How Old Is Mark Hamill and Who Is His Wife?
Those who were alive when the original Star Wars films were in theaters would have to be at least middle age now, which makes most of the surviving cast members Social Security age.
This is already going to make The Rise of Skywalker an emotional experience giving an official send-off to those original characters we’ve loved for 42 years.
In the case of Mark Hamill, it still doesn’t seem possible to consider him a senior. Yes, he’s older than you think, even if he doesn’t really look or act the age he is. He was also slightly older than the age he was probably portraying in the first Star Wars film.
The great thing is he’s managed a great personal life with only one wife.
How old was Mark Hamill when starting ‘Star Wars’?
While filming A New Hope, Hamill was already 26 years old. That’s probably a little older than what Luke Skywalker was supposed to be in the first film. Most people at the time probably thought he was 18 or 19. In reality, he’d already done some acting, yet somehow managed to maintain a youthfulness many start to lose by the time they’re 26.
It pays to take a look back to his first audition for Star Wars when he was 25. His youthful appearance would slightly change due to a bad car accident in January of 1977.
By the time The Empire Strikes Back released three years later, his appearance had changed a little due to needing reconstruction on his nose (and some permanent scars). Despite a slightly different countenance, it didn’t take away from Hamill’s ability to play younger.
This isn’t to say we can’t clearly see a maturity to his look and acting as the series progressed.
Hamill’s age when the first trilogy ended
The time frame through the original Star Wars trilogy was always thought to go in real-time to our own. However, we really never knew for sure. It’s amazing to think Hamill was almost in his mid-30s by the time The Return of the Jedi released.
After Hamill finished the first trilogy, he tried to find success in unrelated, live-action films. Unfortunately, he couldn’t find box office gold, outside of still looking young once turning 40. Becoming a voice actor was his ultimate destiny by the time he reached his early 40s.
Even better, Hamill managed to have a solid personal life before Empire released. He’s one of the few icons of film who managed to find the love of his life early.
His wife, Marilou York
Sure, we’ve heard all the stories about Mark Hamill making out with Carrie Fisher on the set of A New Hope. In 1978, though, Hamill met and married Marilou York, who turned out to be his only wife to date.
They’re celebrating 41 years of marriage this year, making their relationship one of the longest lasting in Hollywood. Considering she was a dental hygienist (they met when Hamill visited her office), there wouldn’t be any showbiz competition. Perhaps it’s the ultimate lesson in actors being smart enough not to marry fellow actors.
Having three kids together also helped Hamill have a satisfying family life amid the chaos of Star Wars. No doubt his kids were also a factor in why he decided to return to Luke Skywalker after trepidation.
Hamill is a senior citizen now
On September 25, Hamill will be 68 years old. Whether he’ll ever continue with new Star Wars movies/media into his 70s is entirely up in the air now, but we can’t imagine he won’t leave the door open.
What’s ironic about Hamill playing an old Luke in the last two new Star Wars movies is they made him look older than he looks in reality. Most would agree he only looks in his 50s when without a gray beard.
More ironically, if he comes back as a Force ghost in The Rise of Skywalker, they may make him look younger than he is in the real world.
