Biography for
Mark Wahlberg (I)

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Date of Birth

5 June 1971, Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA

Birth Name

Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg

Nickname

Marky Mark
Monk D

Height

5' 8½" (1.74 m)

Mini Biography

Son of Alma and Donald. Brother of 5 brothers and 3 sisters. Born in Dorchester. High-school dropout, later got GED. Did various jobs including bricklayer and was convicted of several minor felonies. Recorded two albums and toured as Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. "Music For the People" (Interscope, 1991) and "You Gotta Believe" (Interscope, 1992). Won Best Dance Single for "Good Vibrations" Still tours in Europe. Best known for dropping his pants onstage. Modeled underwear for Calvin Klein beginning in 1992 with supermodel Kate Moss in a widely-distributed campaign photographed by Herb Ritts.

IMDb Mini Biography By:

Mini Biography

Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg was born June 5th, 1971 in the poor working class district of Boston known as Dorchester, the youngest of nine children. His parents were Alma & Donald Wahlberg. The large Wahlberg brood didn't have a lot growing up, especially after his parents divorced when he was eleven. The kids crammed into a three bedroom apartment, none of them having very much privacy. After the divorce, Mark's mother has said that she became very self-absorbed with her own problems. She blames herself for her son's subsequent problems and delinquency. Wahlberg dropped out of high school at age 14 (but later got his GED) to pursue a life of petty crime and drugs. He'd spend his days scamming and stealing, working on the odd drug deal before treating himself to the substances himself. The young man also had a violent streak - one which was often aimed at minorities. At age 16, he was convicted of assault against two Vietnamese men after he had tried to rob them. As a result of his assault conviction, he was sentenced to serve 50 days in prison at Deer Island penitentiary. Whilst there, he began working out to pass time and, when he emerged at the end of his sentence, he had gone from being a scrawny young kid to a buff young man. Wahlberg also credits the jail time as being his motivation to improve his lifestyle and leave the crime behind him. Once he was released, Mark rejoined his family, who were now in the national spotlight. His older brother Donnie Wahlberg was a member of the 1980's singing sensation New Kids on the Block. Mark himself had been an original member of the band but had backed out early on - uncomfortable with the squeaky clean image of the group. A precursor to the boy-band craze, New Kids on the Block were dominating the charts and were on top of their game. Donnie decided to help his little brother out and tried to get him on the straight and narrow. He pulled some strings and got Mark set up with a recording contract. Despite a lack of singing ability, promoters took to his dance moves and a physique they knew teenage girls would love. Donnie scripted some easy songs for Mark, who collected a troupe of dancers and a DJ to become his "Funky Bunch" and "Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch" was born. His debut album, "Music for the People", was a smash hit, which was propelled along by the rapper's willingness to disrobe down to boxer-briefs on stage, not to mention several catchy tunes. Teenage girls thrilled to the rapping "bad boy". Record producer David Geffen saw in Wahlberg a cash-cow of marketing ability. After speaking to designer Calvin Klein, Marky Mark was set up as the designer's chief underwear model. His scantily clad figure soon adorned billboards across the nation. Ironically, while the New Kids on the Block's fame was dwindling as audiences tired of their syrupy lyrics, "Marky Mark"'s bad boy image was becoming even more of a commodity. He was constantly in the headlines (often of the tabloids) after multiple scandals. In 1992, he released a book dedicated to his penis. Wahlberg was constantly getting into rumored fights, most memorably with Madonna and her entourage at a Los Angeles party. While things were always intense, they were relatively harmless and made for enjoyable reading for the public. However, when the story of his arrest for assault (and the allegations of racism) broke in the press, things took on a decidedly darker note. People were not amused. Soon after, while on a British talk show along with rapper Shabba Ranks, he got into even more trouble. After Ranks made the statement that gays should be crucified, Wahlberg was accused of condoning the comments by his silence. Marky Mark was suddenly surrounded by charges of brutality, homophobia and racial hatred. His second album, "You Gotta Believe", had not been faring well and, after the charges surfaced, it plummeted from the charts. Adding to the hoopla, Wahlberg was brought to court for allegedly assaulting a security guard. He was ordered to make amends by appearing in a series of anti-bias advertisements. Humbled and humiliated by his fall from grace in the music world, Wahlberg decided to pursue another angle, acting. He dropped the "Marky Mark" moniker and became known simply as Mark Wahlberg. His first big screen role came in Penny Marshall's Renaissance Man (1994). Despite the name change, many people snickered at the idea of the has-been rapper thinking he could make it as an actor. From the get-go, he was proving them wrong. In Renaissance Man (1994), he gave an utterly charming performance as a simple but sincere army recruit. What naysayers remained found it increasingly difficult to write Mark Wahlberg off as he delivered one fine performance after another. He blew them away in the controversial The Basketball Diaries (1995) and chilled them in Fear (1996) as every father's worst nightmare. Wahlberg hit a high point in Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights (1997), in which he metamorphosed from shy young "Eddie Adams" into egomaniac porn star "Dirk Diggler". Critics and audiences were impressed with the young actor's range and abilities, not to mention certain other attributes. It seems as though Mark Wahlberg has finally put bad boy "Marky Mark" behind him. While some controversy remains (Wahlberg denies ever having been a racist), he is now taken much more seriously than he ever was before. He is one of the few teen pop sensations to survive through it and come out on top.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Julianna_Peterson@yahoo.com

Trivia

Brother of Donnie Wahlberg and Robert Wahlberg.

Named one of "People" magazines 50 Most Beautiful People in the World. [May 1992]

His older siblings are: Arthur, James, Debbie, Michelle, Paul, Tracey, Robert Wahlberg and Donnie Wahlberg. Robert, Donnie and Mark are from their mother's third marriage with Donald Wahlberg. Half Siblings from his dad's side of the family Scott Wahlberg, Buddy Wahlberg and Donna Wahlberg.

Was originally cast as Linus Caldwell in Ocean's Eleven (2001) but dropped out.

December 2001 - Bought a 5 million dollar mansion in Beverly Hills, and moved his mother in.

His music group, Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, debuted on "The Arsenio Hall Show" (1989) in the early 1990's.

[September 2, 2003] His first child with girlfriend Rhea Durham, a girl named Ella Rae was born at 4.am at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. The baby weighed in at 7 pounds, 4 ounces.

He said in one of the featurettes in The Italian Job (2003) DVD that he thought about doing the movie because it was going to be his third remake in a row (if you don't count Rock Star (2001)) after The Truth About Charlie (2002) and Planet of the Apes (2001).

Is of Swedish, Irish, German and French Canadian descent.

Narrated the documentary Juvies (2004) along with The Italian Job (2003) co-star Mos Def (Mos Def supplied poetry).

Dated actress Jordana Brewster for several years [1998-2001].

His older sister Debbie passed away just a day before his daughter Ella was born, on September 1st, 2003, leaving behind a teenaged son.

Has a tattoo of Bob Marley on his left shoulder.

Is very close to his mother.

Older brother Donnie was a member of the boy group New Kids on the Block.

Mark and his girlfriend, Rhea Durham, welcomed their second baby and first son, Michael, on March 21, 2006.

Has a summer home in Wrentham, Massachusetts.

Turned down the role of "Hero" in Feast (2005).

Turned down the lead role of "Jake Roenick" in Assault on Precinct 13 (2005).

Martin Scorsese directed Wahlberg to his very first Academy Award nomination as "Sgt. Sean Dignam" in The Departed (2006). Wahlberg has said that it's one of the roles he is most proud of.

Distant relative of Madonna and Halle Berry and nephew of John Hathorn (1641-1717), Judge in the Salem Witch trials.

Friends with Leonardo DiCaprio.

Considers The Truth About Charlie (2002) his worst film.

He and some friends were actually booked to fly on one of the planes that crashed in to the twin towers on September 11, 2001. Originally planning on flying from Boston to Los Angeles but at the last minute they decided to charter a plane to Toronto, Canada for a film festival and then from there to Los Angeles. A near brush with death that he still dreams about today. "We certainly would have tried to do something to fight. I've had probably over 50 dreams about it."

Ranked #65 on VH1's 100 Sexiest Artists.

His father Donald E. Wahlberg, a veteran of the Korean War, died on 14 February 2008.

As of 2008, he earns a reported $12-15 million per film plus a percentage of the back end profits.

While performing as Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch he often wore nothing but underpants on stage. Calvin Klein consequently asked him to model for Klein's underwear line.

Personal Quotes

I've always looked at my career as an athlete would look at his. I won't play forever. Some don't know when to walk away, but the smart ones do.

[Reflecting on his delight for starring in Walt Disney's Invincible (2006)]: It's a movie my kids can see - my nieces and nephews. I haven't had that. None of my nieces and nephews have seen Boogie Nights (1997), thank God! I haven't made too many PG movies.

[His reaction to his Oscar-nomination for The Departed (2006)]: Any time someone says you have an opportunity to work with Martin Scorsese you jump at the chance.

Marty and I were constantly in this struggle. I had problems with Marty. He was "I'm Martin Scorsese... da-dee-da." He was pushing me in different ways. But it wasn't just Marty. The whole time I was in the character so I was mad at everybody. It was Leo, Matt and Jack. Fuck Jack too. We were able to laugh about it afterwards and we have a great relationship now and we're going to do other stuff in the future.

Salary

Planet of the Apes (2001)

$10,000,000

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