Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg (born June 5, 1971), former stage name Marky Mark, is an American actor, producer, businessman and former rapper. Wahlberg was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1971. In the 1990s, Wahlberg was a member of the music group Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, with whom he released the albums Music for the People (1991) and You Gotta Believe (1992). Wahlberg transitioned from music to acting, with his screen debut in Renaissance Man (1994) and his first starring role in Fear (1996). He received critical praise for his performance as porn actor Dirk Diggler in Boogie Nights (1997). In the early 2000s, he ventured into big budget action-oriented movies, such as The Perfect Storm (2000), Planet of the Apes (2001), and The Italian Job (2003). He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for playing a police officer in the crime drama The Departed (2006). He was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for the sports drama biopic The Figh