On NBC's Sunday night crime drama "Boomtown," singer-turned-actor Donnie Wahlberg plays a Los Angeles Police Department detective struggling to balance a troubled home life with the demands of the street. 

In real life, the former New Kids on the Block member is a husband and father who has a deep admiration for his Irish-American mother, who raised her brood on the tough streets of Dorchester, Mass. 

"We had lace doilies all over the house," Wahlberg says. "My mother kept a good house, man. I don't know how, with nine kids. She was a total freak, obsessive-compulsive about cleaning the house. Every Saturday, we all had to get out of the house so she could clean. We couldn't come back until the sun was going down." 

Asked when his parents finally thought this whole showbiz thing was going to work out for him, Wahlberg says, "I don't know. It was really strange about my parents with me. I told my dad that I was going to join this band, and he said, 'That's fine. Just don't change.' That's all he said about it, though. 

"My mother didn't ask. She went to every show. We were doing shows in barrooms and jails, but she went to all the shows. I don't know what it was about my mother or my father. I don't think they ever doubted that I would succeed. Maybe they were happy that I found something to take me out of the streets, and they said, 'OK, he's safe. He's doing something constructive.' 

"I don't think they were thinking about whether I was going to be a success or not. They were like, 'He's covered. Now we can focus on Mark and Bob and Jim and Tracy, make sure they get to adulthood alive.'  

"I told my mother, 'I'm going to do a record with Mark (his rapper-turned-actor brother).' In fact, she said it. I started producing records, and she said, 'Why don't you do something with your brother? He could use something to do. He's getting in a lot of trouble and stuff.' I said, 'OK, cool.' 

"That was it. She never checked up on me to see how it was going. I think she just thought, 'He'll do it. Donnie said he's going to do it, it'll happen.'" 

If Wahlberg's family had faith in him, he also had faith in himself.

"When I really commit to something," he says, "I have a sense inside me that it's just a matter of time before it works. 

"When I started in that band, I don't know what my goals were, but deep down inside, I knew I wasn't wasting my time. When I started acting, I don't know if I planned on being in 'The Sixth Sense.' I never knew if this was what I was meant to achieve, being the lead guy on 'Boomtown,' I
don't know if that's what I was thinking. 

"But I just knew, once I committed to it, I felt it was there. I don't go into things thinking that it's going to fail. I sometime go into things praying that I don't fail. That's one of my big motivators, my fear of failure. I never want to embarrass myself in front of people I work with." 

NATICK -- More than 150 youngsters turned up at Jordan's Furniture yesterday morning to get a glimpse of Santa Claus, Hurdy Gurdy the Monkey, and actor Mark Wahlberg. 

The Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation, established in May 2001, hosted a holiday party at the IMAX movie theater complex, with movie, food, face-painting and other entertainment for children. The foundation raises and distributes money to youth services and enrichment programs. 

Guests included youngsters from the Col. Daniel Marr Boys & Girls Club, the Plymouth Boys & Girls Club, the South Boston Collaborative, the Dorchester Youth Collaborative, the Bay Cove Early Intervention Program and St. Edwards School in Brockton. 

Coming from a family of nine children who spent a lot his youth in the Boys & Girls Club and the YMCA, Wahlberg hopes the foundation improves the quality of life for inner city youth through working partnerships with other communities. 

"Our parents relied on those programs," Wahlberg, a lifelong member of the Boys & Girls Club of America, said in a press release. Brother Jim Wahlberg co-hosted the event. 

Grants raised by the The Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation were given out at the event to Bay Cove Human Services, Project DEEP, Neponset Youth Hockey, and the Dorchester Youth Collaborative. 

Also attending the event was Eliot Tatelman, president of Jordan's Furniture. 

"We are happy to once again host their holiday event and support a quality organization," Tatelman said in a press release. 

This is the second year the Youth Foundation hosted a holiday party at Jordan's Furniture in Natick.

ROME (The Hollywood Reporter) --- The Italian shoot of U.S. director F. Gary Gray's "The Italian Job" is making waves in Venice. Scenes involving high-speed motorboat chases and gondola crashes in the canals have triggered charges that the mayor has sold his soul to Hollywood.

The Venice shoot of Paramount's remake of its classic 1969 heist movie -- with Mark Wahlberg (news) in the leead role created by Michael Caine -- started last week and is scheduled to last until Saturday. It has irked some of the local populace, which has not been amused at having Boston 
Whaler speedboats zipping around the Grand Canal and other historic waterways where regular traffic has been blocked -- all thanks to permits given by the city's mayor, Paolo Costa.

Scenes shot so far have included a high-speed collision with a gondola, which split in two, and a crash into the bank of the Rio di San Trovaso, near the Venice Accademia.

"I think it's scandalous that these permits were given. It's potentially damaging to the ancient architecture and an insult to this city. Are speedboat chases on the Grand Canal what we want Venice to be known for?" complained Venice City Council member Michele Zuin.

The Venice mayor's office issued a statement Wednesday that said, "Any occasional disruption caused by the shoot is no different from similar situations when such scenes are shot in other cities."

"The worst is over," said Guido Cerasuolo, who is an executive producer of the film and a Venetian. "In response to complaints, we have offered to revise our shooting plan. We understand that we may be causing some discomfort, so we are trying to be responsive."

The film stars Wahlberg as Charlie Croker, head of a robbery crew, Ed Norton as his double-crossing associate, and Charlize Theron as Charlie's love interest. Wahlberg and Theron have been in Venice the past few days. Shooting will continue in coming weeks in the Italian Alps and subsequently in Los Angeles.

Hollywood hottie Mark Wahlberg, who spreads cheer at the box office all year round, will make like one of the Three Kings when he comes home for the holidays.

The Dorchester homeboy, along with the Jordan's Furniture folks, will gift 150 kids Dec. 22 at a yuletide to-do at Barry and Eliot's Natick store. But they'll skip the frankincense and myrrh.

The Tinseltown It Boy, who started the Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation last year, will treat kids to a flick - no, not "Boogie Nights'' - "Santa Claus vs. The Snowman'' in 3-D in the IMAX Theatre. St. Nick himself will make an appearance, One Kid Clothing is filling his sack and Krispy Kreme is truckin' in dozens of hot, sugary treats from Rhode Island.

"Wouldn't everyone like to be in a position to make people happy?'' said Mark's older bro, Jim, who is organizing the ho-ho-hoedown. "This is just Mark fulfilling a dream.''

Kids ages 6 to 12 from the Col. Daniel Marr Boys & Girls Club in Dorchester, Mark's old playground, will be there along with those from the Dorchester Youth Collaborative, the Plymouth Boys & Girls Club, Harbor Point and the South Boston Collaborative.

"There were nine kids in our family and we didn't have much money, so we grew up in the Boys & Girls Club and the Y,'' said Jim. "Our parents relied on those programs. Mark remembers that.''

"The Truth About Charlie'' star also remembers being tossed out of the Col. Daniel Marr club!

"I can only imagine what he did,'' said Wahlberg of his kid brother who was a hellion before he went Hollywood.

Word is, many Wahlbergs will be wearing the 3-D glasses in the IMAX. And Jim says if "Boomtown'' biggie Donnie Wahlberg wraps up shooting his NBC series in time, he and his sons (including New Kid Elijah) may pop in.

"I know Mark and the rest of us are all hoping to go down to the Patriots-Jets game that night, so I hope he makes it,'' said Jim.

File Under: The Truth About the Wahlbergs.