Donnie "Donkey" Carroll, actor Mark Wahlberg's friend and the inspiration Wahlberg used in creating the character "Turtle" for the HBO series Entourage, died this weekend of an asthma attack.  Entourage, which tells the tale of rising star Vince Chase, is loosely based on Wahlberg's rise to fame. Like Turtle, Chase's friend who becomes his personal assistant in the wake of his sudden rise to fame, Carroll followed Wahlberg from Dorchester, Massachusets to Hollywood to be his full-time personal assistant. Carroll and Wahlberg had a dispute when Carroll claimed Wahlberg never paid him for using him as the model for "Turtle", but the two remained friends. Wahlberg is said to be "devastated" by his longtime friend's death.

[via tv filter ]