Image of Cuba Gooding Jr.

Cuba Gooding Jr.

Cuba Gooding was born in Bronx, New York to Shirley, a singer with the Sweethearts, and Cuba Gooding, Sr., a lead vocalist of soul group The Main Ingredient. He has two brothers, musician Tommy Gooding and fellow actor Omar Gooding, and sister, April Gooding. His family moved to Los Angeles after Gooding Sr.'s music group had a hit single with "Everybody Plays the Fool" in 1972 but abandoned his family two years later. Gooding Jr. was raised by his mother and attended four different high schools: North Hollywood High School, Tustin High School, Apple Valley High School, and John F. Kennedy High School in Granada Hills in Los Angeles. He served as class president in three of them. His first job as a professional entertainer was as a break-dancer performing with singer Lionel Richie at the closing ceremonies of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. After high school, Gooding studied Japanese martial arts for three years, before turning his focus toward acting. Early on, he landed guest starring roles on shows like Hill Street Blues (1981) and MacGyver (1985). His first major role was in the John Singleton's box office surprise and critical hit Boyz n the Hood (1991). He followed this success with roles in major films like A Few Good Men (1992), Lightning Jack (1994), Outbreak (1995), Men of Honor (2000), Rat Race (2001), and The Fighting Temptations (2003) in which he co-starred alongside Beyoncé Knowles. In 1996, he was cast as an arrogant football player on the brink of a career-ending injury in Cameron Crowe's Jerry Maguire (1996). The film was a success and earned him an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. His "Show Me The Money" line in the film became a nationwide catchphrase. In 1997, he had a notable supporting role in As Good As It Gets (1997). The next several years, his films were inconsistently successful; Boat Trip (2002), Norbit (2007), and Daddy Day Camp (2007), all of which had received extremely negative reviews and performed poorly at the box office. Gooding also starred in a film titled A Murder of Crows, which he co-produced with his long time friend and business partner Derek Broes. The film was Gooding's first attempt at producing.  Since then, he has had series of starring roles in grittier films released direct-to-DVD such as the revenge dramas Hero Wanted and Wrong Turn at Tahoe, as well as the sci-fi action pic Hardwired and the action comedy Lies & Illusions. A well-received performance as Ben Carson in Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story (2009) and a small supporting role in Ridley Scott's American Gangster (2007) both proved to be exceptions to this trend. An appearance in the World War II film, Red Tails, produced by George Lucas and with other prominent actors such as Terrence Howard, will mark his only return to the big screen since American Gangster. Gooding is married to Sara Kapfer; they have two sons, Spencer and Mason.  


Read bio at tmdb | Read bio at Wikipedia
Born:
Jan 2, 1968 In Bronx, New York, USA
Movie/TV Credits:
94
First Appeared:
In the series The Oscars 1953-03-19
Latest Project:
Movie Athena Saves Christmas 2024-11-23
Known For
Poster of Life in a Year
Poster of Bayou Caviar
Poster of Timmy Muldoon and the Search for the Shadoweyes Bandit
Poster of Double Victory: The Tuskegee Airmen at War
Filmography
Movie Athena Saves Christmas Sheriff Jacobs 2024-11-23
Movie For NYC 2020-06-01
Movie Life in a Year Xavier 2020-11-27
Movie The Great Satan 2018-06-12
Movie Bayou Caviar Rodney Jones 2018-10-05
Series American Crime Story O. J. Simpson 2016-02-02
Series The Book of Negroes Sam Fraunces 2015-01-07
Series Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter Unknown 2015-08-02
Series Big Time in Hollywood, Fl Cuba Gooding Jr. 2015-03-25
Movie Freedom Samuel 2014-08-21
Movie Selma Fred Gray 2014-12-25
Movie Summoned Detective Callendar 2013-06-01
Movie Absolute Deception John Nelson 2013-06-10
Movie Timmy Muldoon and the Search for the Shadoweyes Bandit Shadoweyes 2013-01-01
Movie Don Jon Hollywood Actor #2 2013-09-12
Movie Life of a King Eugene Brown 2013-06-22
Movie Machete Kills El Camaleon 2013-09-12
Movie The Butler Carter Wilson 2013-08-16
Movie Double Victory: The Tuskegee Airmen at War Narrator (voice) 2012-01-13
Movie Red Tails Major Emanuelle Stance 2012-01-19
Movie Firelight DJ 2012-04-22
Movie One in the Chamber Ray Carver 2012-08-21
Movie Ticking Clock Lewis Hicks 2011-01-04
Movie The Hit List Jonas Arbor 2011-04-02
Series American Horror Story Dominic Banks / Matt Miller 2011-10-05
Movie Sacrifice John Hebron 2011-04-26
Movie The Way of War David Wolfe 2009-02-20
Movie The Devil's Tomb Mack 2009-05-26
Movie Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story Ben Carson 2009-02-07
Movie Wrong Turn at Tahoe Joshua 2009-11-16
Movie Hardwired Luke Gibson 2009-11-03
Movie Lies & Illusions Isaac 2009-08-26
Movie Hero Wanted Liam Case 2008-03-28
Movie Harold Cromer 2008-07-13
Movie Linewatch Michael Dixon 2008-10-21
Series The Graham Norton Show Himself 2007-02-22
Movie What Love Is Tom 2007-03-23
Movie Norbit Deion Hughes 2007-02-08
Movie The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends Loofah (voice) 2007-11-27
Movie Daddy Day Camp Charlie Hinton 2007-08-08
Movie American Gangster Nicky Barnes 2007-11-02
Movie End Game Alex Thomas 2006-03-22
Movie Dirty Salim Adel 2005-02-14
Movie Shadowboxer Mikey 2005-09-09
Movie Home on the Range Buck (voice) 2004-04-02
Series Jimmy Kimmel Live! Unknown 2003-01-26
Movie The Fighting Temptations Darrin Hill 2003-09-19
Movie Radio Radio 2003-10-24
Movie Snow Dogs Ted Brooks 2002-01-18
Series V Graham Norton Unknown 2002-05-06
Movie Boat Trip Jerry Robinson 2002-10-01
Movie Pearl Harbor Doris Miller 2001-05-21
Movie In the Shadows Draven 2001-06-24
Movie America: A Tribute to Heroes Self 2001-09-21
Movie Zoolander Cuba Gooding Jr. 2001-09-28
Movie Rat Race Owen Templeton 2001-08-17
Movie Men of Honor Senior Chief Carl Brashear 2000-09-13
Movie Instinct Dr. Theo Caulder 1999-06-04
Movie Chill Factor Arlo 1999-09-01
Movie A Murder of Crows Lawson Russell 1999-07-06
Movie Welcome to Hollywood Cuba Gooding Jr. 1998-10-01
Movie What Dreams May Come Albert Lewis 1998-10-02
Movie Trading Favors Liquor Store Clerk 1997-06-04
Series The View Unknown 1997-08-11
Movie As Good as It Gets Frank Sachs 1997-12-19
Series The Daily Show Unknown 1996-07-22
Movie Jerry Maguire Rod Tidwell 1996-12-13
Movie Losing Isaiah Eddie Hughes 1995-03-17
Movie Outbreak Major Salt 1995-03-10
Movie The Tuskegee Airmen Billy Roberts 1995-08-25
Series MADtv Unknown 1995-10-14
Movie Lightning Jack Ben Doyle 1994-03-11
Movie Blown Away Bomb Squad Class Member 1994-07-01
Series The Untouchables Unknown 1993-01-11
Movie Daybreak Torch 1993-05-08
Movie Judgment Night Mike Peterson 1993-10-15
Series Late Night with Conan O'Brien Unknown 1993-09-13
Movie Gladiator Abraham Lincoln Haines 1992-03-06
Series The Tonight Show with Jay Leno Unknown 1992-05-25
Movie Murder Without Motive: The Edmund Perry Story Tyree 1992-01-06
Movie A Few Good Men Cpl. Carl Hammaker 1992-12-11
Movie Judgement Officer Alvarez 1992-08-05
Movie Boyz n the Hood Tré Styles 1991-07-12
Movie Sing Stanley 1989-03-31
Series Nasty Boys Poptop 1989-09-21
Series Mancuso, F.B.I. Unknown 1989-10-13
Movie Coming to America Boy Getting Haircut 1988-06-29
Series The Bronx Zoo Unknown 1987-03-19
Series 227 Unknown 1985-09-14
Series MacGyver Unknown 1985-09-29
Series Hill Street Blues Unknown 1981-01-15
Series Saturday Night Live Unknown 1975-10-11
Series Sesame Street Unknown 1969-11-10
Series The Oscars Unknown 1953-03-19