Mark was born 25 September 1951, in Oakland, California. The
middle child of William and Suzanne Hamill, he has six siblings:
Terry, Jan, Jeanie, William Jr, Kim, and Patrick. His father
being a captain in the United States Navy, Mark grew up in a
variety of places, including California, Virginia, New York City,
and Japan. After he graduated from Yokohama HS in 1969, the
Hamills moved back to California, where Mark entered Los Angeles
City College as a Theatre Arts major.
Mark's professional acting debut was on the original Bill Cosby
Show, in 1970. He played an ongoing role on the soap opera
'General Hospital', and was a co-star in 'The Texas Wheelers',
the first comedy show not to use a 'laugh track'. While he did a
voice-over in the animated movie 'Wizards', (his character looks
like him), his film debut was in 'Star Wars', 1977. He was in
a car accident; the wampa scene in 'The Empire Strikes Back',
1980, was written to explain the facial changes.
Mark married Marilou York in 1978. They have three children:
Nathan, born 25 June 1979; Griffin, born 4 March 1983; Chelsea,
born 27 July 1988. Their main residence is in Malibu, California.
After 'Return of the Jedi', 1983, Mark concentrated on theatre,
and appeared in several Broadway plays, including 'The Elephant
Man', and 'Amadeus'. His most challenging role was the one he
originated, that of Tony Hart in 'Harrigan 'n Hart'. He sang and
danced in that role, and garnered a Drama Desk nomination for
'Best Actor in a Musical'. He also did several off- Broadway
plays.
Returning to film in 1989, Mark has also made several guest
appearances on television shows. Two of the most recent are
'Space Cases' and 'The Outer Limits'. Using his talent for
disguising his voice, Mark is much in demand as a voice-over
actor. It's been said that he could be the next Mel Blanc. Watch
'SwatKats', 'Hollyrock-a-Bye Baby', 'Batman: The Animated
Series', and 'The Hulk' to hear how versatile he is!
Mark has done several projects in the computer games field, as
well. Most notable is as Colonel Christopher Blair in 'Wing
Commander III and IV'. 'Wing Commander: Prophecy' is in the
works.
'The Black Pearl', a five-part graphic novel Mark co-wrote with
Eric Johnson, was released on 18 September 1996. They have
adapted it to a screenplay, and the trade paperback is due out 20
August 1997.
Mark's hobbies include: reading, collecting comic books and comic
book action figures, drawing, antique toys, Beatles memorabilia,
and painting.