A few weeks back, I came across an episode of I Love the 80's featuring a young rapper named Mark Wahlberg with a group called "New Kids on the Block."

Someone in the crowd claimed that Wahlberg and his group were more popular than Elvis and the Beatles put together. This really impressed me until I remembered they made the exact same claim on a late night infomercial for America's Favorite Folk Singer, Slim Whitman, while trying to hawk a collection of his so called greatest hits.

But I was soon impressed again when Wahlberg made the cut in the next decade on an episode of I Love the 90's, this time as "Marky Mark," America's most popular male underwear model in adds for Calvin Klein.

Wahlberg has come a long way from his upbringing in a tough district of Boston. It's not too often that a former boy band member can go on to make it big in another field but, as you probably know, there was much more to come.

Wahlberg took a shot in yet another direction by trying his luck with acting, and is now considered a big Hollywood star. I don't think there's ever been anyone more successful in three different 'million to one' shot careers in music, modeling, and acting as Mark Wahlberg -- but in reality, his road to success was not always paved with roses.

Wahlberg has come along with from his upbringing in a tough district of Boston. Coming from a large family that consists of nine children, Wahlberg started out break-dancing in the streets to earn a few dollars soon after his parents divorce. He caught his first big break when he joined his brother Donny's band "New Kids on the Block," but with in a few short months he had gone his own way and became involved with a gang of junkies and thieves.

Wahlberg then dropped out of high school, and hit his personal rock bottom after serving a jail sentence for holding up and robbing a Vietnamese man. Prison made him "see the light," and he changed his life by becoming a born again Christian, then started a new career as solo rapper and model, "Marky Mark."

Later, Wahlberg gained rave reviews for his breakout role in "Basketball Diaries," and went on to a string of starring roles in films like Three Kings, Planet of the Apes, and Rock Star. He also scared audiences acting alongside Reese Witherspoon as her with his portrayal of Reese Witherspoon's characters obsessed and violent boyfriend in the thriller Fear.

His latest film, I Heart Huckabees, was released a few weeks ago when I got the chance to speak with Wahlberg, now 33, at the film's premiere.

I wondered what he considered his greatest triumph.

"That's easy," said Wahlberg, "the birth of my daughter Ella Rae" (Born Sept. 2nd, 2003). "The enormity of the responsibility has changed me in every way possible." It sure seemed like Wahlberg has changed and mellowed from his years as a rebel teen, but I had to ask him if he ever considered going back to a career in modeling or say -- rapping? "Ha, that's okay, I've been there and done that, and we all must grow up sometime. I think I'll stick to acting for now." I'm not sure that Wahlberg will ever be as big as Elvis or the Beatles (though perhaps he's more popular than Slim Whitman), but I got to thinking that in a few years, when we're inevitably watching a TV show called I love the New Millennium, there's no doubt we'll see a segment there on Mark Wahlberg.

Mark Wahlberg w/Angie