Mark Hamill just makes me smile. I happy to see him back in the headlines and he’s having a blast with the attention. The poor guy had so many requests for birthday tweets, he had to stop doing them because he was afraid of missing people. (But, of course, it’s Mark, so he made a series of badges for his fans to post to their wall for their special day. Someone made an official Twitter page for them).
Mark also regularly posts his devotion to his wife, kids and grand-dogs (Ron Howard and Kevin Bacon always post their grand-dogs too, it warms my cold heart) . Sunday, Mark posted this to his Instagram and Twitter in honor of his 40th anniversary with his wife, Marilou Hamill:
Marilou and Mark married in 1978. Just for reference, Star Wars: A New Hope, that catapulted Mark to fame, was released in 1977. There was a lot stacked against them as a couple. I don’t remember ever reading anything about their marriage being on the rocks, either. The reason for that may be that they got that out of their system before they married. Apparently, Mark left Marilou to sow his wild oats before coming to his senses and winning her back.
Mark and Marilou called it quits as he became a household name. “I had to taste groupies and fame,” he explained. “I went to Las Vegas to date 38-year-old showgirls. I wanted to scale all these women. That was exciting for about the first 10 minutes. Eventually, I wanted something to hold onto — and a family.”
Marilou “kept busy” during their stretch apart, she said. “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.”
In April, Marilou told Good Morning America about how she and Mark have kept their love strong in the spotlight. “We don’t live in town, so we don’t go in and do all the party circuits,” she said.
It sounds like what worked for them is Marilou put more energy into Mark the man and not Mark the movie star. She just kept on with her life and didn’t give it all up just because she was dating a celebrity. And I love that it only took Mark a New York Minute to realize Marilou > Groupies. I have reminded you all repeatedly that I am not generally a romantic person but I 100% believe in love and I’m glad Mark recognized that’s what he had with Marilou. Can you imagine how many people were telling him not to get married at that stage of his career? Good for him and good for Marilou for keeping him grounded.
Happy Ruby Anniversary, Marilou and Mark!
Photo credit: Instagram Getty Images and WENN Photos
If you don’t follow him on IG or Twitter you are seriously missing out!!
Yes!
Mark was my first crush and I still crush on him 30 years later. It was so awesome to see him in TLJ, which was his best performance as Luke Skywalker.
He seems like such a great, genuine guy. Funny, down-to-earth, doesn’t take himself too seriously…I grew up on SW and have always had a soft spot for him. I’m glad he came to his senses and went back for something real instead spending his prime chasing empty conquests. Happy Anniversary Mark & Marylou!
Have you ever watched his web series on collecting? You can tell he really loves what he does. Unlike some people, he doesn’t seem to have any hang ups about his career. He’s just as proud about his voice work as he is about Star Wars and his stint on Broadway.
40 years!!! Good lord they should build a statute to you in Hollywood if you get that far. Amazing.
He seems to be a truly good guy, so I’m not surprised he has a good, lately marriage. Congrats to them!
Lovely. Makes me feel hopeful and fuzzy in all the best ways. (Off to Twitter to wish them a Happy Anniversary!)
Happy anniversary but I personally won’t accept any man who dumped me to sleep with other women.
I see that as a betrayal if he tries to come back to me after sleeping with these women.
If he really loved me then he wouldn’t have acted on his lust for other women.
Meh. I’ve been married for nearly 20 years and I feel lust for other men on the regular. I don’t act on it. But I feel it. This doesn’t change my feelings for my spouse. It just means that I’m a human with complex feelings and emotions.
In regards to the groupies, they were very young. Very young. She had the opportunity to meet and date other people as well. It’s better to be certain that marriage and family is what you want rather than rushing into it and being miserable and raising children in your misery.
I actually had a friend in college who did that to her boyfriend. She told him flat out that they needed to date other people before getting married since they’d been together since the teen years. *shrugs* It wound up working for them. Sometimes breaking with what’s comfortable is how you find what makes you happy.
Well, congratulations to them and everyone who makes it to 40 years of marriage!
Nice photos too, boy do they look young in the early pics. Young! 🙂
He is the best Joker, that is all. Very happy for them!
For purely selfish reasons I miss him reading Deranged Orangutan’s tweets voiced as The Joker.
I imagine that sort of behavior wouldn’t be as well met these days, but honestly, young couples do often separate when big life changes occur, so I’m not totally surprised it happened. It’s not like she was sitting around pining for him, either, so it sounds like she had plenty of agency in her decision. They’re a cute couple, so I’m glad it worked out in the long term.
It’s been fun watching him enjoy this resurgence of fame with the new Star Wars movies–and that’s what he’s been doing, he’s been having fun with it. He doesn’t take himself too seriously. He’s a good guy who cares about people, he’s a real person, not a Hollywood person.
I give him all the credit in the world for not self-destructing after the blistering fame of Star Wars. It occurs to me I probably should be giving some credit to Marylou as well. It can’t have been easy to go from being adored and acclaimed as Luke Skywalker to slogging away for years and years doing voice work, with the occasional guest spot on a television series. I doubt many actors could – or would – humble themselves and just continue to work at whatever jobs come their way, no matter how small.
I get all the feels with their love story!
I honestly can’t get over reading that one girl’s account of how this family tried to pressure her to have an abortion after Hamill’s son knocked her up. Obviously I don’t know the whole truth but it’s just the first thing I think of when I see Hamill and his wife.
Congratulations to them! I had 44 years with my late husband, and I wish them all that and more.