Mark Wahlberg

Born: 5th June 1971
Where: Dorchester, Massachusetts

The one-time trouble-making rapper with a reputation for being racist, homophobic, and a thorn in Madonna's side is now firmly on the Hollywood A-list.

Few celebrities have managed to reinvent a tarnished image as successfully the former street thug turned rapper turned CK model turned workout guru turned critically respected actor.

He dropped out of school at the age of 14 to pursue his career as a street hustler full-time.

"Every day was: Wake up, go out, hustle, make money, steal, sell drugs, rob people, do drugs. By normal standards I should have been locked away, and they should have thrown away the key."

At the age of 16, he was convicted for his involvement in the savage beating of two Vietnamese men although he denied any racist intent behind his actions.

The resulting 45 day jail sentence at Deer Island was credited for changing the purpose and direction of his life - and for building his buff physique.

His brother Donnie helped set him up as the rapper Marky Mark and he had a smash hit with the album Music For The People.

Record producer David Geffen then helped set him up as a Calvin Klein model and he found himself constantly in the headlines.

He was also contantly rumoured to be getting into fights, most notably with Madonna and her entourage in LA and for condoning homophobia.

His music career dwindling, he moved into acting in 1993, playing a doomed student in the TV-movie The Substitute.

A starring role alongside Bill Paxton in the little-seen independent Traveller followed in 1997, but it was that same year's Boogie Nights that would establish Wahlberg as a serious actor.

Prominent roles in the excellent Three Kings and adrenalin rush The Perfect Storm, both with George Clooney, cemented his reputation.

In 2001, he landed the lead in the Tim Burton "re-imagining" of Planet of the Apes and also starred in the underrated Rock Star.

The following year he starred in Jonathan Demme's unconvincing homage to French New Wave The Truth About Charlie.

He also landed the part of Charlie Croker (originally played by Michael Caine) in the American remake of The Italian Job.

In 2004, he starred alongside Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin in David O Russell's "existential" comedy I Heart Huckabees.

The following year he starred in John Singleton's action thriller Four Brothers with Tyrese Gibson and Andre Benjamin.

Director Martin Scorsese's Boston-set gangster thriller The Departed gave Wahlberg the chance to shine as a mouthy cop and he impressed in the action thriller Shooter.

In 2007, he starred alongside Joaquin Phoenix in the noirish thriller We Own The Night and went on to star as a science teacher fleeing an unseeable enemy in M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening.