Donald Edmond "Donnie" Wahlberg, Jr., born August 17, 1969 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, is a singer, actor and film producer. His work background includes music, feature films, and television. He stars as Joel Stevens in the first and second seasons of Boomtown. He frequently plays police officers. He has also starred in Band of Brothers, the Saw films, and The Kill Point. He has starred in Blue Bloods since 2010.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Wahlberg was born in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, as the eighth of nine children, with older siblings Arthur, Jim, Paul, Robert, Tracey, Michelle, Debbie (died 2003) and younger brother Mark. He also has three half-siblings from his father's first marriage- Donna, Scott and Buddy. His mother, Alma Elaine (née Donnelly), was a bank clerk and nurse's aide, and his father, Donald Edmond Wahlberg, Sr. (died February 14, 2008) was a teamster who worked as a delivery driver; the couple divorced in 1982. He is of Swedish, Irish, English, and French Canadian ancestry
Career[]
As a recording artist, Wahlberg is known as an original member of popular 1980s and 1990s boy band New Kids on the Block.
Wahlberg's first film acting role was in the 1996 film Bullet with Mickey Rourke and Tupac Shakur. Also in 1996, he appeared as a kidnapper in Ransom with Mel Gibson. Wahlberg received attention for his role in the 1999 film The Sixth Sense, playing the patient of Bruce Willis's character in the opening sequence. This role was originally intended for a 13-year-old boy until Wahlberg met with writer and director M. Night Shyamalan to inquire about obtaining the rights for a theatre production, and ended up getting the role.
He starred in the 2001 HBO miniseries Band of Brothers, which was written by Boomtown creator Graham Yost. Wahlberg played Paratrooper C. Carwood Lipton in the series. Yost was so impressed with his performance that he wrote Joel Stevens into Boomtown with Wahlberg in mind.
Wahlberg joined the starring cast of Boomtown in 2002. He reprised his role for the second season in fall 2003. He appeared in all 24 of the series episodes, up to its cancellation in 2003. Future Boomtown star Neal McDonough also starred in Band of Brothers.
Also in 2003, Wahlberg starred alongside Timothy Olyphant, Jason Lee, and his Band of Brothers co-star Damian Lewis in William Goldman and Lawrence Kasdan's adaptation of the Stephen King alien-invasion thriller, Dreamcatcher. Wahlberg played the mentally challenged character Duddits.
He is also known for his roles in the Saw films', having appeared in Saw II (2005), Saw III (2006), and Saw IV (2007) as Detective Eric Matthews. In 2006, Wahlberg also played Lieutenant Commander Burton in the military/boxing drama, Annapolis. In September 2006, he played the lead role in the short-lived television drama Runaway on The CW. The show was cancelled in October 2006 due to poor ratings. In 2007, he starred alongside Boomtown star Jason Gedrick, Ricardo Chavira, and Nadine Velazquez in the television film Kings of South Beach on A&E. He starred in the 2007 miniseries The Kill Point as Police Captain Horst Cali.
In 2008, he appeared in Righteous Kill co-starring Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. He also co-starred in What Doesn't Kill You with Ethan Hawke, Mark Ruffalo and Amanda Peet.
In 2010 he was cast in the police drama Blue Bloods on CBS. He plays Detective Danny Reagan.
In 2011 he appeared in the film We Bought a Zoo.
Personal life[]
Wahlberg married Kim Fey on August 20, 1999. He and Fey had two children, Xavier Alexander Wahlberg (born March 4, 1993) and Elijah Hendrix Wahlberg (born August 20, 2001). Wahlberg and Fey filed for divorce on August 13, 2008 citing "irreconcilable differences". He is a regular player on the online poker website Hollywood Poker, which is run in conjunction with Ongame Network.
Wahlberg is a passionate fan of the Boston Celtics and has been seen attending many of their games. He will narrated the documentary "The Association: Boston Celtics" about the team's 2010–11 season for ESPN.
Credits[]
Starring[]
| Season 1 credits | ||
| "Pilot" | "Possession" | "The Squeeze" |
| "Reelin' in the Years" | "All Hallow's Eve" | "The Freak" |
| "Insured by Smith & Wesson" | "Crash" | "The David McNorris Show" |
| "Coyote" | "Monster's Brawl" | "Sinaloa Cowboys" |
| "Home Invasion" | "Execution" | "Storm Watch" |
| "Fearless" | "Blackout" | "Lost Child" |
| Season 2 credits | ||
| "The Love of Money" | "Inadmissible" | "Wannabe" |
| "Haystack" | "The Hole-in-the-Wall Gang" | "The Big Picture" |
References[]
External links[]
- Donnie Wahlberg at IMDb
- Donnie Wahlberg at Wikipedia
- Donnie Wahlberg at Wiki of brothers, the Band of Brothers wiki
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