Mark Wahlberg Turns 52 | He Owes Everything to Mom Who Relied on Welfare Food To Raise 9 Kids All by Herself

Mark Wahlberg is looking forward to indulging in some Italian food on his 52nd birthday. “I've been on the straight and narrow. I haven't had a drink or anything for 104 days today. So I would say probably some Italian food, a nice wine, and a nice Fletcha Azul tequila,” the fitness enthusiast told PEOPLE on Saturday, June 3, ahead of his birthday.

The Transformers star who turned 52 on Monday, June 5, owes everything to his strong mother, Alma Wahlberg, who passed away in 2021 at age 78. The matriarch was mom to 9 kids: Arthur, Paul, Jim, Robert, Donnie, Mark, Michelle, Debbie, and Tracey Wahlberg.

Many fans will remember the spunky mother during her time on the family's reality show. Alma, who worked as a bank clerk and nurse’s aide, appeared on the Wahlberg family's reality show on A&E called Wahlburgers, which provided a behind-the-scenes look at running a family restaurant. Paul, the celebrity chef who started  Wahlburgers, also opened a restaurant named Alma Nove in Hingham, Massachusetts, in honor of his mother in 2010. The mom-of-nine appeared on dozens of episodes of Wahlburgers between 2014 and 2019.

Alma adored her nine children and always talked about them when she had the opportunity. She was only 18 when she had her first child and admitted she was "learning" as they were. It wasn't easy raising so many kids on her own and she had to rely on welfare food to feed her youngest children, per Popculture. "I wanted to give them the love that I always thought I wanted and never got," Alma explained on TODAY in 2018. "I wanted them to know I'm always there. Always, always. I may not like what you're telling me, but I'm there for you and that's it. That's how they all are now. They're there for me."

At the time she recalled how Mark was a mischievous child and a bit of a troublemaker. She got him a monkey toy for him one Christmas and he loved it so much that she nicknamed him "monkey." She recalled, "He loved that thing so much and he dragged it with him everywhere!" adding, "I'm gonna get in trouble now!"

In 2022, the Ted actor revealed that he regularly listens to Alma's voicemails and other recordings to keep her memory alive. "She touched everybody that she met," he told Sheinelle Jones on TODAY's 3rd hour. Jones interviewed Alma in the 2018 episode of Through Mom’s Eyes. The interview with Alma, which was only supposed to last for 20 to 30 minutes, ended up lasting for hours. "I mean this so sincerely, Mark. She changed my life. For me, she was the true meaning of the word matriarch. She always talked about how you would call her every day. And she would say, 'Call your mother' — I can't do her accent," said Jones, who is a mom herself, regarding her interview with Alma. 

Mark confessed that his mother was the biggest source of strength and support in his life. "She was truly an inspiration. You caught me off guard thereby pulling out that one, and I'm going to go watch that interview just so I can see her face. I mean, all I have now is the recordings and the voicemails that she left me, and I listen to them quite often."

References:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uudS38myNhw&ab_channel=TODAY

https://www.today.com/parents/celebrity/mark-wahlberg-listens-voicemails-late-mom-alma-rcna51469

https://people.com/mark-wahlberg-birthday-cheat-meal-7508518

https://popculture.com/celebrity/news/mark-donnie-wahlberg-mom-alma-raised-successful-family/

Cover Image Source: (L) Instagram | markwahlberg ; (R) Getty Images | Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris