1968-01-02 ( 57 years old ) in The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA
Cuba Mark Gooding Jr. (born January 2, 1968) is an American actor. He is the recipient of an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and an Emmy nomination.
He 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.
Movies
Dog Patrol
2025-09-20
Quantum Supremacy
2024-12-02
The Firing Squad
2024-08-02
Angels Fallen: Warriors of Peace
2024-07-09
TMZ Presents: The Downfall of Diddy
2024-04-28
Skeletons in the Closet
2024-01-24
The Weapon
2023-02-17
Life in a Year
2020-11-27
For NYC
2020-06-01
Bayou Caviar
2018-10-05
Selma
2014-12-25
Freedom
2014-08-21
Machete Kills
2013-09-12
Don Jon
2013-09-12
The Butler
2013-08-16
Life of a King
2013-06-22
Absolute Deception
2013-06-10
Summoned
2013-06-01
One in the Chamber
2012-08-21
Firelight
2012-04-22
Red Tails
2012-01-19
Double Victory: The Tuskegee Airmen at War
2012-01-13
Sacrifice
2011-04-26
The Hit List
2011-04-02
Ticking Clock
2011-01-04
2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift
2010-08-03
Wrong Turn at Tahoe
2009-11-16
Hardwired
2009-11-03
Lies & Illusions
2009-08-26
The Devil's Tomb
2009-05-26
The Way of War
2009-04-20
Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story
2009-02-07
Linewatch
2008-10-21
Harold
2008-07-13
Hero Wanted
2008-03-28
American Gangster
2007-11-02
Daddy Day Camp
2007-08-08
What Love Is
2007-03-23
Norbit
2007-02-08
End Game
2006-07-27
Dirty
2006-01-20
Shadowboxer
2005-09-09
A Dairy Tale
2004-09-14
Home on the Range
2004-04-02
Radio
2003-10-24
The Fighting Temptations
2003-09-19
Friendly Fire: Making of an Urban Legend
2003-09-02
Boat Trip
2002-10-01
Making Rat Race
2002-01-29
Snow Dogs
2002-01-18
Zoolander
2001-09-28
America | A Tribute to Heroes
2001-09-21
Rat Race
2001-08-17
In the Shadows
2001-06-24
Pearl Harbor
2001-05-21
Men of Honor
2000-09-13
Chill Factor
1999-09-01
A Murder of Crows
1999-07-06
Instinct
1999-06-04
What Dreams May Come
1998-10-02
Welcome to Hollywood
1998-10-01
As Good as It Gets
1997-12-19
Trading Favors
1997-06-04
Jerry Maguire
1996-12-13
The Tuskegee Airmen
1995-08-25
Losing Isaiah
1995-03-17
Outbreak
1995-03-10
Blown Away
1994-07-01
Lightning Jack
1994-03-11
Judgment Night
1993-10-15
Daybreak
1993-05-08
A Few Good Men
1992-12-11
Judgement
1992-08-05
Gladiator
1992-03-06
Boyz n the Hood
1991-07-12
Sing
1989-03-31
Coming to America
1988-06-29
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