Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg was born on June 5, 1971 to Alma and Donald Wahlberg. He was born in ST. Marin Hospital in Boston Massachusetts. He was the youngest of nine siblings. He had five brothers and three sisters. They all lived in a three-bedroom apartment in Dorchester. Mark's parents separated when he was eleven years old. When he was fourteen years old, he dropped out of High School. He did odd jobs such as laying bricks. He soon started to get into trouble. He started making drug runs and selling drugs. Then he started taking the drugs that he was selling. When he was 16, he was convicted of robbing and assaulting two Vietnamese men. As a result he was sentenced to Deer Island Penitentiary for fifty days. To pass the time he started working out and when he was released from prison he was a buff young man.
He was reunited with his family once again. Mark's brother Donnie Wahlberg had started a band called "New Kids on the Block". He was a member of the group but he soon backed out because the band’s image was to clean. Donnie wanted to help his brother so he got Mark in contact with record producers. Even with his lack of singing, his dancing skills won them over. The record people knew that with his physique he would be a big hit with the girls. Donnie wrote some songs for Mark. Mark hired a DJ and a dance group. This is when "Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch" was born. His striping down to his underwear and his bad boy image made him popular with the teen girls. He won best dance single for "Good Vibrations." "You Gotta Believe" (Interscope, 1992) was his second album. Also, in 1992 he started modeling underwear for Calvin Klein. He also did a widely distributed campaign photo with Kate Moss. The photograph was taken by Herb Ritts. In 1992 he also wrote a book about his penis. He was accused of allegedly assaulting a security guard. Due to this new accusation and past history he was now being called a racist, brutality, and homophobia. This resulted in his second album hitting rock bottom.
He had to do anti bias commercials. He was humiliated at his failure in the music industry he turned to acting. He scored his first role in 1994's "Renaissance Man." He played Pvt. Tommy Lee Haywood, leading the cast was Danny Devito. People didn't think that he could cut it as an actor but they were proven wrong. He played every father's worst nightmare as David McCall in 1996's "Fear." He co-starred along a side of Reese Witherspoon("Sweet Home Alabama"). In 1997 he stared in "Boogie Nights" as (Eddie Adams-Dirk Digger). His next big hit was 2001 as Captain Leo Davidson in "Planet of the Apes." It was a remake of the 1968 movie. Mark stared in the 2003 movie "The Italian Job" as Charlie Croker a thief who wants to get even with another thief Edward Norton (Steve) for killing one of his friends and stealing the gold. On Friday, October 18, 2008 Mark's new movie Max Payne opens at theaters.
In addition to being a rapper and an actor he is also a producer. He produced the movie "We Own the Night" in 2007. He is the executive producer of "Entourage" which is rumored to be loosely based on his life. He also the executive producer of a new series called "In Treatment." In 2009 the sequel to "The Italian Job" will be released called "The Brazilian Job." The old cast and crew are together once again. He went from a high school drop out to a rapping artist. Then he made the transition from a rapper that loved to drop his pants to a big box office hit. Mark has had his ups and downs but he has proved many people wrong. I think that he will continue to show us his great acting skills.
