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, and Debbie (died in 2003), and younger brother, Mark, who began his entertainment career formerly as the leader of the early \'90s rap group Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. 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. (May 8, 1930 – February 14, 2008), was a teamster who worked as a delivery driver; they divorced in 1982. His father was of Swedish and Irish descent, and his mother is of Irish, English, and French-Canadian ancestry. Maternally, he is distantly related to author Nathaniel Hawthorne.\n', '

As a recording artist, Wahlberg is known as an original member of the boy band New Kids on the Block.\n', '

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. 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 The Sixth Sense, playing the patient of Bruce Willis\'s character in the opening sequence.\n', '

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