Donald "Donnie" Edmond Wahlberg, Jr. entered the world on August 17, 1969. Born the eighth of nine children to Alma Elaine Donnelly Wahlberg, a nurse's aide, and Donald Edmond Wahlberg, Sr., a Teamster and delivery driver, Donnie is the older brother of former rapper turned movie star Mark Wahlberg. Donnie was the fourth boy in the working-class clan, but his parents chose to bestow him with his father's name — this kid would grow into something special.
Many people mistakenly believe that the Wahlbergs hail from South Boston, or "Southie," Boston's predominantly Irish neighborhood and the setting of a plethora of cinematic crime dramas. Donnie and his siblings actually grew up in Dorchester, a Boston area with its own distinctive charm and personality. In a November 28, 2017 tweet, Wahlberg called out the Mercury News for calling people "Southies" and for claiming the Wahlbergs grew up there. He proclaimed his love for South Boston, but confirmed he is most decidedly not native to "Southie."
In a Boston Globe follow-up article to the Mercury News gaffe, writer Jeremy C. Fox likened calling someone a Southie to calling someone "a Bronx" or "a Queens." No one in Boston refers to South Boston inhabitants as "Southies." The neighborhoods border each other, but Dorchester is Boston's largest neighborhood, and represents a more diverse population than its southern neighbor.
