Cuba Gooding Jr.
Known for: Acting
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.
Filmography
Series
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
Self - Guest
2009
Series
The Daily Show
Self
1996
Series
Sesame Street
1969
Series
American Horror Story
Dominic Banks
2011
Series
Conan
Self
2010
Series
The Graham Norton Show
Self
2007
Series
Saturday Night Live
Self - Host
1975
Series
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
Self
2005
Series
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Self
2003
Series
The View
Self
1997
Series
MacGyver
Billy Colton
1985
Series
MacGyver
Ray Collins
1985
Series
Hill Street Blues
1981
Series
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Self - Guest
1993
Series
Empire
Puma
2015
Series
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
1992
Series
American Crime Story
O. J. Simpson
2016
Series
The Last Leg
Self
2013
Series
Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter
Self
2015
Film
American Gangster
Nicky Barnes
2007
Series
The Oscars
Self
1953
Film
Home on the Range
Buck (voice)
2004
Film
Coming to America
Boy Getting Haircut
1988
Series
V Graham Norton
Self
2002
Film
Pearl Harbor
Dorie Miller
2001
Series
227
1985
Film
A Few Good Men
Cpl. Carl Hammaker
1992
Film
As Good as It Gets
Frank Sachs
1997
Film
Jerry Maguire
Rod Tidwell
1996
Film
Norbit
Deion Hughes
2007
Film
Don Jon
Hollywood Actor #2
2013
Film
Men of Honor
Senior Chief Carl Brashear
2000
Film
Rat Race
Owen Templeton
2001
Film
Boyz n the Hood
Tré Styles
1991
Series
Entertainment Tonight
Self
1981
Film
What Dreams May Come
Albert Lewis
1998
Film
Zoolander
Cuba Gooding Jr.
2001
Film
A Line of Fire
Javier Cardona
2025
Film
Machete Kills
El Camaleón 2
2013
Film
The Butler
Carter Wilson
2013
Film
Life in a Year
Xavier
2020
Series
The Untouchables
1993
Film
Outbreak
Major Salt
1995
Film
Boat Trip
Jerry Robinson
2002
Film
Radio
Radio
2003
Film
Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story
Ben Carson
2009
Series
The Bronx Zoo
1987
Film
Blown Away
Bomb Squad Class Member
1994
Film
Gladiator
Abraham Lincoln Haines
1992
Series
John Bishop: In Conversation with...
Self
2016
Series
Mancuso, F.B.I.
1989
Film
Daddy Day Camp
Charlie Hinton
2007
Film
Instinct
Dr. Theo Caulder
1999
Film
Angels Fallen: Warriors of Peace
Balthazar
2024
Film
Snow Dogs
Ted Brooks
2002
Film
Red Tails
Major Emanuelle Stance
2012
Film
Selma
Fred Gray
2014
Series
Big Time in Hollywood, Fl
Cuba Gooding Jr.
2015
Series
Nasty Boys
Poptop
1990
Film
The Hit List
Jonas Arbor
2011
Film
The Devil's Tomb
Mack
2009
Series
The Book of Negroes
Sam Fraunces
2015
Film
Judgment Night
Mike Peterson
1993
Film
End Game
Agent Alex Thomas
2006
Film
Quantum Supremacy
Captain Marcus Monroe
2026
Film
Life of a King
Eugene Brown
2013
Film
The Tuskegee Airmen
Billy Roberts
1995
Film
A Murder of Crows
Lawson Russell
1999
Series
Lily Allen and Friends
Self - Guest
2008
Film
Losing Isaiah
Eddie Hughes
1995
Film
One in the Chamber
Ray Carver
2012
Film
The Weapon
Blue
2023
Film
Ticking Clock
Lewis Hicks
2011
Film
Lightning Jack
Ben Doyle
1994
Film
2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift
(archive footage)
2010
Film
The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends
Loofah (voice)
2007
Film
Hero Wanted
Liam Case
2008
Film
Padilla
Film
The Fighting Temptations
Darrin Hill
2003
Film
Welcome to Hollywood
Cuba Gooding Jr.
2000
Film
Dirty
Salim Adel
2005
Series
MADtv
Self
1995
Film
Chill Factor
Arlo
1999
Film
Wrong Turn at Tahoe
Joshua
2009
Film
The Way of War
David Wolfe
2009
Film
Lies & Illusions
Isaac
2009
Film
Sacrifice
John Hebron
2011
Film
Hardwired
Luke Gibson
2009
Film
Absolute Deception
John Nelson
2013
Film
America | A Tribute to Heroes
Self
2001
Film
TMZ Presents: The Downfall of Diddy
Self (archive footage)
2024
Film
Judgement
Officer Alvarez
1992
Film
In the Shadows
Draven
2001
Film
Daybreak
Torch
1993
Film
Saturday Night Live in the '90s: Pop Culture Nation
Self
2007
Film
Harold
Cromer
2008
Film
Dog Patrol: Operation Santa Paws
Sheriff Jacobs
2025
Film
What Love Is
Tom
2007
Film
Bayou Caviar
Rodney Jones
2018
Film
Trading Favors
Liquor Store Clerk
1997
Film
Friendly Fire: Making of an Urban Legend
Self
2003
Film
Linewatch
Michael Dixon
2008
Film
Shadowboxer
Mikey
2005
Film
The Enduring Significance of 'Boyz n the Hood'
Self
2011
Film
Freedom
Samuel
2014
Film
Murder Without Motive: The Edmund Perry Story
Tyree
1992
Film
A Dairy Tale
Buck (voice)
2004
Film
Making Rat Race
Himself
2002
Film
The Firing Squad
Samuel Wilson
2024
Film
Firelight
DJ
2012
Film
Summoned
Detective Callendar
2013
Film
Sing
Stanley
1989
The Madness of Judge Jeremiah Doherty
Film
Skeletons in the Closet
Andres
2024
Film
For NYC
2020
Film
Timmy Muldoon and the Search for the Shadoweyes Bandit
Shadoweyes
2013
Lotus
Film
Double Victory: The Tuskegee Airmen at War
Narrator (voice)
2012
Film
Atlas King
2026
Film
Break the Cycle
Film
Above the Break
Frank Kitner
Film
Giving Thanks
Calvin