Cuba Gooding Jr.
Cuba Gooding Jr.
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.
Acted Movies
Director: Mitja Okorn
Writers: Will Matthews,
Cast: Cara Delevingne, Chris D'Elia, Cuba Gooding Jr., Jaden Smith, JT Neal, Michelle Giroux, Nia Long, Peter MacNeill, RZA, Stony Blyden,
Director: Lee Daniels
Writers: Danny Strong,
Cast: Aml Ameen, Cuba Gooding Jr., David Oyelowo, Forest Whitaker, Jane Fonda, John Cusack, Lenny Kravitz, Mariah Carey, Oprah Winfrey, Terrence Howard,
Director: William Kaufman
Writers: Derek Kolstad,
Cast: Billy Murray, Claudia Bassols, Cuba Gooding Jr., Dolph Lundgren, Leo Gregory, Louis Mandylor, Slavi Slavov,
Director: Anthony Hemingway
Writers: Aaron McGruder,
Cast: Andre Royo, Bryan Cranston, Cuba Gooding Jr., Daniela Ruah, David Oyelowo, Lee Tergesen, Matthew Leitch, Michael B. Jordan, Robert Kazinsky, Terrence Howard,
Director: William Kaufman
Writers: Chad Law,
Cast: Cole Hauser, Cuba Gooding Jr., David E. Ornston, Drew Waters, Ginny Weirick, Holt Boggs, Jonathan LaPaglia, Michael Papajohn, Sarah Ann Schultz, Sean Cook,
Director: Ernie Barbarash
Writers: John Turman,
Cast: Angelena Swords, Austin Abrams, Cuba Gooding Jr., Dane Rhodes, Danielle Nicolet, Monica Acosta, Neal McDonough, Nicki Aycox, Veronica Berry, Yancey Arias,
Director: Ridley Scott
Writers: Steven Zaillian,
Cast: Armand Assante, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Cuba Gooding Jr., Denzel Washington, John Hawkes, John Ortiz, Josh Brolin, Lymari Nadal, Russell Crowe, Ted Levine,
Director: Will Finn
Writers: Will Finn,
Cast: Charles Dennis, Cuba Gooding Jr., G.W. Bailey, Jennifer Tilly, Judi Dench, Lance LeGault, Randy Quaid, Roseanne Barr, Sam Levine, Steve Buscemi,
Director: Michael Tollin
Writers: Mike Rich,
Cast: Alfre Woodard, Brent Sexton, Chris Mulkey, Cuba Gooding Jr., Debra Winger, Ed Harris, Patrick Breen, Riley Smith, S. Epatha Merkerson, Sarah Drew,
Director: Mort Nathan
Writers: Mort Nathan,
Cast: Cuba Gooding Jr., Horatio Sanz, Jennifer Gareis, Lin Shaye, Maurice Godin, Roger Moore, Roselyn Sánchez, Victoria Silvstedt, Vivica A. Fox, Zen Gesner,
Director: Brian Levant
Writers: Philip Halprin,
Cast: Brian Doyle-Murray, Cuba Gooding Jr., Graham Greene, James Coburn, Jean Michel Paré, Joanna Bacalso, M. Emmet Walsh, Michael Bolton, Nichelle Nichols, Sisqó,
Director: Jerry Zucker
Writers: Andy Breckman,
Cast: Breckin Meyer, Cuba Gooding Jr., John Cleese, Jon Lovitz, Kathy Najimy, Lanei Chapman, Rowan Atkinson, Seth Green, Wayne Knight, Whoopi Goldberg,
Director: Michael Bay
Writers: Randall Wallace,
Cast: Alec Baldwin, Ben Affleck, Cuba Gooding Jr., Ewen Bremner, Greg Zola, Jon Voight, Josh Hartnett, Kate Beckinsale, Tom Sizemore, William Lee Scott,
Director: James L. Brooks
Writers: James L. Brooks,
Cast: Cuba Gooding Jr., Greg Kinnear, Harold Ramis, Helen Hunt, Jack Nicholson, Jesse James, Lupe Ontiveros, Shirley Knight, Skeet Ulrich, Yeardley Smith,
Director: Cameron Crowe
Writers: Cameron Crowe,
Cast: Bonnie Hunt, Cuba Gooding Jr., Jay Mohr, Jerry O'Connell, Jonathan Lipnicki, Kelly Preston, Regina King, Renée Zellweger, Todd Louiso, Tom Cruise,
Director: Simon Wincer
Writers: Paul Hogan,
Cast: Beverly D'Angelo, Cuba Gooding Jr., Frank McRae, Kamala Lopez, L.Q. Jones, Pat Hingle, Paul Hogan, Richard Riehle, Roger Daltrey, Roy Brocksmith,
Director: Stephen Hopkins
Writers: Lewis Colick,
Cast: Cuba Gooding Jr., Denis Leary, Emilio Estevez, Everlast, Jeremy Piven, Michael DeLorenzo, Michael Wiseman, Peter Greene, Relioues Webb, Stephen Dorff,
Director: Rowdy Herrington
Writers: Lyle Kessler,
Cast: Brian Dennehy, Cara Buono, Cuba Gooding Jr., James Marshall, John Heard, Jon Seda, Ossie Davis, Richard Lexsee, Robert Loggia, T.E. Russell,
Director: John Singleton
Writers: John Singleton,
Cast: Angela Bassett, Cuba Gooding Jr., Ice Cube, Laurence Fishburne, Meta King, Morris Chestnut, Nia Long, Regina King, Tyra Ferrell, Whitman Mayo,