Mark Wahlberg is currently one of the most successful actors in the film industry, while he also has a career as a rapper. However, his youth has been associated with violence, racial abuse, violations of the law, arrests and imprisonment.
Growing up in Dorchester, Boston, Mark was addicted to cocaine from the age of 13 and had run afoul of the law as a teenager.
In June 1986, when Wahlberg was 15 years old, he and his friends had repeatedly harassed black youths, even physically assaulting them. As a result, a girl was injured, while Mark and his two friends were arrested under the charge of causing anxiety, fear and threat.
Two years later, in April 1988, the young Wahlberg attacked Thanh Lam, a middle-aged Vietnamese man, with a wooden stick. According to court documents, the actor racially abused him before beating him until he lost consciousness.
(Photo: Greg Doherty/Getty Images/Gulliver)
He had fled the scene and asked another Vietnamese, Hoa Trinh, to hide him from the police. But when the police car drove away, Mark had hit Hoan in the eye, leaving him partially blind.
Mark was later arrested and, according to police documents, he told officers he did not need Lam to identify him and proudly admitted to attacking the Vietnamese.
The American star at the time was treated as an adult and charged with attempted murder. He pleaded guilty to the attack and was sentenced to two years in prison, however he only spent 45 days behind bars.
In 1992, after starting his career as Marky Mark and The Funky Bunch, at the age of 21, Wahlberg broke the jaw of his neighbor, whom he attacked along with another person.
In 2014, the actor had started a petition to pardon his criminal past, in the hopes of having his past crimes erased from his record.
"I deeply regret the actions I took on the night of April 8, 1988, as well as any harm I may have caused the victims. Since then, I have dedicated myself to becoming a better person and citizen, in order to be a role model for my children and others," the Hollywood star said.
The actor went on to say that pardoning him would be a formal admission that someone like him could receive public redemption if he devoted himself to personal improvement and a life of good deeds.
(Photo: HBO/Courtesy of Getty Images/Gulliver)
In 2016, Mark withdrew from this request saying that people like him do not deserve to be forgiven. Afterwards, he met with one of his victims and apologized to him personally.
The star of many successful films has also founded the charitable foundation "Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation", which helps at-risk youth.
The actor has been praised for his roles in films such as "The Fighter," "Boogie Nights" and "The Departed" - the latter of which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor - and has starred in blockbusters such as "Transformers: Age Of Extinction" and "Daddy's Home." He most recently starred in the comedy "Instant Family," opposite Rose Byrne and Octavia Spencer.
In 2017, Wahlberg was named the highest-paid actor in Hollywood, with $68 million (€60 million) in earnings in one year. While it is believed that he has a fortune of 225 million dollars (198 million euros). /Telegrafi/
