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Mark Hamill (born September 25, 1951 in Oakland, California) is an American actor, voice actor, writer, producer, and director who has voiced a wide variety of roles in the DCAU with the most famous being his portrayal of the Joker.
DCAU filmography
Background information
Outside of the DCAU, Mark Hamill is probably best known for his role as Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars film series. A devoted comic book fan, he was eager to play a role when Batman: The Animated Series was first being cast. When he asked if he could play one of Batman's regular rogues, he was initially given the part of sleazy corporate villain Ferris Boyle. In an interview, Andrea Romano admitted that it was counter-intuitive for them to cast iconic film hero Luke Skywalker as a villain. But Hamill's performance as Boyle tremendously impressed all of them. When they decided that Tim Curry's performance as the Joker wasn't quite right, Hamill was their first choice as a replacement. Paul Dini writes that "we all realized we had our clown. Not only was Mark's line reading dead-on, but his laugh captured all the bitter madness of the character. We looked at each other and said, 'Brrr!'". Romano also said that, in addition to his performances, Hamill was valuable to the show for his unflagging enthusiasm and deep familiarity with the comics background.
Since then, he has enjoyed a prolific career as a voice-over actor, albeit one somewhat hampered by being typecast as a player of villains. His other roles in animated series include the Hobgoblin in Spider-Man and Fire Lord Ozai in Avatar: The Last Airbender. Additionally, he has provided voice overs for numerous video games, most recently Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep as Master Eraqus. He also played the lead role, Christopher "Maverick" Blair, in the live-action cut scenes of the computer games Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger, Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom & Wing Commander: Prophecy (also appearing in the games were John Rhys-Davies, Malcolm McDowell and Thomas F. Wilson). Hamill also played the Trickster in two episodes of the live-action 1990 Flash television series, then reprised the role in Justice League Unlimited and the 2014 Flash series.
Outside of the DCAU, Hamill also provided Joker's voice (with another actor, seen only in shadows, acting as a body double) for the pilot episode of the short-lived Birds of Prey television series. He again reprised his role as Joker in a few non-DCAU projects such as the video games Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City (along with Kevin Conroy as Batman and Arleen Sorkin/Tara Strong as Harley Quinn) and DC Universe Online (again alongside Conroy and Sorkin), the DAVE School video feature Batman: New Times (with Adam West) and the Robot Chicken episode "The Arkham Redemption" (with Seth Green). After Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City, Hamill retired his performance as the Joker, to be succeeded primarily by Troy Baker and Richard Epcar, although Hamill was convinced to return as the Joker for Batman: Arkham Knight, the fourth and final installment in the Arkham Asylum game franchise, and for the animated feature film Batman: The Killing Joke.
Trivia
- With the exception of Kevin Conroy, Hamill has appeared in more DCAU productions and has returned to his respective role outside of the DC Animated Universe more than any other actor.
- While recording, Mark would insist on standing up (while everyone else sat) in order to better feel the emotions. This would be repeatedly pointed out by those who were present in numerous DVD special features.
- While driving to the recording studio, Hamill would often practice his Joker voice & laugh, even in rush-hour traffic.
See also
- List of DCAU voice actors in Batman: The Brave and the Bold
- List of DCAU voice actors in The Batman
- List of DCAU voice actors in DC Universe Video Games
- List of live-action crossovers