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Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg, also known as
Marky Mark, (born June 5, 1971 in Dorchester, Massachusetts) is an American
actor, model, and singer.
Wahlberg is from a family of nine children and is of Swedish and Irish
heritage. He first came to fame as the younger brother of Donnie Wahlberg of
New Kids on the Block. Wahlberg had run afoul of the law as a teenager - in
1986 he was charged with racial harassment of a group of African-American
students, and two years later he spent 45 days in prison after attacking and
severely injuring a Vietnamese man.
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After Wahlberg was released from prison, Donnie agreed to help his troubled
sibling restart his music career if he cleaned up his act. In 1990, after
adopting the stage name Marky Mark, Wahlberg formed the Funky Bunch with
dancers/rappers Scott Ross (aka Scottie Gee), Hector Barros (aka Hector the
Booty Inspector), Anthony Thomas (aka Ashley Ace), and Terry Yancey (aka DJ-T).
They earned hits with "Good Vibrations" and "Wild Side" from Music for the
People (where he poses with a Saab 9000).
His second LP, You Gotta Believe, was a relative failure, in large part due
to the controversy surrounding him regarding racism and homophobia. When the
story of his arrest for assault and the allegations of racism broke in the
press, things took on a decidedly darker note. Soon after, while on a
British talk show along with dancehall dee jay Shabba Ranks, he got into
even more controversy. After Ranks made the statement that gays should be
crucified, Wahlberg was accused of condoning the comments by his silence.
During this time, You Gotta Believe had not been faring well, and after the
charges surfaced, it plummeted off 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. In the mid 90s, he enjoyed some further musical success in
Europe with his musical partner Prince Ital Joe and the Eurodance-album "Life
in the streets", which included the singles "Happy People" (#4 Germany) and
"United" (#1 Germany).
At the height of his success Wahlberg released an autobiography which
featured a dedication to his own penis.
Following his fall from grace in the music world, Wahlberg decided to pursue
acting. He had had modeling experience, seen most prominently in a series of
underwear ads from Calvin Klein. After becoming an actor, he dropped the
Marky Mark moniker and became known simply as Mark Wahlberg.
His first big screen role came in Renaissance Man (1994). Some notable
filmography includes his breakout role as Dirk Diggler in Boogie Nights
(1997), the lead in Tim Burton's 2001 remake of Planet of the Apes, and a
firefighter who is facing an existential crisis in I Huckabees (2004).
Wahlberg will next appear in Martin Scorsese's The Departed, due for release
in 2006, as one of Leonardo DiCaprio's police superiors. He is currently
producing the series Entourage on HBO, which is loosely based on incidents
from his own life.
Wahlberg is dating model Rhea Durham. Their daughter, Ella Rae, was born on
September 2, 2003, and their son, Michael, was born on March 21, 2006. |
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MARK WAHLBERG PICTURES |
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