Mark Hamill who played Luke Skywalker in the 1977 "Star Wars" was born on September 25, 1951, in Oakland, California.  Hamill grew up in many different states as his father was a captain in the U.S. Navy.  His major was drama at Los Angeles City College.  The first time he appeared on television was in 1963 on the soap opera "General Hospital."  After this he did many small parts in other T.V. shows. Hamill was not really known until he got picked for the part of Luke Skywalker by George Lucas.  Mark Hamill was only 25 years old at the time, and did not know how popular this movie would make him.

Before the filming of Star Wars, Mark Hamill got into a car accident and had to get extensive surgery on his face.  The accident left him with some permanent scars on his face that can be seen in "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi."

He got married in 1978 to Mary Lou York who was his dental hygienist.

Hamill did not enjoy the same movie success as his co-star Harrison Ford because nobody could see him beyond his "Luke Skywalker" role.  Film producers had trouble casting him for other roles because they feared that the public would never accept "Luke Skywalker" as someone else.

Instead, Mark Hamill found a successful career as an animation voice actor.  He has done many different voices for cartoons such as "Scooby-Doo," and "The Powerpuff Girls," just to name a few.  He also co-wrote comic books for adults called "The Black Pearl."  Most recently he appeared playing himself in the movie Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.