mark hamal
actor of luke skywalker
Mark Hamill was born in Oakland, California, on September 25, 1951, the fourth of seven children. His father was in the U.S. Navy, so the family relocated often, and Hamill grew up across the world, from California to New York to Japan. After Hamill graduated from high school overseas, his family moved back to the U.S. He enrolled at Los Angeles City College, where he studied drama and theater arts.
Before the Eight Is Enough pilot ever aired, Hamill landed the part of Luke Skywalker in George Lucas’ sci-fi epic Star Wars. The actor dropped out of the TV show after its first episode to hit the big screen. Star Wars was released in 1977 and immediately grabbed the world’s attention, making instant stars of all the lead actors. Luke Skywalker was the linchpin of the entire story, and Hamill was thrust front and center into stardom. What’s more, the film and its two sequels The Empire Strikes Back 1980 and Return of the Jedi 1983 reached a level of popular appeal rarely seen in any medium, attaining an iconic status that has been sustained for decades.