Mark Hamill's Real Name: Mark Richard Hamill

Quick answer: Mark Hamill's documented full name is Mark Richard Hamill. Encyclopaedia Britannica and Encyclopedia.com both record that form and give his birth date as September 25, 1951. Britannica lists the birthplace as Oakland, California; Encyclopedia.com says "Oakland, CA (some sources say Concord, CA)" (Encyclopaedia Britannica; Encyclopedia.com).

Real name and early life

Britannica gives the form "In full: Mark Richard Hamill." He was the fourth of seven children of William Thomas Hamill, a career officer in the United States Navy, and Virginia Suzanne Hamill; Encyclopedia.com adds "Jr." to the father's name and gives the mother's maiden name as Johnson. The family moved often, Britannica says, spending time in Virginia and elsewhere, and he graduated in 1969 from Nile C. Kinnick High School on a U.S. base in Yokosuka, Japan, where he was student-council president and a member of the drama club. He then studied drama at Los Angeles City College.

Career highlights

Early television work included recurring or guest roles on series such as General Hospital and The Bill Cosby Show, and in 1973 he voiced Corey Anders in the Hanna-Barbera series Jeannie. In 1975, on a tip from friend Robert Englund, he auditioned for a fantasy film then drafted as The Adventures of Luke Starkiller. Released on May 25, 1977, as Star Wars (later retitled Star Wars: Episode IV—A New Hope), the film made him famous as Luke Skywalker, opposite Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia. He returned as Luke in The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983), and later in the sequel trilogy beginning with The Force Awakens (2015). In January 1977 he broke his cheekbone and nose in a car accident; Britannica says scars remain visible at the start of The Empire Strikes Back. To avoid typecasting he also worked on stage, including Broadway, and built a large voice-acting career, most notably as the Joker beginning with Batman: The Animated Series (1992–95). Britannica also notes later Star Wars voice work, including Darth Bane in an episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars in 2014, and other screen roles such as Slipstream (1989) and Village of the Damned (1995). Encyclopedia.com records a Saturn Award from the Academy of Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Films in 1978 for his early Star Wars work.

Name notes for searchers

Mark Richard Hamill is the documented full name; he is known professionally as Mark Hamill. Searchers looking for Luke Skywalker, or for the animated Joker, are usually aiming at the same person.