18
Cuba Gooding Jr.
Born · January 2, 1968 (56 years old)
Known For: Acting
Place of Birth: The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA
Bio
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.
The Weapon
Blue
5.5
2023
For NYC
0.0
2020
Machete Kills
El Camaleon
5.6
2013
The Butler
Carter Wilson
7.3
2013
Life of a King
Eugene Brown
7.2
2013
Absolute Deception
John Nelson
4.8
2013
Summoned
Detective Callendar
4.6
2013
One in the Chamber
Ray Carver
5.6
2012
Firelight
DJ
6.2
2012
Red Tails
Major Emanuelle Stance
6.6
2012
Sacrifice
John Hebron
4.4
2011
The Hit List
Jonas Arbor
6.0
2011
Ticking Clock
Lewis Hicks
5.2
2011
Wrong Turn at Tahoe
Joshua
5.7
2009
Hardwired
Luke Gibson
5.0
2009
Lies & Illusions
Isaac
4.0
2009
The Devil's Tomb
Mack
4.7
2009
The Way of War
David Wolfe
3.7
2009
Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story
Ben Carson
7.8
2009
Linewatch
Michael Dixon
5.2
2008
Harold
Cromer
5.5
2008
Hero Wanted
Liam Case
5.4
2008
American Gangster
Nicky Barnes
7.6
2007
Daddy Day Camp
Charlie Hinton
4.7
2007
What Love Is
Tom
5.3
2007
Norbit
Deion Hughes
5.7
2007
End Game
Alex Thomas
5.4
2006
Dirty
Salim Adel
5.2
2006
Shadowboxer
Mikey
5.1
2005
A Dairy Tale
Buck (voice)
5.1
2004
Home on the Range
Buck (voice)
6.1
2004
Radio
Radio
7.2
2003
The Fighting Temptations
Darrin Hill
5.8
2003
Boat Trip
Jerry Robinson
5.3
2002
Snow Dogs
Ted Brooks
5.6
2002
Zoolander
Cuba Gooding Jr.
6.2
2001
Rat Race
Owen Templeton
6.3
2001
Pearl Harbor
Doris Miller
6.9
2001
Men of Honor
Senior Chief Carl Brashear
7.5
2000
Chill Factor
Arlo
4.9
1999
A Murder of Crows
Lawson Russell
6.1
1999
Instinct
Dr. Theo Caulder
6.5
1999
What Dreams May Come
Albert Lewis
7.2
1998
As Good as It Gets
Frank Sachs
7.4
1997
Trading Favors
Liquor Store Clerk
4.4
1997
Jerry Maguire
Rod Tidwell
7.0
1996
The Tuskegee Airmen
Billy Roberts
7.0
1995
Losing Isaiah
Eddie Hughes
6.4
1995
Outbreak
Major Salt
6.6
1995
Lightning Jack
Ben Doyle
5.6
1994
Judgment Night
Mike Peterson
6.5
1993
Daybreak
Torch
5.3
1993
A Few Good Men
Cpl. Carl Hammaker
7.5
1992
Judgement
Officer Alvarez
3.8
1992
Boyz n the Hood
Tré Styles
7.6
1991
Athena Saves Christmas
Sheriff Jacobs
0.0
Quantum Supremacy
0.0
2024
The Firing Squad
Samuel Wilson
5.7
2024
Angels Fallen: Warriors of Peace
Balthazar
4.7
2024
TMZ Presents: The Downfall of Diddy
Self (archive footage)
5.2
2024
Skeletons in the Closet
Andres
4.7
2024
Life in a Year
Xavier
8.3
2020
Bayou Caviar
Rodney Jones
4.5
2018
John Bishop: In Conversation With...
Self · (1 episode)
7.0
2016
American Crime Story
O. J. Simpson · (10 episodes)
7.5
2016
Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter
Self · (1 episode)
5.7
2015
Big Time in Hollywood, Fl
Cuba Gooding Jr. · (10 episodes)
7.2
2015
The Book of Negroes
Sam Fraunces · (6 episodes)
6.4
2015
Selma
Fred Gray
7.4
2014
Freedom
Samuel
5.8
2014
Don Jon
Hollywood Actor #2
6.0
2013
The Last Leg
Self · (1 episode)
5.3
2013
The Enduring Significance of 'Boyz n the Hood'
Self
2.0
2011
Conan
Self · (1 episode)
7.0
2010
Lily Allen and Friends
Self - Guest · (2 episodes)
0.0
2008
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
Self · (1 episode)
6.8
2005
Friendly Fire: Making of an Urban Legend
Self
4.5
2003
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
(1 episode)
5.5
2003
V Graham Norton
Self · (1 episode)
5.0
2002
Making Rat Race
Himself
0.0
2002
In the Shadows
Draven
5.4
2001
Break the Cycle
0.0
Timmy Muldoon and the Search for the Shadoweyes Bandit
Shadoweyes
6.3
2013
Double Victory: The Tuskegee Airmen at War
Narrator (voice)
0.0
2012
American Horror Story
Dominic Banks · (10 episodes)
8.1
2011
2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift
(archive footage)
6.6
2010
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
Self - Guest · (3 episodes)
5.0
2009
The Graham Norton Show
Self · (4 episodes)
7.2
2007
America | A Tribute to Heroes
Self
6.1
2001
Welcome to Hollywood
Cuba Gooding Jr.
3.8
1998
The Daily Show
Self · (1 episode)
6.4
1996
MADtv
Self · (1 episode)
6.9
1995
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Self - Guest · (2 episodes)
7.1
1993
The Untouchables
(1 episode)
7.3
1993
Murder Without Motive: The Edmund Perry Story
Tyree
5.6
1992
Guilty
William 'Billy' Remz
0.0
The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends
Loofah (voice)
6.1
2007
Blown Away
Bomb Squad Class Member
6.2
1994
Mancuso, F.B.I.
(1 episode)
6.0
1989
Coming to America
Boy Getting Haircut
6.9
1988
A Line of Fire
0.0
The View
Self · (3 episodes)
4.4
1997
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
(3 episodes)
5.4
1992
Gladiator
Abraham Lincoln Haines
7.6
1992
Nasty Boys
Poptop · (3 episodes)
4.7
1989
Sing
Stanley
5.4
1989
The Bronx Zoo
(1 episode)
5.0
1987
MacGyver
Billy Colton · (3 episodes)
7.7
1985
MacGyver
Ray Collins · (1 episode)
7.7
1985
227
(1 episode)
6.7
1985
Entertainment Tonight
Self · (1 episode)
3.7
1981
Hill Street Blues
(1 episode)
7.6
1981
Saturday Night Live
Self - Host · (1 episode)
6.9
1975
Sesame Street
(1 episode)
7.1
1969
The Oscars
Self · (3 episodes)
7.0
1953