Mark Wahlberg

Background

Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg was born on June 5, 1971, in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood. He is the youngest of nine children, two of whom are actors Robert and Donnie. His mother, Alma Elaine, worked as a bank clerk and nurse aide, and his father, Donald Edmond Wahlberg Sr., was a delivery driver and Korean War veteran. After his parents divorced in 1982, he divided his time between them. Wahlberg is of Swedish ancestry through his father and Irish ancestry through his paternal grandmother; his mother is of Irish, English, and French-Canadian descent. Wahlberg was raised a Catholic and went to Copley Square High School on Newbury Street in Boston.

A member of the 1990s boy band Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch at age 13, Wahlberg was also one of the original members of New Kids on the Block. ‘Good Vibrations,’ from their debut album “Music, For the People,” hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The second single, ‘Wildside,’ peaked at number five on Billboard’s Hot Singles Sales chart. He later collaborated with the late reggae/ragga singer Prince Ital Joe on the album “Life in the Streets.” Wahlberg first displayed his physique in the ‘Good Vibrations’ music video, and most prominently in a series of Calvin Klein underwear ads shot by Herb Ritts in 1992, followed by Calvin Klein television advertisements. Wahlberg was sometimes the sole focus of magazine and television advertisements, where he was accompanied by model Kate Moss. Annie Leibovitz also photographed Wahlberg in his underwear for “Vanity Fair’s” annual Hall of Fame issue.

In 1993, Wahlberg made his acting debut in the television film “The Substitute.” He dropped the Marky Mark nickname after this appearance. The following year, he made his big-screen debut in the Danny DeVito film “Renaissance Man.” As a basketball fan, he drew the attention of critics after co-starring as Mickey alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, in “The Basketball Diaries” in 1995, a film adaptation of Jim Carroll’s book of the same name. He made his feature film debut in James Foley’s thriller “Fear” in 1996. He received positive feedback for his roles in “Boogie Nights,” “Three Kings,” “The Perfect Storm,” and “Four Brothers.” In the early 2000s, Wahlberg appeared in remakes of 1960s films such as “Planet of the Apes,” “The Truth About Charlie,” a remake of the 1963 film “Charade,” and “The Italian Job.” In 2006 Wahlberg starred in “Invincible,” an American football drama based on the true story of bartender Vince Papale.

From 2004 to 2011, he was also the executive producer of the H.B.O. series “Entourage,” which was loosely based on his experiences in Hollywood. In 2006, he played an unpleasant, foul-mouthed Massachusetts State Police detective in Martin Scorsese’s critically acclaimed thriller “The Departed,” for which he received nominations for an Academy Award for “Best Supporting Actor,” a Golden Globe for “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture,” and a National Society of Film Critics award for “Best Supporting Actor.” In 2017, Wahlberg topped the list of the world’s highest-paid actors. His salary of $1.5 million for “All the Money in the World” reshoots in 2018 sparked a gender pay gap controversy, as his co-star Michelle Williams received less than $1,000 for the same reshoots. The money was donated by Wahlberg to the Time’s Up movement, which was co-founded by Williams.

Wahlberg produced and starred in the 2018 espionage film “Mile 22” and appeared in the Netflix film “Spenser Confidential” and the animated film “Scoob!” in 2020. Wahlberg played Victor Sullivan in the “Uncharted” film in 2022, after being cast as Nathan Drake years before.