Donald Edmond Wahlberg Jr. (born August 17, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, actor, record producer, and film producer. He is a founding member of the
boy band
A boy band is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform Love song, love songs marketed towards girls and young ...
New Kids on the Block. Outside music, he has had roles in the
''Saw'' films, ''
Zookeeper'', ''
Dreamcatcher'', ''
The Sixth Sense'', ''
Righteous Kill'', and ''
Ransom
Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or the sum of money involved in such a practice.
When ransom means "payment", the word comes via Old French ''rançon'' from Latin ''red ...
'', as well as appearing in the World War II miniseries ''
Band of Brothers'' as
Carwood Lipton.
From 2002 to 2003, he starred in the crime drama ''
Boomtown''. He has starred in the drama series ''
Blue Bloods'' as
Danny Reagan since 2010, and since 2014 is an
executive producer
Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...
of the
TNT reality television show ''
Boston's Finest''. He was nominated for ''Choice Scream'' at the 2006
Teen Choice Awards for his work in the
''Saw'' films. He has also produced and starred in ''Rock This Boat'', ''Donnie Loves Jenny'' and ''Return of the Mac'' on Pop TV. He also produced and starred in ''
Wahlburgers'' on A&E TV.
He is the brother of singer-actor
Mark Wahlberg.
Early life
Wahlberg was born in the
Dorchester neighborhood of Boston. He is the eighth of nine children, with older siblings, Arthur, Jim,
Paul,
Robert, Tracey, Michelle, Debbie and younger brother,
Mark, who began his entertainment career formerly as the leader of the early 1990s boy band,
New Kids on the Block. 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 who passed on April 19, 2021, and his father, Donald Edmond Wahlberg Sr., was a
teamster who worked as a delivery driver; they divorced in 1982. His father was of Swedish and Irish descent, and his mother was of Irish, English, and
French-Canadian
French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fr ...
ancestry.
Career
New Kids on the Block
As a recording artist, Wahlberg is known as an original member of the boy band
New Kids on the Block.
Acting career
Wahlberg's first film acting role was in the
1996 film ''
Bullet
A bullet is a kinetic projectile, a component of firearm ammunition that is shot from a gun barrel. Bullets are made of a variety of materials, such as copper, lead, steel, polymer, rubber and even wax. Bullets are made in various shapes and co ...
'' with
Mickey Rourke and
Tupac Shakur. Also in 1996, he appeared as a kidnapper in ''
Ransom
Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or the sum of money involved in such a practice.
When ransom means "payment", the word comes via Old French ''rançon'' from Latin ''red ...
'' with
Mel Gibson. He went back to his home town for a starring role in the
South Boston-based film ''
Southie''. Wahlberg received attention for his role in the
1999 film
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...
''
The Sixth Sense'', playing the patient of
Bruce Willis' character in the opening sequence.
In 2001, Wahlberg co-starred as
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank.
Australia
The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...
C. Carwood Lipton
First Lieutenant Clifford Carwood Lipton (30 January 1920 – 16 December 2001) was a commissioned officer with Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, during World War II.
On the battlefields of Europe, h ...
in the television
miniseries
A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...
''
Band of Brothers''. He 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 him in ''
Band of Brothers'' and was so impressed by his performance that he wrote the role of Joel Stevens specifically for him.
In 2003, Wahlberg starred alongside
Timothy Olyphant,
Jason Lee, and his ''Band of Brothers'' co-star
Damian Lewis as the
mentally challenged Duddits in
William Goldman and
Lawrence Kasdan's adaptation of the
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...
alien-invasion thriller, ''
Dreamcatcher''. In 2005, he 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 archive footage from the previous films.
In 2006, Wahlberg played Lieutenant Commander Burton in the military/boxing drama ''
Annapolis
Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...
''. In September 2006, he played the lead role in the short-lived television drama ''
Runaway
Runaway, Runaways or Run Away may refer to:
Engineering
* Runaway reaction, a chemical reaction releasing more heat than what can be removed and becoming uncontrollable
* Thermal runaway, self-increase of the reaction rate of an exothermic proce ...
'' on
The CW. The show was cancelled in October 2006 due to poor ratings. In 2007, he starred in the television film ''
Kings of South Beach
''Kings of South Beach'' is a 2007 American crime drama television film directed by Tim Hunter and written by Nicholas Pileggi, about an infamous operator of nightclubs in the South Beach section of Miami Beach, Florida. The lead character is p ...
'' on
A&E. Also in 2007, he starred on the TV series ''
The Kill Point''.
In 2008, Wahlberg appeared in ''
Righteous Kill'' and co-starred in ''
What Doesn't Kill You''.
Wahlberg stars as
1st Grade Detective Danny Reagan on
CBS's ''
Blue Bloods'', a police drama set in New York City.
, Wahlberg is the host of an internet radio show on Friday nights at 8 pm PST called "DDUB's R&B Back Rub" on Cherry Tree Radio and appeared in the 2011 comedy ''
Zookeeper''.
Wahlberg is the current host of HLN's "Very Scary People".
In 2021, Wahlberg worked on
season five
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pola ...
of ''
The Masked Singer'' as the rooster "Cluedle-Doo" who gave exclusive clues to the viewers. After performing
Mark Morrison's "
Return of the Mack" in the semi-finals, Wahlberg was unmasked. He even stuck around when
Omarion was unmasked as the wildcard contestant "Yeti".
Personal life
In 1991, Wahlberg was charged with first-degree
arson
Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...
for setting a fire at the historic
Seelbach Hotel
The Seelbach Hilton is a historic hotel in Louisville, Kentucky, founded by Bavarian-born immigrant brothers Louis and Otto Seelbach. It opened in 1905 as the ''Seelbach Hotel'', envisioned by the Seelbach Brothers to embody the old-world grande ...
in
Louisville, Kentucky. Authorities stated that Wahlberg, then known as the "
bad boy" of boy band New Kids on the Block, was partying with fellow band member
Danny Wood and fans in the early morning hours when Wahlberg dumped vodka on a hallway carpet and ignited it. Wahlberg was facing up to twenty years in prison, but the charge was later reduced to misdemeanor
criminal mischief, and eventually dismissed after Wahlberg agreed to appear in
public-service videos addressing
fire safety
Fire safety is the set of practices intended to reduce the destruction caused by fire. Fire safety measures include those that are intended to prevent the ignition of an uncontrolled fire and those that are used to limit the development and eff ...
,
drug abuse
Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods which are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder. Differing definitions of drug abuse are used in public health, ...
, and
drunk driving
Drunk driving (or drink-driving in British English) is the act of driving under the influence of alcohol. A small increase in the blood alcohol content increases the relative risk of a motor vehicle crash.
In the United States, alcohol is invo ...
.
Wahlberg married Kimberly Fey on August 20, 1999, with whom he has two sons. They filed for divorce on August 13, 2008, citing
irreconcilable differences. In July 2013, it was reported by ''
Us Weekly'' that he was dating actress
Jenny McCarthy after meeting on ''
Watch What Happens Live'' in March. They announced their engagement on ''
The View'' on April 16, 2014, and wed on August 31, 2014, at the
Hotel Baker in
St. Charles, Illinois
St. Charles is a city in DuPage and Kane counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It lies roughly west of Chicago on Illinois Route 64. Per the 2020 census, the population was 33,081. The official city slogan is "Pride of the Fox", after the F ...
.
Wahlberg is a fan of the
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...
and has been seen attending many of their games. He narrated ''The Association: Boston Celtics'', a documentary about the team's 2010 season, and co-narrated, alongside
Ice Cube
An ice cube is a small piece of ice, which is typically rectangular as viewed from above and trapezoidal as viewed from the side. Ice cubes are products of mechanical refrigeration and are usually produced to cool beverages. They may be produc ...
, the ESPN
30 for 30
''30 for 30'' is the title for a series of documentary films airing on ESPN, its sister networks, and online highlighting interesting people and events in sports history. This includes three "volumes" of 30 episodes each, a 13-episode series un ...
documentary ''
Celtics/Lakers: Best of Enemies'', about the
Celtics' rivalry with the Los Angeles Lakers. He co-owns a line of restaurants,
Wahlburgers, located in Boston, MA and St. Charles, IL with brothers Paul and
Mark.
Politics
In February 2016, Wahlberg endorsed
Republican candidate
Marco Rubio
Marco Antonio Rubio (born May 28, 1971) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the senior United States senator from Florida, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he served as Speaker of the Florida Hous ...
for
president of the United States, but later said the decision had been "tough" because "we have a lot of things we don't agree on." On the prospect of
Donald Trump as president, he commented, "We can blame the president, we can blame the government, but we also have to look at ourselves if we vote with emotion, which we're on the verge of doing again collectively, the angry vote is what is moving the meters right now."
Discography
New Kids on the Block albums
* ''
New Kids on the Block'' (1986)
* ''
Hangin' Tough'' (1988)
* ''
Step by Step'' (1990)
* ''
Face the Music'' (1994)
* ''
The Block'' (2008)
* ''
10'' (2013)
* ''
Thankful (EP)'' (2017)
Solo
* "
The Right Combination" — duet with
Seiko Matsuda (1990)
Filmography
Film
Television
Video games
References
External links
*
*
Donnie Wahlberg's WifeWIKI
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wahlberg, Donnie
1969 births
Living people
20th-century American male actors
20th-century American singers
21st-century American male actors
21st-century American rappers
21st-century American singers
American film producers
American hip hop record producers
American hip hop singers
American male film actors
American male pop singers
American male rappers
American male singers
American male television actors
American people of English descent
American people of French-Canadian descent
American people of Irish descent
American people of Scandinavian descent
American people of Swedish descent
Male actors from Boston
Musicians from Boston
New Kids on the Block members
NKOTBSB members
Participants in American reality television series
People from Dorchester, Massachusetts
Rappers from Boston
Record producers from Massachusetts
Singers from Massachusetts
Wahlberg family