Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg is a famous American actor and producer. He is also a businessman and a former musician and model. Wahlberg started his career as a rapper and founded the hip hop group ‘Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch’ The group released two music albums, ‘Music for the People’ in 1991 and ‘You Gotta Believe’ in 1992. Wahlberg then embarked upon a career in acting and made his acting debut in 1993 with the TV movie ‘The Substitute’.
Wahlberg made his silver screen debut in 1994 with ‘Boogie Nights’. Throughout the rest of the 1990’s and 2000’s, Wahlberg appeared in several successful films such as ‘The Basketball Diaries’, ‘Boogie Nights’, ‘Three Kings’, ‘The Perfect Storm’, ‘Planet of the Apes’, ‘The Departed’, ‘Max Payne’, ‘The Fighter’, ‘Ted’, ‘Ted 2’ etc. He has received 2 Academy Award, 2 Golden Globes and 2 SAG Award nominations over the course of his career.
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Early Life and Education
Wahlberg was born on 5 June 1971 in Dorchester, Boston, Massachusetts as the youngest of the nine children of a nurse’s aide and bank clerk mother Alma Elaine (Donnelly) and delivery driver Donald E. Wahlberg, Sr. His siblings include brother Paul, Arthur, Jim, Robert and Donnie and sisters Tracy Debbie and Donna. Wahlberg has Swedish and Irish ancestry on his father’s side and English, Irish and French-Canadian ancestry on his mother’s side and was raised as a Roman Catholic by his divorced parents who shared his custody.
Wahlberg studied at the Copley Square High School, Newbury Street, Boston but never graduated. He received his high school diploma in June 2013. As a teen, Wahlberg was addicted to cocaine and was also sent into police custody for hurling racial abuses to African-Americans and beating two Vietnamese people. Though he only served 45 days of the 2 years sentence at Suffolk County Deer Island, Correction facility, he holds a permanent felony record.
Career Rise
Wahlberg started his career as a member of the successful boy band ‘New Kids on the Block’ which was founded by his brother Donnie. He then formed his own hip hop group named ‘Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch’ which debuted in 1991 with their album ‘Music for the People’. Wahlberg made his acting debut in 1993 with the TV movie ‘The Substitute’. He gained recognition for his role as Private Tommy Lee Haywood in the comedy ‘Renaissance Man’ starring Danny DeVito. Wahlberg played an antagonist in the 1996 thriller ‘Fear’ which earned him critical acclaim.
Wahlberg’s portrayal of Eddie Adams, a por**graphic film star who rises and falls to glory in the 1997 film ‘Boogie Nights’ earned him great critical and commercial success. His next big fil was the 2001 sci-fi ‘Planet of The Apes’ starring Tim Roth and Helena Bonham Carter. Wahlberg played the leading role of Vince Papale in the 2006 drama ‘Invincible’. He also had a supporting role in the 2006 Leonardo DiCaprio starrer ‘The Departed’ which won several Academy Awards. Wahlberg’s portrayal of Micky Ward in the 2010 biopic ‘The Fighter’ earned his great critical reviews. He then went on to co-produce the HBO series ‘Boardwalk Empire’. Some of Wahlberg’s best-known films include ‘Three Kings’, ‘The Italian Job’, ‘Max Payne’, ‘Ted’, ‘Transformers: Age of Extinction’, ‘Ted 2’ etc.
Personal Life
Wahlberg started dating model Rhea Durham in 2011 and married her in August 2009 in Beverly Hills’ Good Shepherd Catholic Church, after eight years of courtship. Together, they have four children, sons named Michael and Brendan Joseph and daughters named Grace Margaret and Ella Rae.
Wahlberg was scheduled to travel onboard the American Airlines Flight 11 on 11 September 2001 but last-minute changes made him cancel the reservations. The 1.73 meter tall actor claimed in its aftermath that he would have prevented the situation had he been on board which sparked controversies from the families of the deceased. Wahlberg later apologized for his comments.
Mark Wahlberg – Net Worth
Wahlberg has an estimated net worth of approximately $225 Million