Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg (born June 5, 1971) is an American actor and television and movie producer. His father was of Swedish and Irish descent, and his mother is of Irish, Scottish, English, and French-Canadian ancestry. He has been nominated for an Academy Award. He was also known as "Marky Mark" at the beginning of his career, when he had become famous as a rap musician with the band Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch after a brief time as a member of New Kids on the Block.