an honor to him, Castleton Drive in Clairmont, San Diego, was renamed to Mark Hamill Drive. The Castleton Drive was an important part of his life, as he spent his childhood there.
20. In 2004, he produced, directed, and starred as Donald Swan in the directed-to-DVD mockumentary. The movie won an award for Best Live-Action DVD Premiere Movie at the 2005 ‘DVD Exclusive Awards and he received Best Actor Award.
21. After a long gap he appeared in a live action film in 2011, when he starred in the Hungarian film ‘Thelomeris,’ and went to star in British horror film ‘Airborne,’ and ‘Sushi Girl,’ in 2012.
22. He first lent his voice for the character Corey Anders, in the Saturday morning cartoon TV series ‘Jeannie,’ in 1970s but gained recognition after his success as the Joker in the ‘Batman.’
23. He is also known by his voice of Hobgoblin in the ‘Spider-Man’ animated series, the Gargoyle in ‘The Incredible Hulk,’ Maximus in ‘Fantastic Four,’ Klaw in ‘Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.
24. Hamill’s animated films include ‘Sindbad: Beyond the Veil of Mists,’ as Judah in ‘Joseph: King of Dreams,’ the evil wolf Niju in ‘Balto II: Wolf Quest,’ and Chanukah Zombie in ‘Futurama: Bender’s Big Score.’
25. As a fan of David Letterman, Hamill has occasionally appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman, as well as taping every episode and keeping a journal documenting the show. His assistance was asked for determining the 1,000^th viewer mail that Letterman had answered.
26. A lifelong Democrat, he has been quite vocal in support. In run up to 2016 election for United States Senate, he endorsed P.G. Sittenfeld’s candidacy and was critical of Donald Trump, trolling him by reading tweets from the President-elect in the voice of The Joker.
27. On March 8, 2018, Hamill was honored as the 2,630^th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6834 Hollywood Boulevard in front of the El Capitan Theatre. He was inducted in the presence of George Lucas, Harrison Ford, and Leron Gubler, president and CEO of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.
28. Since December 2017, Hamill is the member of the Royal Society of Chemistry. His interest in chemistry came to light when appeared as the guest star for Channel 4’S Jamie & Jimmy’s Friday Night Feast.
29. Hamill is a lifelong fan of Laurel and Hardy. In June 2016, he called into The Ross Owen Show on Black Sky Radio to talk for over an hour about his passion for Stan and Ollie.
30. He received a Daytime Emmy Award for his voice acting as Sith Lord Darth Bane in the final episode of The Clone Wars, an animated series.
31. Mark Hamill Net Worth: $18 Million