Cuba Gooding, Jr.
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Cuba Gooding, Jr. | |
Birth name | Cuba Gooding, Jr. |
Born | January 02, 1968 (age 39) Bronx, New York, United States of America |
Spouse(s) | Sara Kapfer |
Notable roles | Tré Styles in Boyz N The Hood Rod Tidwell in Jerry Maguire Carl Brashear in Men of Honor |
Academy Awards | |
---|---|
Best Supporting Actor 1996 Jerry Maguire |
Cuba Gooding, Jr. (born January 2, 1968) is an Academy Award-winning American actor.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] Personal life
Gooding was born in The Bronx, New York to Cuba Gooding, Sr. (lead vocalist of soul group The Main Ingredient) and Shirley (a singer); he has two siblings, one of whom is 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. He became a born-again Christian at age 13.[citation needed]
Gooding, Jr., was raised by his single mother and attended four different high schools (including North Hollywood High School, Tustin High School, and Apple Valley High School). He served as class president in three of them. During his appearance on the "The Howard Stern Show", Gooding, Jr. revealed that after his father had left, his family lived in hotels through out Los Angeles, CA. He now has a relationship with his father who re-married his mother a few years ago. Cuba has been married to schoolteacher Sara Kapfer since 1994, whom he has known since 1986; they have three children, Spencer, Mason, and Piper.
[edit] Career
Gooding first appeared in a commercial for the clothing line Bugle Boy during the 80's.Cuba Gooding, Jr.'s first major film role was in director John Singleton's 1991 film, Boyz N The Hood, a well-reviewed film about inner city youths. Prior to this, he had appeared in many TV shows, including a recurring role on MacGyver. He also had a very minor part in the 1988 Eddie Murphy comedy Coming to America as a customer in the barbershop scene.
Following the success of Boyz N The Hood, he was cast in a series of roles, both leading and supporting, including the 1996 film, Jerry Maguire, for which he won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. The murder mystery A Murder of Crows has gained cult status among murder mystery buffs. Gooding Jr.'s subsequent career has included box office successes like Men of Honor (2000), Snow Dogs (2002), and a supporting role as Navy Cross awardee Dorie Miller in the 2001 film, Pearl Harbor.
In 2006, he appeared in the crime-drama, Dirty, which received a limited theatrical release, as well as the direct-to-DVD, 24-esque political drama End Game where he plays a Secret Service agent who uncovers a conspiracy after a presidential assassination.
He also hosted the 37th Annual NAACP Image Awards.[1] After a string of comedies that were mostly disliked by critics, Gooding, Jr. has vowed to never appear in another comedy again, saying that he "thought people wanted me to make them laugh, but I was wrong on so many levels. I try to take all my energy and take it into comedy, and that's when I'm terrible".[2]
[edit] Selected filmography
Year | Title | Role | Other notes |
---|---|---|---|
1988 | Coming to America | Barber Shop Customer | |
1991 | Boyz N the Hood | Tré Styles | |
1992 | Gladiator | Abraham Lincoln Haines | |
1992 | A Few Good Men | Cpl. Carl Hammaker | |
1993 | Daybreak | Stephen Tolkin | |
1993 | Judgment Night | Mike Peterson | |
1994 | Lightning Jack | Ben Doyle | |
1995 | Outbreak | Maj. Salt | |
1996 | Jerry Maguire | Rod Tidwell | Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor |
1997 | As Good as It Gets | Frank Sachs | |
1998 | What Dreams May Come | Albert Lewis | |
1998 | A Murder of Crows | Lawson Russel | Produced by Derek Broes |
1999 | Instinct | Theo Caulder | |
1999 | Chill Factor | Arlo | |
2000 | Men of Honor | BM2/Chief/Senior Chief Carl Brashear | |
2001 | Pearl Harbor | Petty Officer Doris Miller | |
2001 | Rat Race | Owen Templeton | |
2002 | Snow Dogs | Dr. Ted Brooks | |
2003 | Boat Trip | Jerry Robinson | |
2003 | The Fighting Temptations | Darrin Hill | |
2003 | Radio | James Robert Kennedy "Radio" | |
2004 | Home on the Range | Buck | voice-over |
2005 | Dirty | Salim Adel | |
2006 | Shadowboxer | Mikey | |
2006 | End Game | Alex Thomas | |
2006 | What Love Is | Tom | |
2007 | Norbit | Deion Hughes | Now in Theaters |
2007 | Daddy Day Camp | Charlie Hinton | (Filming) |
Preceded by Kevin Spacey for The Usual Suspects |
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor 1996 for Jerry Maguire |
Succeeded by Robin Williams for Good Will Hunting |
[edit] Footnotes
[edit] External links
- Cuba Gooding, Jr. at the Internet Movie Database
- Cuba Gooding Jr. at the Notable Names 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)
Categories: Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | 1968 births | African-American actors | American film actors | American television actors | Best Supporting Actor Academy Award winners | Hollywood Walk of Fame | Living people | People from Los Angeles | People from the Bronx