Donnie Wahlberg is an American songwriter, actor, record producer, and film producer. He's well known for being a founding member of the boy band New Kids on the Block. He's well known for starring in the CBS Blue Bloods crime drama since 2010 where he plays Police detective Daniel "Danny" Reagan, even directing his own episode on the show.
Biography
Born August 17, 1969 in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, he is the eighth of nine children. Although he had some troubles when he was younger, getting involved in drama gave him positive direction.
Career
At 15 he joined a teen band, originally called "NYNUK" with his younger brother Mark, though Mark backed out. The group was later re-named "New Kids on the Block" after a song on their debut album, which initially flopped. Perseverance brought out a second album and with it their rise to popularity began and they became one of the most popular young singing groups in the late 80's to early 90's. He had a bad-boy image and played it up, even getting into some legal trouble. After some drama with lip-syncing played into the group's decline they decided to disband and go their separate ways in 1994.
Donnie then decided to follow Mark's example and get into acting. At first he typically played thuggish roles in movies such as Bullet (1996), Ransom (1996), Black Circle Boys (1997), and Southie (1998). One of his smallest roles is often credited as his most powerful movie performance in the psychological thriller The Sixth Sense (1999) where he dropped a disturbing amount of weight to play a former patient. His next role was in the Emmy award winning mini series Band of Brothers (2001). That led to Donnie being cast as a Detective in NBC's Boomtown (2002) which only had two seasons. From there he continued to have roles in both movies and TV until landing the lead in CBS's Blue Bloods.
Personal
Donnie and Kimberly Fey were married on August 20, 1999 and divorced on August 13, 2008 due to irreconcilable differences. Together they have two sons, the oldest is Xavier Alexander (March, 4, 1993) and Elijah Hendrix (August 20, 2001). Later he met Jenny McCarthy on Watch What Happens Live and they married on August 31, 2014.
Boston to the bone, he is an avid Celtics fan and owns a restaurant there with his brothers, Mark and Paul (head chef). Donnie has narrated a documentary called "The Association: Boston Celtics" which aired on ESPN.
Credits
Discography
New Kids on the Block
- Main article: NKOTB Discography
- New Kids on the Block (1986)
- Hangin' Tough (1988)
- Step by Step (1990)
- Face the Music (1994)
- The Block (2008)
- 10 (2013)
- Thankful (2017)
Solo
- "The Right Combination" duet with Seiko Matsuda (1990)
Filmography
Movies
Expand to view Movie Credits
1996
- Bullet as Shelby "Big Balls" Horne
- Ransom as Cubby Barnes
- Black Circle Boys as Greggo
1998
- Body Count as Booker
- Butter as Rick Damon
- Southie as Danny Quinn
1999
- The Sixth Sense as Vincent Grey
2000
- Bullfighter as Chollo
- Diamond Men as Bobby Walker
2002
- Triggermen as Hitman Terry Mulloy
2003
- Dreamcatcher as Douglas "Duddits" Cavell
2005
- Saw II as Detective Eric Matthews
- Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing & Charm School as Randall Ipswitch
2006
- Annapolis as Burton
- Saw III as Detective Eric Matthews
2007
- Dead Silence as Detective Jim Lipton
- Saw IV as Detective Eric Matthews
2008
- Saw V as Detective Eric Matthews
- Righteous Kill as Detective Ted Reily
- What Doesn't Kill You as Detective Moran
2011
- Zookeeper as Shane
Television
Expand to view TV Credits
- The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1998) - Mr. Grey (TV Movie)
- Purgatory (1999) - Deputy Glen/Billy the Kid (TV Movie)
- The Practice (2000) - Patrick Rooney ("Settling")
- UC: Undercover (2001) - Bobby ("City on Fire")
- Band of Brothers (2001) - Carwood Lipton (10 Episodes)
- Big Apple (2001) - Chris Scott (7 Episodes)
- Boomtown (2002-2003) - Detective Joel Stevens (24 Episodes)
- N.Y.-70 (2005) - Det. Mike Ryan (TV Movie)
- Runaway (2006-2008) - Paul Rader (10 Episodes)
- The Path to 9/11 (2006) - Detective Kirk (2 Episodes)
- The Kill Point (2007) - Detective Horst Cali (8 Episodes)
- Kings of South Beach (2007) - Detective Andy (TV Movie)
- Bunker Hill (2009) - Detective Mike Moriarty (TV Movie)
- In Plain Sight (2010) - Jimmy McCabe/Jimmy Porter (2 Episodes)
- Rizzoli & Isles (2010) - Lt. Joey Grant (2 Episodes)
- Blue Bloods (2010-Present) - Detective Danny Reagan (Main)
- Boston's Finest (2013) - Narrator (8 Episodes)
- Wahlburgers (2014-Present) - Himself (Reality TV)
- Donnie Loves Jenny (2015-Present) - Himself (Reality TV)
- Return of the Mac (2017) - Himself (8 Episodes)
Trivia
- Reportedly lost 43 lbs for the role of Vincent Grey in The Sixth Sense
Gallery
| To edit this gallery, go to Donnie Wahlberg/Gallery. To review image policies, go to Media Guidelines. |
