| Born: | 1971 6, mf=yes |
| Birthplace: | Boston, Massachusetts, United States |
| Yearsactive: | 1993 - present |
| Domesticpartner: | Rhea Durham (fiancée) |
| Url: | http://www.MarkWahlberg.com/ |
| Othername: | Marky Mark Monk D |
| Baftaawards: | Best International Programme 2007 Entourage |
| Awards: | BSFC Award for Best Supporting Actor 2006 The Departed NSFC Award for Best Supporting Actor 2006 The Departed NBR Award for Best Cast 2006 The Departed |
Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg (born June 5, 1971) is an Academy Award-nominated, BAFTA-winning American actor, former 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. He was named #1 on VH1's 40 Hottest Hotties of the 90's.
Born in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, he is the youngest of nine children, with siblings Arthur, Jim, Paul, Robert, Tracey, Michelle, Debbie, and Donnie Wahlberg. His mother, Alma Elaine (née McPeck), was a bank clerk and nurse's aide, and his father, Donald E. Wahlberg, was a Teamster who worked as a delivery driver; the two 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.[1]
As a teenager, Wahlberg was implicated in several acts of violence and vandalism. At fifteen, he was amongst a group who threw rocks at a group of African American teenagers on a field trip while shouting racial epithets; the rocks hit their targets and caused several injuries.[2] The following year, Wahlberg robbed a pharmacy while he was under the influence of PCP. During the commission of the crime, he again used racial epithets. He knocked one middle aged Vietnamese man unconscious and permanently blinded another in one eye before he was arrested by the police.[3] 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.[4] In yet another incident, the 21-year-old Wahlberg fractured the jaw of a neighbor in an unprovoked attack.[5]
Wahlberg first came 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 and squeaky-clean image, 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, earning 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 showing off his bare, well-muscled torso.[6] The second single, "Wildside," peaked at #5 on Billboards Hot Singles Sales chart and at #10 on The Billboard Hot 100.[7] 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. The project combined rap and ragga vocals with strong eurodance music (as in the singles Happy People, United, Life in the Streets, and Babylon) courtesy of Frank Peterson and Alex Christensen as producers.
He briefly became embroiled in controversy when he appeared to endorse the homophobic comments made by Shabba Ranks when they appeared as guests on the British chat show The Word.
Mark's cocky, street-wise persona contributed to his fame. During concert performances, he was known for stripping to a pair of white briefs, gyrating his hips and rubbing his crotch.[8] 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".
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[9] 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 Mark exclusively or accompanied by model Kate Moss.[10]