Mark Hamill with his wife Marilou York and daughter Chelsea at the 2005 AFI Lifetime Achievement Award tribute to George Lucas. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Mark Hamill, who plays Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars films and voices the Joker for DC Comics animated shows, is married to Marilou York. The two have been married since December 1978 and are the parents of three children.
Hamill has returned to the role of Luke for the new Disney-produced Star Wars films, including the upcoming The Last Jedi. He will be at Star Wars Celebration Orlando this week to mark the 40th anniversary of the franchise. He’ll also be on Good Morning America on April 11 for a special announcement.
Here’s what you need to know about Hamill’s wife and family.
1. They Couldn’t Have a Proper Honeymoon Because Hamill Had to Make ‘The Empire Strikes Back’
Marilou York and Mark Hamill in November 2016. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for International Myeloma Foundation)
Hamill and York married on December 17, 1978 when he was 26 and she was 23. Hamill is now 65 and York is 62. In a wedding announcement, Hamill’s agent at the time, Nancy Hutson, said they didn’t get to have a honeymoon. That’s because Hamill had to go film The Empire Strikes Back.
At the time of their marriage, York was a dental hygienist in Westwood, Los Angeles. (Her LinkedIn page notes that she studied at Parkland College in Champaign, Illinois from 1973 to 1975.) Hamill met her while she was working!
“She came into the waiting room in jeans, white coat, breasts like melons, looking like a Vargas painting,” Hamill told People Magazine in 1981. “I said, ‘They let you dress like that at work?’ She said, ‘Yeah. Next.’”
They married in a private civil ceremony.
2. Hamill Tested Her Humor on Their First Date By Taking Her to See ‘Annie Hall’
The happy couple in 2003. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Getty Images)
In his 1981 People Magazine profile, Hamill said that it was love at “first laugh.”
“I took her to Annie Hall to see if she had a sense of humor. I dropped women if they didn’t,” Hamill told People Magazine. But he knew she was really right for him when she made a quick joke during a Star Wars screening.
“There was this one close-up of a minor character, curling his lips back from his teeth. She leaned over to me and whispered, ‘Bad caps,'” he told People.
Hamill said they briefly broke up after Star Wars became a hit because he “went to Las Vegas to date 38-year-old showgirls.” This only lasted about “10 minutes” before he decided that he wanted to start a family. Meanwhile, she was waiting for Hamill to come to his senses.
“I ran my own life. But all the time I thought I was good for him, so I was hoping we’d get back together,” York told People.
3. Their Son Nathan Was Born During the Production of ‘Empire Strikes Back’
Marilou and Mark Hamill in a photo she shared on Twitter in 2012. (Twitter/Marilou Hamill)
York and Hamill’s first son is 37-year-old Nathan Hamill. He was born during the production of The Empire Strikes Back in the U.K. He was born on the Monday morning when Hamill was supposed to film the scene where Luke is dangling under Cloud City after his duel with Darth Vader. Even though Hamill stayed up all night to be with his wife and new baby, he was on the set on time the next day.
In 1999, Nathan played two uncredited background characters in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. He also voiced characters in Weasel Town, a short-lived animated series he was a writer on. Today, Hamill is an artist.
In September 2016, Nathan found himself at the center of a controversy. An ex-girlfriend and former porn star, Meagan Chen, claimed to the New York Post that after she became pregnant with Nathan’s child, Hamill wanted her to have an abortion. Chen also wrote an XOJane essay about her experiences. She also told RadarOnline in March 2017 that Nathan wasn’t paying child support. She filed a lawsuit in Clark County, Nevada.
In her XOJane essay, Chen claimed that York at one point began communicating with her via email instead of Nathan. Chen claimed that York wrote to her that they would pay for the abortion.
The baby, named Autumn, was born on October 31, 2016 and is Hamill’s first grandchild.
“This matter is of a sensitive nature, as well as confidential, and as such, the Hamill family is unable to provide a comment at this time,” a Hamill spokesman told the Post and Radar Online.
4. Son Griffin Hamill Studies Martial Arts & Is an Artist
Mark Hamill with son Griffin. (Instagram/Mark Hamill)
Their 33-year-old son Griffin is also an artist, displaying his work on his Twitter page.
Griffin, who looks so much like his dad, is also the Operations Manager at MuDo Integrated Martial Art in Santa Monica, California. He’s also a student in the adults class and social media manager. He’s an instructor for all junior classes and makes sure he gets to know students’ parents.
Last year, he earned his Green Belt and was named Student of the Year, according to his father’s Instagram page. In January, Griffin received his Black Belt.
5. York & Daughter Chelsea Work for Hamill’s Amazing Invisible Inc.
York and their 28-year-old daughter Chelsea Hamill both work for Hamill’s Amazing Invisible Inc., which is responsible for handling Hamill’s business ventures. According to York’s LinkedIn page, she is the CFO of Amazing Invisible.
Chelsea’s LinkedIn page notes that she is currently handling Amazing Invisible’s media relations and is a publicity consultant. She has helped her father build a strong social media presence and coordinated his appearances at Disney events and conventions. She also handles her father’s media appearances.
Chelsea also worked as a media consultant in London in 2016. She interned at U*styled and The Jim Henson Company. She has a Master of Communication Management and Entertainment Marketing from the University of Southern California, where she also earned her B.A.