Mark Hamill

He campaigned for George McGovern during the 1972 presidential race.

Auditioned for American Graffiti (1973).

He has played the same character (Luke Skywalker) on three different series: "The Muppet Show" (1976), "Family Guy" (1999) and "Robot Chicken" (2005).

He was originally cast as David on "Eight Is Enough" (1977), and asked to be released from his contract before Star Wars (1977) came out because he sensed the movie would be successful, and Hamill 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" (1977). Hamill was then in a car crash in December 1976 and injured his face. This made him unavailable for shooting the television series, and ABC was forced to recast the role of David, which then went to Grant Goodeve.

Father of Nathan Hamill (b. 25 June 1979), Griffin Hamill (b. 4 March 1983), Chelsea Hamill (b. 27 July 1988).

He did all his own stunts in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980), except in the scene in Cloud City where he is sucked out of a window.

Has actually played two roles in the original Star Wars trilogy. That's Mark's voice on the PA system announcing that "The first transport is away" in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980).

Though in the original Star Wars trilogy he shoots a pistol and swings a lightsaber right-handed, he eats and writes left-handed. He can be seen eating left-handed in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) when in Yoda's home, throwing the skull left-handed to defeat the Rancor in Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983), and when writing left-handed on a guest appearance on the sitcom "3rd Rock from the Sun" (1996).

In addition to playing Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars trilogy, he played the part in the NPR radio dramatizations of "Star Wars" (1981) and "The Empire Strikes Back" (1983). However, he was not available to reprise the role for "Return of the Jedi" (1996).

Mark and his "Star Wars" co-star Harrison Ford were both considered for the role of the bumbling wizard "Schmendrick" in the 1982 animated adaptation of The Last Unicorn (1982).

Worked for free on Britannia Hospital (1982)

He did all his own stunts in Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) -- except two places: where "Luke Skywalker" jumps off the plank into the Sarlaac, turns, and flips back onto the plank and on the Death Star when Vader throws his lightsaber at the supports of the catwalk. According to "The Making of Return of the Jedi" by John Philip Peecher (c. 1983), his stunt double, Colin Skeaping, performed both of these stunts.

Got along quite well with his Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) castmate Ian McDiarmid, as they both had a taste for British comedy.

Director Stephen Weeks originally wanted him for the part of "Sir Gawain" in Sword of the Valiant: The Legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (1984) but the producers refused and insisted on Miles O'Keeffe.

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 asked if he could wear the boots to a showing. Hamill said no, telling him he didn't think the boy would "get out alive" if fans knew his boots were the originals.

He has played the DC Comics supervillain, the Trickster, in both live-action ("The Flash" (1990)) and animated form ("Justice League" (2001)).

Played the infamous Flash villain, The Trickster aka James Jesse (a word play for old west bandit Jesse James, a popular stunt for "Flash" creator Gardner Fox and other series writers), in both the short lived live action CBS series "The Flash" (1990), in 1991 (two episodes), and in the "Justice League" (2001) animated series in 2005, in the episode "Flash and Substance".

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

He has played the same character (the Joker) on seven different television series: "Batman" (1992), "Superman" (1996), "The New Batman Adventures" (1997), "Static Shock" (2000), "Justice League" (2001), "Birds of Prey" (2002) and "Robot Chicken" (2005).

In an ironic counterpoint to his problem of being typecast as a upright hero like "Luke Skywalker" in live-action roles, he has found that his successful career as an animation voice actor has typecast him as a player of flamboyant villains like "The Joker" in the animated "Batman" (1992) series.

In 1995, he appeared in Village of the Damned (1995) for director John Carpenter. That same year, Carpenter released another movie: In the Mouth of Madness (1994). A newspaper boy was played by Hayden Christensen, who went on to play his father (Anakin Skywalker) in the Star Wars prequels.

He accidentally hit Peter Stormare during a fight scene in Hamilton (1998).

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.