1968-01-02 The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA
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.
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Quantum Supremacy | Captain Marcus Monroe | 2026-02-16 |
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Dog Patrol: Operation Santa Paws | Sheriff Jacobs | 2025-11-13 |
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A Line of Fire | Javier Cardona | 2025-04-05 |
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TMZ Presents: The Downfall of Diddy | Self (archive footage) | 2024-04-28 |
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The Firing Squad | Samuel Wilson | 2024-08-02 |
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Skeletons in the Closet | Andres | 2024-01-24 |
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Angels Fallen: Warriors of Peace | Balthazar | 2024-07-09 |
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The Weapon | Blue | 2023-02-17 |
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For NYC | 2020-06-01 | |
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Life in a Year | Xavier | 2020-11-27 |
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Bayou Caviar | Rodney Jones | 2018-10-05 |
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Selma | Fred Gray | 2014-12-25 |
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Freedom | Samuel | 2014-08-21 |
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Timmy Muldoon and the Search for the Shadoweyes Bandit | Shadoweyes | 2013-01-01 |
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The Butler | Carter Wilson | 2013-08-16 |
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Absolute Deception | John Nelson | 2013-06-10 |
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Machete Kills | El Camaleón 2 | 2013-09-12 |
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Don Jon | Hollywood Actor #2 | 2013-09-12 |
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Summoned | Detective Callendar | 2013-07-26 |
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Life of a King | Eugene Brown | 2013-06-22 |
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Double Victory: The Tuskegee Airmen at War | Narrator (voice) | 2012-01-13 |
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Red Tails | Major Emanuelle Stance | 2012-01-19 |
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One in the Chamber | Ray Carver | 2012-08-21 |
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Firelight | DJ | 2012-04-22 |
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The Hit List | Jonas Arbor | 2011-04-02 |
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Sacrifice | John Hebron | 2011-04-26 |
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The Enduring Significance of 'Boyz n the Hood' | Self | 2011-07-19 |
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Ticking Clock | Lewis Hicks | 2011-01-04 |
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2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift | (archive footage) | 2010-08-03 |
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Wrong Turn at Tahoe | Joshua | 2009-11-16 |
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The Way of War | David Wolfe | 2009-04-20 |
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The Devil's Tomb | Mack | 2009-05-26 |
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Lies & Illusions | Isaac | 2009-08-26 |
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Hardwired | Luke Gibson | 2009-11-03 |
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Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story | Ben Carson | 2009-02-07 |
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Hero Wanted | Liam Case | 2008-03-28 |
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Linewatch | Michael Dixon | 2008-10-21 |
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Harold | Cromer | 2008-07-13 |
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Norbit | Deion Hughes | 2007-02-08 |
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Saturday Night Live in the '90s: Pop Culture Nation | Self | 2007-05-06 |
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The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends | Loofah (voice) | 2007-11-27 |
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What Love Is | Tom | 2007-03-23 |
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Daddy Day Camp | Charlie Hinton | 2007-08-08 |
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American Gangster | Nicky Barnes | 2007-11-02 |
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End Game | Agent Alex Thomas | 2006-07-27 |
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Shadowboxer | Mikey | 2005-09-09 |
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Dirty | Salim Adel | 2005-11-09 |
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A Dairy Tale | Buck (voice) | 2004-09-14 |
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Home on the Range | Buck (voice) | 2004-04-02 |
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The Fighting Temptations | Darrin Hill | 2003-09-19 |
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Friendly Fire: Making of an Urban Legend | Self | 2003-09-02 |
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Radio | Radio | 2003-10-24 |
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Boat Trip | Jerry Robinson | 2002-10-01 |
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Making Rat Race | Himself | 2002-01-29 |
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Snow Dogs | Ted Brooks | 2002-01-18 |
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In the Shadows | Draven | 2001-06-24 |
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Rat Race | Owen Templeton | 2001-08-17 |
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Zoolander | Cuba Gooding Jr. | 2001-09-28 |
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America | A Tribute to Heroes | Self | 2001-09-21 |
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Pearl Harbor | Dorie Miller | 2001-05-21 |
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Welcome to Hollywood | Cuba Gooding Jr. | 2000-10-27 |
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Men of Honor | Senior Chief Carl Brashear | 2000-09-13 |
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Instinct | Dr. Theo Caulder | 1999-06-04 |
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Chill Factor | Arlo | 1999-09-01 |
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A Murder of Crows | Lawson Russell | 1999-07-06 |
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What Dreams May Come | Albert Lewis | 1998-10-02 |
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As Good as It Gets | Frank Sachs | 1997-12-19 |
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Trading Favors | Liquor Store Clerk | 1997-06-04 |
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Jerry Maguire | Rod Tidwell | 1996-12-13 |
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Outbreak | Major Salt | 1995-03-10 |
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Losing Isaiah | Eddie Hughes | 1995-03-17 |
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The Tuskegee Airmen | Billy Roberts | 1995-08-25 |
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Blown Away | Bomb Squad Class Member | 1994-07-01 |
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Lightning Jack | Ben Doyle | 1994-03-11 |
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Daybreak | Torch | 1993-05-08 |
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Judgment Night | Mike Peterson | 1993-10-15 |
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Gladiator | Abraham Lincoln Haines | 1992-03-06 |
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A Few Good Men | Cpl. Carl Hammaker | 1992-12-11 |
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Judgement | Officer Alvarez | 1992-08-05 |
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Murder Without Motive: The Edmund Perry Story | Tyree | 1992-01-06 |
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Boyz n the Hood | Tré Styles | 1991-07-12 |
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Sing | Stanley | 1989-03-31 |
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Coming to America | Boy Getting Haircut | 1988-06-29 |
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Lotus | ||
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Padilla | ||
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Giving Thanks | Calvin | |
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Break the Cycle | ||
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Atlas King | ||
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Above the Break | Frank Kitner | |
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The Madness of Judge Jeremiah Doherty |
