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Cuba Gooding, Jr

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Biography

Distinguished and versatile actor Cuba Gooding Jr. spent many years in bit roles before finally becoming a star. The son of Cuba Gooding, lead singer for the '70s pop group the Main Ingredient, he was born in the Bronx on January 2, 1968, but moved to Los Angeles after his father's group had a hit single with "Everybody Plays the Fool" in 1972. Unfortunately, the elder Gooding abandoned his family two years later. The subsequently tumultuous nature of Gooding Jr.'s upbringing did not deter him from achievement: During his teens, he attended four different high schools but managed to become class president of three of them.

Gooding Jr. made his professional debut in 1984 as a breakdancer for Lionel Richie's show at the Olympics. As an actor he was discovered by an agent while performing in a high school play, and began working steadily in television commercials, which led to a bit part on an episode of Hill Street Blues. The experience inspired him to take acting lessons and after attending workshops and classes, he began to get a few more parts in television and films. He made his first feature-film appearance in Coming to America (1988) in which he was credited as "Boy Getting Haircut." Gooding Jr.'s first real break came when he was cast as Tre Styles in Boyz 'N the Hood (1990). The film earned him considerable acclaim and seemed to offer the promise of a great career. Sure enough, Gooding began landing fairly substantial parts in feature films. Unfortunately, save for a few exceptions like A Few Good Men (1992), most of the films were not well regarded, and the actor continued to work in relative obscurity. The comic talents he demonstrated as Paul Hogan's sidekick in 1994's Lightning Jack were overshadowed by further mediocre films, and it was not until 1997 that he truly came into the spotlight. That year, he starred as a loyal football player in Cameron Crowe's Jerry Maguire and won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his efforts.

Following this triumph, Gooding Jr. next appeared in the acclaimed As Good as It Gets alongside Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt, and Greg Kinnear. Two relatively obscure films, the suspense drama A Murder of Crows and the mockumentary Welcome to Hollywood, followed before Gooding Jr. took part in another high-profile picture, What Dreams May Come. Starring opposite Robin Williams, Gooding Jr. played the deceased Williams' tour guide to heaven. Unfortunately, the film was critically savaged and failed to do much business at the box office.

In 1999, Gooding Jr. kept busy with both television and film. In addition to starring in a series of Pepsi commercials, the actor appeared opposite Anthony Hopkins in Instinct and had a lead role in Chill Factor, an action extravaganza which featured him as an ice cream man trying to keep a top-secret military chemical safe with the help of a short-order cook (Skeet Ulrich). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Filmography

Home on the Range (2004)(voice) .... Jake
Radio (2003) .... James Robert 'Radio' Kennedy
Fighting Temptations, The (2003) .... Darren
Psychic (2003)
Boat Trip (2002) .... Jerry
Snow Dogs (2002) .... Dr. Ted 'Teddy Bear' Brooks
Muhammad Ali's All-Star 60th Birthday Celebration! (2002) (TV) .... Himself
Making 'Rat Race' (2001) (V) .... Himself
Zoolander (2001) .... Himself
... aka Zoolander (2001) (Germany)
America: A Tribute to Heroes (2001) (TV) .... Himself
In the Shadows (2001) .... Draven
Rat Race (2001) .... Owen Templeton
Pearl Harbor (2001) .... Petty Officer Doris "Dorie" Miller
... aka Pearl Harbour (2001) (UK: promotional title)
32nd NAACP Image Awards (2001) (TV) .... Himself
Welcome to Hollywood (2000) .... Himself
VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards (2000) (TV) .... Himself/Host
Men of Honor (2000) .... BM2/Chief/Master Chief Carl Brashear
... aka Men of Honour (2001) (UK)
Chill Factor (1999) .... Arlo, Truck Driver Andy's Ice Cream Co.
Instinct (1999) .... Theo Caulder
Murder of Crows, A (1999) (V) .... Lawson Russell
Coralie Jr.: The E! True Hollywood Story (1998) (TV) .... Himself
What Dreams May Come (1998) .... Albert Lewis
70th Annual Academy Awards, The (1998) (TV)(uncredited) .... Himself (Past Oscar Winner Tribute Sequence)
As Good As It Gets (1997) .... Frank Sachs
Do Me a Favor (1997) .... Liquor Store Clerk
... aka Trading Favors (1997) (USA: video title)
Audition, The (1996)
Jerry Maguire (1996) .... Rod Tidwell
Tuskegee Airmen, The (1995) (TV) .... Billy Roberts
Losing Isaiah (1995) .... Eddie Hughes
Outbreak (1995) .... Major Salt
Blown Away (1994)(uncredited) .... Bomb Squad Class Member
Lightning Jack (1994) .... Ben Doyle
Judgment Night (1993) .... Mike Peterson
Daybreak (1993) (TV) .... Torch
Few Good Men, A (1992) .... Cpl. Carl Edward Hammaker
Gladiator (1992) .... Abraham Lincoln Haines
Murder Without Motive: The Edmund Perry Story (1992) (TV) .... Tyree
... aka Best Intentions (1992/II) (TV)
Boyz N the Hood (1991) .... Tre Styles
... aka Boys in the Hood (1991)
Judgement (1989) .... Officer Alvarez
... aka Hitz (1989)
Sing (1989) .... Stanley
Coming to America (1988) .... Boy Getting Haircut
... aka Prince in New York (1988) (Europe: video title English title)

Links

Contact

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