Cuba Gooding Jr.

Birthday: 1968-01-02
Birthplace: The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA
Gender: Male
Drafted: 377
Drafted By: Hangin with Mr. Cooper
Owned By: Hangin with Mr. Cooper
Owned Wins: 0
Owned Noms: 0
Win Bonus: 3
Nom Bonus: 0
Total Points: 0

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.

Career Statisics

Season Age Movie Role Result Points
1997 29 Jerry Maguire (1996) Supporting Actor Win 0
Career 0

Transaction History

Date Location Team Receives Team Receives Team Receives

Credits

Year Title Character
Athena Saves Christmas Sheriff Jacobs
Break the Cycle
Guilty William 'Billy' Remz
A Line of Fire
2024-12-02 Quantum Supremacy
2024-08-02 The Firing Squad Samuel Wilson
2024-07-09 Angels Fallen: Warriors of Peace Balthazar
2024-01-24 Skeletons in the Closet Andres
2023-02-17 The Weapon Blue
2020-11-27 Life in a Year Xavier
2020-06-01 For NYC
2018-10-05 Bayou Caviar Rodney Jones
2014-12-25 Selma Fred Gray
2014-08-21 Freedom Samuel
2013-09-12 Machete Kills El Camaleon
2013-09-12 Don Jon Hollywood Actor #2
2013-08-16 The Butler Carter Wilson
2013-06-22 Life of a King Eugene Brown
2013-06-10 Absolute Deception John Nelson
2013-06-01 Summoned Detective Callendar
2013-01-01 Timmy Muldoon and the Search for the Shadoweyes Bandit Shadoweyes
2012-08-21 One in the Chamber Ray Carver
2012-04-22 Firelight DJ
2012-01-19 Red Tails Major Emanuelle Stance
2011-04-26 Sacrifice John Hebron
2011-04-02 The Hit List Jonas Arbor
2011-01-04 Ticking Clock Lewis Hicks
2009-11-16 Wrong Turn at Tahoe Joshua
2009-11-03 Hardwired Luke Gibson
2009-08-26 Lies & Illusions Isaac
2009-05-26 The Devil's Tomb Mack
2009-04-20 The Way of War David Wolfe
2009-02-07 Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story Ben Carson
2008-10-21 Linewatch Michael Dixon
2008-07-13 Harold Cromer
2008-03-28 Hero Wanted Liam Case
2007-11-27 The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends Loofah (voice)
2007-11-02 American Gangster Nicky Barnes
2007-08-08 Daddy Day Camp Charlie Hinton
2007-03-23 What Love Is Tom
2007-02-08 Norbit Deion Hughes
2006-07-27 End Game Alex Thomas
2006-01-20 Dirty Salim Adel
2005-09-09 Shadowboxer Mikey
2004-09-14 A Dairy Tale Buck (voice)
2004-04-02 Home on the Range Buck (voice)
2003-10-24 Radio Radio
2003-09-19 The Fighting Temptations Darrin Hill
2002-10-01 Boat Trip Jerry Robinson
2002-01-18 Snow Dogs Ted Brooks
2001-09-28 Zoolander Cuba Gooding Jr.
2001-08-17 Rat Race Owen Templeton
2001-06-24 In the Shadows Draven
2001-05-21 Pearl Harbor Doris Miller
2000-09-13 Men of Honor Senior Chief Carl Brashear
1999-09-01 Chill Factor Arlo
1999-07-06 A Murder of Crows Lawson Russell
1999-06-04 Instinct Dr. Theo Caulder
1998-10-02 What Dreams May Come Albert Lewis
1998-10-01 Welcome to Hollywood Cuba Gooding Jr.
1997-12-19 As Good as It Gets Frank Sachs
1997-06-04 Trading Favors Liquor Store Clerk
1996-12-13 Jerry Maguire Rod Tidwell
1995-08-25 The Tuskegee Airmen Billy Roberts
1995-03-17 Losing Isaiah Eddie Hughes
1995-03-10 Outbreak Major Salt
1994-07-01 Blown Away Bomb Squad Class Member
1994-03-11 Lightning Jack Ben Doyle
1993-10-15 Judgment Night Mike Peterson
1993-05-08 Daybreak Torch
1992-12-11 A Few Good Men Cpl. Carl Hammaker
1992-08-05 Judgement Officer Alvarez
1992-03-06 Gladiator Abraham Lincoln Haines
1992-01-06 Murder Without Motive: The Edmund Perry Story Tyree
1991-07-12 Boyz n the Hood Tré Styles
1989-03-31 Sing Stanley
1988-06-29 Coming to America Boy Getting Haircut