Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg (born June 5, 1971) is an American
actor,
rapper and
producer of film and
television. He was known as
Marky Mark in his earlier years and became famous in his 1991 debut as a rap musician with the band
Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch.
Early life
Born in the
Dorchester neighborhood of
Boston, Massachusetts, he is the youngest of nine children, with siblings Arthur, Jim, Paul,
Robert, Tracey, Michelle, Debbie (died in 2003 at age 44), and
Donnie born to Alma Elaine (
née McPeck), a bank clerk and nurse's aide, and Donald E. Wahlberg, a
Teamster who worked as a delivery driver. His parents divorced in 1982. Wahlberg had a
Catholic upbringing and attended Copley Square High School (but never graduated) on
Newbury Street in
Copley Square in Boston. The campus now houses Muriel Snowden International School.
As a teenager, Wahlberg stole cars, abused drugs and alcohol, and got into fights.
At fifteen, he was amongst a group who threw rocks at a group of
African American school children on a
field trip while shouting racial epithets. The following year, Wahlberg robbed a pharmacy while he was under the influence of
PCP. During the commission of the crime, he used racial slurs. He knocked one middle aged Vietnamese man unconscious and permanently blinded another in one eye before he was arrested by the police.
Wahlberg was tried as an adult and charged for
attempted murder. Pleading guilty to the lesser charge of assault, he was sentenced to two years in jail at Boston's
Deer Island House of Correction, of which he served 45 days.
In yet another incident, it was alleged the 21-year-old Wahlberg fractured the jaw of a neighbor in an unprovoked attack.
Music career
Wahlberg was assisted to fame as the younger brother of
Donnie Wahlberg of the successful 1980s and 1990s
boy band New Kids on the Block. Mark, at age thirteen, had been one of the group's original members, along with Donnie,
Danny Wood,
Jordan Knight, and
Jonathan Knight. Uninterested in the group's
bubblegum pop style, however, he soon quit. It was his departure that eventually allowed
Joe McIntyre to take his place as the fifth member of the group.
Wahlberg began recording as
Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch and earned a hit with "
Good Vibrations" from the album
Music for the People.
The record was produced by brother Donnie and later hit #1 on The
Billboard Hot 100, later becoming certified as a
Platinum single. In the video, widely broadcast on music video channels, Mark was shown boxing, lifting weights and posing shirtless, showing off his bare, muscled torso.
The second single by the group, "Wildside," peaked at #5 on
Billboards Hot Singles Sales chart and at #10 on
The Billboard Hot 100. It was certified as a
Gold single. Marky Mark opened for the
New Kids on the Block during their last tour. The second Marky Mark LP,
You Gotta Believe, wasn't as successful as the prior, yielding only a minor hit single in the title track. Wahlberg later collaborated with reggae / ragga singer
Prince Ital Joe.
Mark's cocky, street-wise persona contributed to his fame. During concert performances, he was known for being shirtless and dropping his pants. In the dedication of his 1992 book
Marky Mark, co-authored with photographer Lynn Goldsmith, Wahlberg says in the preface that "I wanna dedicate this book to my cock".
Advertising career
Wahlberg is known for his impressive
physique.
He first displayed it in the
Good Vibrations music video and most prominently in a series of underwear ads for
Calvin Klein shot by
Herb Ritts, following it with Calvin Klein television ads. In 1992 the Calvin Klein billboard in New York's
Times Square featured Wahlberg exclusively.
Magazine and television promotions would sometimes feature him exclusively or accompanied by model
Kate Moss.
Annie Leibovitz shot Wahlberg in underwear for
Vanity Fairs annual Hall of Fame issue. He made a workout video titled The Marky Mark Workout: Form... Focus... Fitness
(ISBN 1-55510-910-1).Film career
At the
Shooter premiere in London, March 2007
He earned many positive reviews after successful movies like Boogie Nights as Dirk Diggler, Three Kings, The Perfect Storm, The Italian Job, and Four Brothers.
Wahlberg starred in the American football drama Invincible, based on the true story of bartender-turned-Philadelphia Eagle Vince Papale. He is also the executive producer of the HBO series Entourage, which is loosely based on his experiences in Hollywood. He also appeared as a foul-mouthed Massachusetts State Police detective in Martin Scorsese's critically acclaimed thriller The Departed in 2006, for which he won the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor and netted him nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture.
Wahlberg has confirmed that he was approached to star in a sequel to The Departed
, but it is still early in development. The sequel would reportedly revolve around Staff Sergeant Dignam played by Wahlberg.
To prepare for his role in Shooter, Wahlberg attended long-range shooting training at Front Sight Firearms Training Institute near Pahrump, Nevada, and was able to hit a target at 2000 yards on his first day, a feat which took his instructor about six months to achieve. He has said in a number of interviews that he will retire at the age of 40 to concentrate on parenthood and professional golf. However, in early 2007 he indicated that the latter was no longer the plan as "his golf game is horrible". He stars as Jack Salmon in Peter Jackson's film of The Lovely Bones.
He starred in M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening as Eliot Moore, which opened in movie theatres on June 13, 2008. The same year, he played the title role in Max Payne, based on a video game of the same name. While promoting Max Payne
, Wahlberg became involved in a staged feud with Saturday Night Lives
Andy Samberg and threatened to "crack that big (bleep)ing nose of his." Samberg had done an impression of Wahlberg in a Saturday Night Live skit titled "Mark Wahlberg Talks To Animals." However, Wahlberg later appeared in a follow-up skit parodying both the original skit, Samberg's impression of Wahlberg, and his own threats to Samberg.
Video game career
Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch had their own video game in the
Marky Mark: Make My Video game series on the
Sega Mega-CD. Using various effects, the player is supposed to produce new versions of the videos to Marky Mark songs like "Good Vibrations" and "I Need Money". PC World.ca listed it as the eighth worst video game of all time. Recently, Wahlberg played the titular character in the
Max Payne film based on the popular
video games. Even though he played the character in the film, he has stated that he is not going to play the games.
Personal life
Wahlberg is a practicing
Roman Catholic.
He married model
Rhea Durham on August 1, 2009 in a private Catholic ceremony in
Beverly Hills, California. They have three children together, daughter Ella Rae (born in September 2003), and sons Michael (born in March 2006) and Brendan Joseph (born in September 2008). The couple announced in September 2009 that they are expecting their fourth child, which Wahlberg later announced was a daughter.
Actively involved in charity, Wahlberg established the
Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation in May 2001 for the purpose of raising and distributing funds to youth service and enrichment programs.
Wahlberg has four tattoos done by various artists including
Paul Timman. The tattoos include Sylvester the cat with Tweety in his mouth on his ankle, a tattoo of his initials MW with Wahlberg through them on his upper right arm, and a
Bob Marley tattoo with "One Love" on his upper left arm.
The final tattoo, which Wahlberg holds as his most meaningful, is the
rosary tattoed around his neck, with a crucifix and the words "In God I Trust" resting over his heart.
His father, a US Army veteran of the Korean War, died on February 14, 2008.
Discography
With the Funky Bunch
With Prince Ital Joe
Filmography
Films
Producer
