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.
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.
External links
Filmography (Movies)
Dog Patrol: Operation Santa Paws
Character:Sheriff Jacobs
Release Date:13/11/2025
A Line of Fire
Character:Javier Cardona
Release Date:05/04/2025
Quantum Supremacy
Character:
Release Date:02/12/2024
The Firing Squad
Character:Samuel Wilson
Release Date:02/08/2024
Angels Fallen: Warriors of Peace
Character:Balthazar
Release Date:09/07/2024
TMZ Presents: The Downfall of Diddy
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:28/04/2024
Skeletons in the Closet
Character:Andres
Release Date:24/01/2024
The Weapon
Character:Blue
Release Date:17/02/2023
Life in a Year
Character:Xavier
Release Date:27/11/2020
For NYC
Character:
Release Date:01/06/2020
Bayou Caviar
Character:Rodney Jones
Release Date:05/10/2018
Selma
Character:Fred Gray
Release Date:25/12/2014
Freedom
Character:Samuel
Release Date:21/08/2014
Machete Kills
Character:El Camaleon
Release Date:12/09/2013
Don Jon
Character:Hollywood Actor #2
Release Date:12/09/2013
The Butler
Character:Carter Wilson
Release Date:16/08/2013
Life of a King
Character:Eugene Brown
Release Date:22/06/2013
Absolute Deception
Character:John Nelson
Release Date:10/06/2013
Summoned
Character:Detective Callendar
Release Date:01/06/2013
Timmy Muldoon and the Search for the Shadoweyes Bandit
Character:Shadoweyes
Release Date:01/01/2013
One in the Chamber
Character:Ray Carver
Release Date:21/08/2012
Firelight
Character:DJ
Release Date:22/04/2012
Red Tails
Character:Major Emanuelle Stance
Release Date:19/01/2012
Double Victory: The Tuskegee Airmen at War
Character:Narrator (voice)
Release Date:13/01/2012
The Enduring Significance of 'Boyz n the Hood'
Character:Self
Release Date:19/07/2011
Sacrifice
Character:John Hebron
Release Date:26/04/2011
The Hit List
Character:Jonas Arbor
Release Date:02/04/2011
Ticking Clock
Character:Lewis Hicks
Release Date:04/01/2011
2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift
Character:(archive footage)
Release Date:03/08/2010
Wrong Turn at Tahoe
Character:Joshua
Release Date:16/11/2009
Hardwired
Character:Luke Gibson
Release Date:03/11/2009
Lies & Illusions
Character:Isaac
Release Date:26/08/2009
The Devil's Tomb
Character:Mack
Release Date:26/05/2009
The Way of War
Character:David Wolfe
Release Date:20/04/2009
Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story
Character:Ben Carson
Release Date:07/02/2009
Linewatch
Character:Michael Dixon
Release Date:21/10/2008
Harold
Character:Cromer
Release Date:13/07/2008
Hero Wanted
Character:Liam Case
Release Date:28/03/2008
The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends
Character:Loofah (voice)
Release Date:27/11/2007
American Gangster
Character:Nicky Barnes
Release Date:02/11/2007
Daddy Day Camp
Character:Charlie Hinton
Release Date:08/08/2007
Saturday Night Live in the '90s: Pop Culture Nation
Character:Self
Release Date:06/05/2007
What Love Is
Character:Tom
Release Date:23/03/2007
Norbit
Character:Deion Hughes
Release Date:08/02/2007
End Game
Character:Alex Thomas
Release Date:27/07/2006
Dirty
Character:Salim Adel
Release Date:09/11/2005
Shadowboxer
Character:Mikey
Release Date:09/09/2005
A Dairy Tale
Character:Buck (voice)
Release Date:14/09/2004
Home on the Range
Character:Buck (voice)
Release Date:02/04/2004
Radio
Character:Radio
Release Date:24/10/2003
The Fighting Temptations
Character:Darrin Hill
Release Date:19/09/2003
Friendly Fire: Making of an Urban Legend
Character:Self
Release Date:02/09/2003
Boat Trip
Character:Jerry Robinson
Release Date:01/10/2002
Making Rat Race
Character:Himself
Release Date:29/01/2002
Snow Dogs
Character:Ted Brooks
Release Date:18/01/2002
Zoolander
Character:Cuba Gooding Jr.
Release Date:28/09/2001
America | A Tribute to Heroes
Character:Self
Release Date:21/09/2001
Rat Race
Character:Owen Templeton
Release Date:17/08/2001
In the Shadows
Character:Draven
Release Date:24/06/2001
Pearl Harbor
Character:Doris Miller
Release Date:21/05/2001
Welcome to Hollywood
Character:Cuba Gooding Jr.
Release Date:27/10/2000
Men of Honor
Character:Senior Chief Carl Brashear
Release Date:13/09/2000
Chill Factor
Character:Arlo
Release Date:01/09/1999
A Murder of Crows
Character:Lawson Russell
Release Date:06/07/1999
Instinct
Character:Dr. Theo Caulder
Release Date:04/06/1999
What Dreams May Come
Character:Albert Lewis
Release Date:02/10/1998
As Good as It Gets
Character:Frank Sachs
Release Date:19/12/1997
Trading Favors
Character:Liquor Store Clerk
Release Date:04/06/1997
Jerry Maguire
Character:Rod Tidwell
Release Date:13/12/1996
The Tuskegee Airmen
Character:Billy Roberts
Release Date:25/08/1995
Losing Isaiah
Character:Eddie Hughes
Release Date:17/03/1995
Outbreak
Character:Major Salt
Release Date:10/03/1995
Blown Away
Character:Bomb Squad Class Member
Release Date:01/07/1994
Lightning Jack
Character:Ben Doyle
Release Date:11/03/1994
Judgment Night
Character:Mike Peterson
Release Date:15/10/1993
Daybreak
Character:Torch
Release Date:08/05/1993
A Few Good Men
Character:Cpl. Carl Hammaker
Release Date:11/12/1992
Judgement
Character:Officer Alvarez
Release Date:05/08/1992
Gladiator
Character:Abraham Lincoln Haines
Release Date:06/03/1992
Murder Without Motive: The Edmund Perry Story
Character:Tyree
Release Date:06/01/1992
Boyz n the Hood
Character:Tré Styles
Release Date:12/07/1991
Sing
Character:Stanley
Release Date:31/03/1989
Coming to America
Character:Boy Getting Haircut
Release Date:29/06/1988
Television Appearances
John Bishop: In Conversation with...
Character:Self
American Crime Story
Character:O. J. Simpson
Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter
Character:Self
Big Time in Hollywood, Fl
Character:Cuba Gooding Jr.
The Book of Negroes
Character:Sam Fraunces
The Last Leg
Character:Self
American Horror Story
Character:Dominic Banks
Conan
Character:Self
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
Character:Self - Guest
Lily Allen and Friends
Character:Self - Guest
The Graham Norton Show
Character:Self
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
Character:Self
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Character:Self
V Graham Norton
Character:Self
The View
Character:Self
The Daily Show
Character:Self
MADtv
Character:Self
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Character:Self - Guest
The Untouchables
Character:
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
Character:
Mancuso, F.B.I.
Character:
Nasty Boys
Character:Poptop
The Bronx Zoo
Character:
MacGyver
Character:Billy Colton
MacGyver
Character:Ray Collins
227
Character:
Entertainment Tonight
Character:Self
Hill Street Blues
Character:
Saturday Night Live
Character:Self - Host
Sesame Street
Character:
The Oscars
Character:Self
Images
