Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg (born June 5, 1971) is an American actor, rapper and producer of film and television. He was known as Marky Mark in his earlier years and became famous in his 1991 debut as a rap musician with the band Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. Wahlberg has appeared in numerous films, including  Boogie Nights (1997), The Departed (2006)—for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor—and The Other Guys (2010). He also serves as one of the co-executive producers for the HBO television series Entourage.

Wahlberg then began an acting career, making his debut in the 1993 TV movie The Substitute. His big screen debut came the next year, with the Danny DeVito feature Renaissance Man. A basketball fanatic, he caught the attention of critics after appearing in The Basketball Diaries in 1995, playing the role of Mickey alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, in a film adaptation of the Jim Carroll book of the same name. He also starred in the 1996 James Foley thriller Fear.

He earned many positive reviews after successful movies like Boogie Nights as Dirk Diggler, Three Kings, The Perfect Storm, The Italian Job, and Four Brothers. His performance in I ♥ Huckabees was voted best supporting performance of the year in the 2004 Village Voice Critics Poll. Although Wahlberg was originally cast as Linus Caldwell in Ocean's Eleven; Matt Damon was recast in the role. The two later worked together in The Departed.

Wahlberg starred in the American football drama Invincible, based on the true story of bartender-turned-Philadelphia Eagle Vince Papale. He also starred as Leo Davidson in Planet of the Apes (2001 film), opposite Tim Roth, but did not agree to a sequel. He also appeared in and is the executive producer of the HBO series Entourage, which is loosely based on his experiences in Hollywood. He also produces the HBO series "How To Make It In America" and "In Treatment" featuring Gabriel Byrne. Wahlberg starred as a foul-mouthed Massachusetts State Police detective in Martin Scorsese's critically acclaimed thriller The Departed in 2006, for which he won the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor and netted him nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture.

To prepare for his role in Shooter, Wahlberg attended long-range shooting training at Front Sight Firearms Training Institute near Pahrump, Nevada, and was able to hit a target at 2000 yards on his first day, a feat which took his instructor about six months to achieve. He has said in a number of interviews that he will retire at the age of 40 to concentrate on parenthood and golf. However, in early 2007 he indicated that the latter was no longer the plan as "his golf game is horrible". In 2007, he starred opposite Joaquin Phoenix in We Own the Night, a movie about a family of police officers in New York City. The movie also stars Robert Duvall and Eva Mendes.

He starred in M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening as Eliot Moore, which opened in movie theatres on June 13, 2008. The same year, he played the title role in Max Payne, based on a video game of the same name. While promoting Max Payne, Wahlberg became involved in a staged feud with Saturday Night Live's Andy Samberg and threatened to "crack that big (bleep)ing nose of his." Samberg had done an impression of Wahlberg in a Saturday Night Live skit titled "Mark Wahlberg Talks To Animals." However, one week later, Wahlberg later appeared in a follow-up skit parodying both the original skit, Samberg's impression of Wahlberg, and his own threats to Samberg.

In 2009, Wahlberg played Jack Salmon in Peter Jackson's film The Lovely Bones and in 2010 starred opposite Will Ferrell in The Other Guys.

Wahlberg is a practicing Roman Catholic. He married model Rhea Durham on August 1, 2009 in a private Catholic ceremony in Beverly Hills, California. They have four children together, daughters Ella Rae (born in September 2003) and Grace Margaret (born in January 2010), and sons Michael (born in March 2006) and Brendan Joseph (born in September 2008).

Actively involved in charity, Wahlberg established the Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation in May 2001 for the purpose of raising and distributing funds to youth service and enrichment programs.

Wahlberg had four tattoos done by various artists including Paul Timman. The tattoos included Sylvester the cat with Tweety in his mouth on his ankle, a tattoo of his initials MW with Wahlberg through them on his upper right arm, and a Bob Marley tattoo with "One Love" on his upper left arm. The final tattoo, which Wahlberg considered the most meaningful, was a rosary around his neck, with a crucifix and the words "In God I Trust" resting over his heart. Wahlberg had all of his tattoos removed at the Roxbury Medical Building in Beverly Hills in 2009.

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