Mark Wahlberg biography and movies
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.

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Rate: 9.7 Max Payne

Year: 2008

Genres: Crime, Thriller, Action, Drama

Director: John Moore

Artists: Ludacris, Donal Logue, Beau Bridges, Amaury Nolasco, Mark Wahlberg


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Rate: 9.7 Max Payne

Year: 2008

Genres: Crime, Thriller, Action, Drama

Director: John Moore

Artists: Ludacris, Donal Logue, Beau Bridges, Amaury Nolasco, Mark Wahlberg


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Rate: 9.7 Max Payne

Year: 2008

Genres: Crime, Thriller, Action, Drama

Director: John Moore

Artists: Ludacris, Donal Logue, Beau Bridges, Amaury Nolasco, Mark Wahlberg


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Rate: 9.7 The Happening

Year: 2008

Genres: Mystery, Horror, Thriller, Drama

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Artists: John Leguizamo, Alma Moore, Zooey Deschanel, Elliot Moore, Mark Wahlberg


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Rate: 9.7 The Happening

Year: 2008

Genres: Mystery, Horror, Thriller, Drama

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Artists: John Leguizamo, Alma Moore, Zooey Deschanel, Elliot Moore, Mark Wahlberg


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Rate: 5.4 Max Payne

Year: 2008

Genres: Thriller, Mystery, Drama, Crime

Director: John Moore

Artists: Mark Wahlberg, Donal Logue, Ludacris, Amaury Nolasco, Beau Bridges


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Rate: 9.7 The Happening

Year: 2008

Genres: Documentary, Mystery, Sci-Fi

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Artists: Ashlyn Sanchez, John Leguizamo, Betty Buckley, Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel


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Rate: 9.7 Max Payne

Year: 2008

Genres: Drama, Crime, Action

Director: John Moore

Artists: Mila Kunis, Beau Bridges, Ludacris, Chris O\\, Mark Wahlberg


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Rate: 9.7 Max Payne

Year: 2008

Genres: Action, Crime, Drama

Director: John Moore

Artists: Ludacris, Mark Wahlberg, Donal Logue, Mila Kunis, Beau Bridges


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Rate: 7.7 Entourage S05E02: Unlike A Virgin

Year: 2008

Genres: Comedy

Director: Mark Mylod

Artists: Nick, Carla Gugino, Jeremy Piven, Mark Wahlberg, Lukas Haas


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Rate: 5.2 The Happening

Year: 2008

Genres: Sci-Fi, Mystery, Thriller, Drama

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Artists: Spencer Breslin, Frank Collison, John Leguizamo, Zooey Deschanel, Mark Wahlberg


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Rate: 5.2 The Happening

Year: 2008

Genres: Sci-Fi, Mystery, Thriller, Drama

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Artists: Spencer Breslin, Frank Collison, John Leguizamo, Zooey Deschanel, Mark Wahlberg


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Rate: 7.2 Shooter

Year: 2007

Genres: Action, Crime, Mystery, Thriller

Director: Antoine Fuqua

Artists: Rhona Mitra, Danny Glover, Rade Serbedzija, Mark Wahlberg, Kate Mara


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Rate: 9.7 Shooter

Year: 2007

Genres: Action, Crime, Mystery

Director: Antoine Fuqua

Artists: Danny Glover, Mark Wahlberg, Michael Peña, Kate Mara, Elias Koteas


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Rate: 7 We Own The Night

Year: 2007

Genres: Crime, Thriller, Drama

Director: James Gray

Artists: Alex Veadov, Danny Hoch, Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg, Eva Mendes


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Rate: 7 Invincible

Year: 2006

Genres: Sport, Drama, Biography

Director: Ericson Core

Artists: Michael Kelly, Michael Nouri, Greg Kinnear, Mark Wahlberg, Elizabeth Banks


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Rate: 9.7 The Departed

Year: 2006

Genres: Crime, Drama, Mystery

Director: Martin Scorsese

Artists: Matt Damon, Martin Sheen, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg


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Rate: 8.5 The Departed

Year: 2006

Genres: Thriller, Crime, Mystery

Director: Martin Scorsese

Artists: Jack Nicholson, Mark Rolston, Mark Wahlberg, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon


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Rate: 6.8 Four Brothers

Year: 2005

Genres: Thriller, Mystery, Drama, Crime

Director: John Singleton

Artists: Jeremiah Mercer, Angel Mercer, Tyrese Gibson, Bobby Mercer, Mark Wahlberg


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Rate: 6.8 I Heart Huckabees

Year: 2004

Genres: Drama, Comedy

Director: David O. Russell

Artists: Jason Schwartzman, Naomi Watts, Jude Law, Mark Wahlberg, Dustin Hoffman


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Rate: 7.7 Entourage S01E01: Pilot

Year: 2004

Genres: Comedy

Director: David Frankel

Artists: Kevin Dillon, Arielle Kebbel, Ali Larter, Jeremy Piven, Mark Wahlberg


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Rate: 9.7 Planet Of The Apes

Year: 2001

Genres: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Director: Tim Burton

Artists: Paul Giamatti, Michael Clarke Duncan, Helena Bonham Carter, Tim Roth, Mark Wahlberg


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Rate: 7.9 Boogie Nights

Year: 1997

Genres: Drama

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

Artists: Heather Graham, Burt Reynolds, Mark Wahlberg, Joanna Gleason, Don Cheadle


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