MARK WAHLBERG
Date of Birth: June 5, 1971
He made his name as a white rapper with a great body who liked to show off his underwear. But that early stuff is something he doesn't look back on too fondly now. "The whole thing of having your pants with underwear hanging out is stupid," he says. "But that's something I started."
Since his days as a rapper and Calvin Klein underwear model, Wahlberg has reinvented himself as an actor of some substance, particularly in his role as Eddie Adams/Dirk Diggler, the well-endowed porn star of Boogie Nights. Since then he's gone on to star in films such as Planet of the Apes (2001), The Truth About Charlie (2002) and The Italian Job (2003).
One of nine children born into a working class family in Boston, he says, "If I'd gotten unlucky, I could have easily been like any of my friends, doing life in prison or having huge numbers of kids they don't take care of." He credits his own 45-day jail sentence—supposedly for hurling racial epithets at black schoolchildren—with changing his life around.
Since the September 2, 2003 birth of his daughter, Ella Rae with girlfriend Rhea Durham, Wahlberg has become philosophical about life. He told Tribute TV in an exclusive interview in 2004 that making the film I Heart Huckabees, "... was all work and no play for me. And I was going through a very big deal personally—I was getting ready for the birth of my daughter." As well, his older sister Debbie passed away the day before his daughter was born. Wahlberg said that it made him ponder his life and the choices he's made. "This movie and the birth of my child helped to put it all into perspective. Now I'm just waiting for the answer to the big question. If I'm going to get to heaven. If I've done enough to make up for the sins I've committed—if I've been forgiven."
In 2007, he was rewarded for his hard work when he received an Academy Award nomination for The Departed (2006), directed by Martin Scorsese, and another in 2010 for The Fighter, which he also produced. He also served as Executive Producer for the Emmy-winning television series Entourage and Boardwalk Empire. Wahlberg and his wife have four children in total.