Donnie Wahlberg Biography
Summary
"Donald Edmond 'Donnie' Wahlberg, Jr." (born August 17, 1969) is an American singer, actor and film producer. He is a member of the popular 1980s and 1990s boy band New Kids on the Block and is the older brother of fellow actor/musician Mark Wahlberg. His background includes music, feature films, and television. Donnie has had featured roles in the "Saw" films, "Boomtown" and "Righteous Kill", additionally acting in the award-winning World War II miniseries "Band of Brothers".
Early life
He 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 and younger sibling 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 aid, and his father, Donald Edmond Wahlberg, Sr. was a teamster who worked as a delivery driver; the two divorced in 1982. He has mostly Irish, and some Swedish and French Canadian ancestry.
Wahlberg began performing in plays as early as the first grade. In high school, he attended a theatre arts program and became involved in theatre, acting, writing, and directing plays.
Career
New Kids on the Block
At age fifteen, Wahlberg joined New Kids on the Block and in a few years they went from playing at high school(snowden International) parties to becoming a pop music sensation. Donnie was known as the 'bad boy' of the group and was known to curse during live performances on awards shows. In March 1991 he was arrested and charged with first degree arson. He was accused of starting a hotel on fire with a molotov cocktail fire bomb. In the 2001 New Kids on the Block E! True Hollywood story, bandmembers Jordan Knight and Jonathan Knight revealed Donnie had only set off a fire extinguisher. The white smoke from it caused guests to panic, culminating in the arson charge. These charges were later reduced then dropped because he agreed to do public service commercials. In 1990, Wahlberg scored a hit on the Top 100 with 'The Right Combination', a duet with Japanese pop star Seiko Matsuda who was attempting to cross over to North America from the Japanese market.
After New Kids on the Block broke up in 1994, Wahlberg focused on writing and producing for his younger brother, Mark Wahlberg who at the time was best known as the leader of the hiphop band 'Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch.' Both Wahlberg brothers soon began successful careers as actors.
In the spring of 2008, New Kids on the Block reunited. The band released "The Block" in September 2008 and toured the world with the tour 'The Block'. They recently wrapped up their second tour 'Full Service'.
Acting career
Wahlberg's first film appearance as an actor 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.
In 2001, Wahlberg co-starred as First Sergeant C. Carwood Lipton in the television miniseries "Band of Brothers". Wahlberg also starred in the 2002–2003 NBC drama series "Boomtown" as Joel Stevens, a Los Angeles police detective. Graham Yost, executive producer and writer of "Boomtown", had worked with Wahlberg in "Band of Brothers" and was so impressed by his performance that he wrote the role of Joel Stevens specifically for him.
2003 was also the year that Wahlberg starred alongside Timothy Olyphant and Jason Lee as the mentally challenged Duddits in William Goldman and Lawrence Kasdan's adaptation of the Stephen King alien-invasion thriller, "Dreamcatcher". In 2005, Wahlberg starred as Detective Eric Matthews in the second installment of the "Saw" series. He reprised the role in "Saw III" in 2006 and "Saw IV" in 2007, also appearing in "Saw V" in 2008 via flashback footage from the previous films.
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 Jason Gedrick, Ricardo Chaivera, and Nadine Velazquez in the television movie "Kings of South Beach" on A&E. Also in 2007, he starred opposite John Leguizamo on the TV series "The Kill Point".
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.
Personal life
Wahlberg is a body art enthusiast; he has had his left ear pierced four times, as well as piercings in his left nostril and his left nipple. He also has a tattoo of his family crest on his left arm.
Wahlberg is one of the 'famous faces' due to being a regular player on the online poker website Hollywood Poker which is run in conjunction with Ongame Network. He is also a prominent celebrity poker player, appearing in World Poker Tour tournaments and can be found at the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles.
Wahlberg is a Boston Celtics fan, as he can be seen attending the games and joining Tommy Heinsohn and Mike Gorman announcing the game as a special guest. His favorite book is "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier.
Donnie married Kim Fey on August 20, 1999. They have two sons, Xavier Alexander Wahlberg (born March 4, 1993) and Elijah Hendrix Wahlberg (born August 20, 2001). Donnie & Kim separated in January 2008, and filed jointly for divorce on August 13, 2008.
Filmography
"Bullet" (1996) as 'Big Balls' (street name) Shelby Horne
"Ransom" (1996) as Cubby Barnes
"Black Circle Boys" (1996) as Greggo
"Body Count" (1996) as Booker
"Never 2 Big aka Butter" (1998) as Rick Damon
"The Taking of Pelham One Two Three" (1998) (TV) as Mr. Grey
"Southie" (1998) as Danny Quinn
"Purgatory" (1999), as Deputy Glen/Billy The Kid
"The Sixth Sense" (1999), as Vincent Grey
"The Practice" (2000) (TV)(1 episode, 'Settling') as Patrick Rooney
"Bullfighter" (2000), as Chollo
"Diamond Men" (2000), as Bobby Walker
"Big Apple" (2001) (TV)(7 episodes)as Chris Scott
"Triggermen" (2002), as Hitman Terry Mulloy
"Band of Brothers" (2001), television miniseries, as 101st Airborne second lieutenant Carwood Lipton
"Dreamcatcher" (2003), as Douglas 'Duddits' Cavell
"Boomtown" (2002–2003), television series, as Detective Joel Stevens
"Saw II" (2005), as Detective Eric Matthews
"Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing & Charm School" (2005), as Randall Ipswitch
"Saw III" (2006), as Detective Eric Matthews
"Annapolis" (2006), as Burton
"Runaway" (2006), (TV series), as Paul Rader
"The Path to 9/11" (2006), television miniseries, as Detective Kirk
"Kings of South Beach" (2007), as Detective Andy
"Dead Silence" (2007), as Detective Jim Lipton
"Saw IV" (2007), as Detective Eric Matthews
"The Kill Point" (2007), (TV series), as Detective Horst Cali
"Turok (video game)" (2008), as Shepherd
"Righteous Kill" (2008), as Detective Ted Reily
"What Doesn't Kill You" (2008), as Detective Moran
"Saw V" (2008), as Detective Eric Matthews (flashback sequence)
Future Projects
"Bunker Hill": Bridget Moynahan ("Six Degrees") has joined the cast of the drama pilot, about a cop (Donnie Wahlberg) who returns to the Boston, MA neighborhood he grew up in. She'll play Erin, the sister-in-law of Wahlberg's character, who has a love-hate relationship with him stemming from the death of her cop husband. Walon Green (Head Writer/Showrunner) is behind the Warner Horizon Television-based hour, which Jon Avnet is attached to direct. (... more) , (... more) , (... more) , (... more)
In July 2009 it was announced that he will be in the new movie produced and starring Adam Sandler called "Zookeeper" slated for an October 2010 release.
External links
Credit
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article about Donnie Wahlberg.
