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Cuba Gooding Jr. Biography
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Cuba Gooding Jr.
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| Cuba Gooding, Jr. | |
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 Gooding, Jr. in 2006. |
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| Born | Cuba M. Gooding, Jr. January 2, 1968 Bronx, New York, United States |
| Occupation | Actor/Film producer |
| Years active | 1987–present |
| Spouse(s) | Sara Kapfer (13 March 1994) 3 children |
Cuba M. Gooding, Jr. (born January 2, 1968) is an American actor. He is best known for his Academy Award-winning portrayal as Rod Tidwell in Cameron Crowe's Jerry Maguire (1996) and his critically acclaimed performance as Tré Styles in John Singleton's Boyz n the Hood (1991).
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Early life
Cuba Gooding, Jr. was born and raised in The Bronx, New York, the son of Shirley, a singer with the Sweethearts, and Cuba Gooding, Sr., a lead vocalist of soul group The Main Ingredient.1 He has two brothers, musician Tommy Gooding and fellow actor Omar Gooding. His family moved to Los Angeles after Gooding, Sr.'s music group had a hit single with "Everybody Plays the Fool" in 1972; the elder Gooding abandoned his family two years later. During his appearance on The Howard Stern Show, Gooding revealed that after his father had left, his family lived in hotels throughout Los Angeles. Gooding 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. He became a born-again Christian at age 13.2
Career
His first job as a professional entertainer was as a breakdancer performing with singer Lionel Richie at the closing ceremonies of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.1 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), and Outbreak (1995).
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 became a huge box office smash and earned him an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. His "Show Me The Money" line in the film became a nationwide catchphrase.3 In 1997 he had a notable supporting role in As Good As It Gets (1997). The next several years, his films were inconsistently successful. He has also appeared in a series of films which were not as critically or commercially successful, such as Boat Trip (2002), Norbit (2006), and Daddy Day Camp (2007), all of which had either received extremely negative reviews or performed poorly at the box office. Gooding received brief acclaim for his cameo as Nickie Barnes in American Gangster. In 2002, he was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2007, he appeared in a television commercial for Hanes underwear, alongside Michael Jordan.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Coming to America | Barber Shop Customer | |
| 1989 | Judgement | Officer Alvarez | |
| Sing | Stanley | ||
| 1991 | Boyz n the Hood | Tré Styles | |
| 1992 | Gladiator | Abraham Lincoln Haines | |
| A Few Good Men | Cpl. Carl Hammaker | ||
| 1993 | Daybreak | Torch (Stephen Tolkin) | |
| Judgment Night | Mike Peterson | ||
| 1994 | Lightning Jack | Ben Doyle | |
| 1995 | Outbreak | Maj. Salt | |
| The Tuskegee Airmen | Billy Roberts | ||
| Losing Isaiah | Eddie Hughes | ||
| 1996 | Jerry Maguire | Rod Tidwell | Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated — Golden Globe Award |
| 1997 | As Good as It Gets | Frank Sachs | |
| Do Me a Favor | Liquor Store Clerk | ||
| 1998 | What Dreams May Come | Albert Lewis | |
| A Murder of Crows | Lawson Russel | Produced by Derek Broes | |
| 1999 | Instinct | Theo Caulder | |
| Chill Factor | Arlo | ||
| 2000 | Men of Honor | BM2/Chief/Senior Chief Carl Brashear | |
| 2001 | Pearl Harbor | Petty Officer Doris Miller | |
| Rat Race | Owen Templeton | ||
| Zoolander | Himself | ||
| In the Shadows | Draven | ||
| 2002 | Snow Dogs | Theodore "Ted" Brooks | |
| 2003 | Boat Trip | Jerry Robinson | |
| The Fighting Temptations | Darrin Hill | ||
| Radio | James Robert "Radio" Kennedy | ||
| 2004 | Home on the Range | Buck | voice-over |
| 2005 | Dirty | Salim Adel | |
| Shadowboxer | Mikey | ||
| 2006 | End Game | Alex Thomas | |
| Lightfield's Home Videos | |||
| 2007 | Norbit | Deion Hughes | |
| What Love Is | Tom | ||
| Daddy Day Camp | Charlie Hinton | ||
| American Gangster | Leroy Barnes | ||
| The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends | Loofah | voice-over | |
| 2008 | Hero Wanted | Liam Case | |
| Harold | Cromer | ||
| Linewatch | Michael Dixon | ||
| The Way of War | David Wolfe | ||
| 2009 | Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story | Ben Carson | TV film |
| Lies & Illusions | Isaac | ||
| The Devil's Tomb | Mack | ||
| Wrong Turn At Tahoe | Joshua | ||
| Hardwired4 | Luke Gibson | ||
| 2010 | Red Tails | TBA | |
| Ticking Clock | Lewis Hicks | ||
| The List | Jonas Archer |
References
- ^ a b Gaul, Lou (August 7, 2008). "Cuba Gooding Jr. talks 'Daddy Day Camp'". Phillyburbs. http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/80-08072007-1389232.html. Retrieved July 6, 2009.
- ^ Williams, Kam (August 15, 2007). "Cuba Gooding: The Daddy Day Camp Interview with Kam Williams". Kamwilliams. http://www.kamwilliams.com/2007/08/cuba-gooding-jr-daddy-day-camp.html. Retrieved July 6, 2009.
- ^ "Cuba Gooding Jr.". Vibe. http://www.vibe.com/celebs/feature.html?id=53. Retrieved July 6, 2009.
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1405412/
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Cuba Gooding Jr. |
- Cuba Gooding, Jr. at the Internet Movie Database
- Cinema Confidential interview (January 2002)
- Hollywood.com interview (November 9, 2000)
- Jet interview (October 11, 1999)
- Ebony interview (June, 1997)
- JAM! Movies interview (December 13, 1996)
- Hanes Backstage Game with Cuba Gooding, Jr. & Michael Jordan (July, 2007)
- USAToday
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