Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg born June 5, , [ 1 ] formerly known by his stage name Marky Mark , [ 2 ] is an American actor and former rapper. His work as a leading man spans the comedy , drama , and action genres. Wahlberg was born in Boston. As a youth, he took part in a number of violent and racially motivated attacks, resulting in a felony conviction.
He gained fame as a member of the hip hop group Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch in the s, with whom he released the albums Music for the People and You Gotta Believe Wahlberg made his screen debut in Renaissance Man and had his first starring role in Fear He received critical praise for his performance as porn actor Dirk Diggler in Boogie Nights He was the world's highest-paid actor in Wahlberg served as executive producer of five HBO series: the comedy-drama Entourage β , the period crime drama Boardwalk Empire β , the comedy-dramas How to Make It in America β and Ballers β , and the documentary McMillions He is co-owner of the Wahlburgers chain and co-starred in the reality TV series about it.
Wahlberg received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Army veteran of the Korean War. After his parents divorced in , he divided his time between them. Wahlberg's father was of Swedish and Irish descent.
His mother was of Irish, English and French-Canadian ancestry. As a teenager, in and , Walhberg took part in some racially motivated attacks.
In April , Wahlberg, then 16, assaulted a middle-aged Vietnamese-American man on the street, calling him a "Vietnam fucking shit" and knocking him unconscious with a large wooden stick. Later the same day, he attacked Johnny Trinh, another Vietnamese-American, punching him in the eye. When Wahlberg was arrested and returned to the scene of the first assault, he told police officers: "I'll tell you now that's the mother-fucker whose head I split open.
