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Fri 26 May, 2006 11:25 am
Whatever Happened To Actor Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker)
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.
Whatever Happened To Actress Lynda Carter (Wonder Woman)
Lynda Carter who is of native Mexican and American heritage was born on July 24, 1951 in Phoenix, Arizona. She gained fame in the late 70's with the popular TV show "Wonder Woman," where she played the lovely Diana Prince. Before becoming Wonder Woman, Carter had accomplished many other achievements. At the age of 14, Carter was a professional singer. She also won the title of Miss. Arizona in 1972, and eventually was crowned Miss USA the following year. A couple of years later she married her manager, Ron Samuels. However the marriage did not last, and they ended up getting a divorce.
After the end of "Wonder Woman" Carter starred in many made for television movies such as, "The Last Song" in 1980, "A Secret Between Friends," in 1996, and most recently she starred in the comedy movie "Super Troopers" in 2000 as a Governor. She also became spokesperson for the Maybeline cosmetics company in 1980. Since Carter was a professional singer, she also sang in many high rated network variety shows.
Lynda Carter now lives in Potomac, MD with her husband Robert Altman, a Washington banker who she married in 1984. Together they have two children named Jessica and James. Recently she was a guest on the Larry King Show, and also took part in the second annual Lynda Carter Golf Tournament in Jacksonville, Florida.
Not to mention the voice of the Joker on the Batman: The Animated Series tv show.
Thanks for adding that!
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Whatever Happened To Actor Erik Estrada (ChiPs)?
Everyone will remember actor Erik Estrada for his famous role as motorcycle cop Francis "Ponch" Poncherello from TV's CHiPs, which started way back in 1977. Estrada pursued a career in acting to escape the streets of Spanish Harlem, where he grew up.
In the early 1970's, he did small roles in a few films but got his big break when he landed a starring role as "Ponch" and spent the next five seasons patrolling the streets of California as touch-guy cop. Estrada used to be such a party guy during his CHiPs days that he would fly to New York most Friday's with a girl and dance at Studio 54 all night long.
What is he doing now?
The twice divorced father is now spending his off screen days with his three children Anthony, 16, Brandon 14 and Francesca 2. The 53-year-old actor is currently married to former Hollywood production coordinator Nanette Mirkovich, 43.
He spends a lot of his time fixing up the family's hillside home in Studio City, California and can be seen doing reoccurring roles on the daytime soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful.
Estrada has also done a few commercials for Dr. Pepper and also plays the voice of the character Marco in the animated show Sealab 2021, which appears on the Cartoon Network.
Erik had an Oscar worthy performance in the art house classic National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1 from a bunch of years back. He reprised his CHiPs role in it.
I highly recommend this film for two types of people: those that enjoyed Scary Movie and those that would like to give up an hour and a half of their lives that they can never get back.
I seem to recall seeing him in a cameo role in something I saw recently. Wasn't memorable, as I can't for the life of me think of the title.
Phew. Good luck with that. IMDb's Erik Estrada page is
here if you'd like to try to figure it out.
Whatever Happened To Actress Dawn Wells (Mary Ann from Gilligan's Island)?
Born in Reno, Nevada in 1938, Dawn Wells will be best known for her role as Kansas farm girl, Mary Ann, in the popular TV show Gilligan's Island.
She actually beat out actress Raquel Welch for the role!
Wells originally wanted to become a ballerina and was well on her way to accomplishing this goal before her bad knees crushed her dream. She did go on to win the Miss Nevada beauty pageant and made it to the 1960 Miss America pageant.
In school, Wells majored in drama at the University of Washington and shortly after her graduation she moved to Hollywood. She got small parts in several popular TV shows before she landed her role as Mary Ann on Gilligan's Island.
After Gilligan's Island ended, Wells found work in a few movies and theatre. She has also done over 100 TV series and talk show appearances.
"I've done everything from Shakespeare to Noel Coward to Tennessee Williams to Neil Simon," Wells said.
She also did the voices for Mary Ann and Ginger for the animated series, Gilligan's Planet, in 1982.
Wells has her own clothing line, the Wishing Wells Collection, specially designed for those who have difficulty dressing. This keeps here busy along with her summer "film actors boot camp" for aspiring actors that she runs in Wyoming.
Her latest TV gigs have been in a popular commercial for Western Union, capitalizing on her Mary Ann character.
Whatever Happened To Singer Corey Hart (Sunglasses At Night)?
Corey Hart was born on May 31, 1962 in Montreal Quebec and is best known for the popular song "Sunglasses at Night" back in 1983. The song was a smash hit and was followed by another in 1985 called "Never Surrender."
His fame also brought him roles in big movies. He was approached to star in "Back to the Future" but turned down the opportunity, and the lead role was eventually given to Michael J. Fox. Even though he became very popular in the early 80's, he did not let the stardom get to him. He knew that fame was something that comes and goes and did not want to get carried away with everything. There was a period in the 80's that Corey Hart began to withdraw from all the fame.
Eventually his popularity began to fizzle out. His next couple of albums did not do so well. His latest album called "Jade" released in 1998 was not even released in the United States. Corey Hart came back to Canada to promote the album.
Corey Hart also started working with other artists such as Celine Dion. He wrote some of the songs on her latest album called "A New Day Has Come." He also toured with her in Canada and the United States.
Recently Hart is concentrating on promoting other artists such as Canadian singer Garou. He is also working on another album that should be released in 2003.
Hart now enjoys time with his wife and three girls. He lives in Nassau, Bahamas with his wife, Julie Masse, who is also a singer. They got married in June of 2000. Hart says once he became a father it changed everything, and says it is the most important thing in his life. Hart also comments that he will never let his career choices threaten his bond with his three little girls.
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