Cuba Gooding, Jr
Cuba Gooding Jr. is an American actor, renowned for his dynamic performances in both film and television. Born on January 2, 1968, to musical parents in Los Angeles, Gooding grew up immersed in the entertainment world, eventually establishing himself as a prominent figure in Hollywood. He gained significant acclaim for his role in the 1991 film *Boyz N the Hood*, but his career reached new heights with his iconic performance in *Jerry Maguire* (1996), for which he won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Gooding's career spans over a hundred appearances across various genres, earning him accolades including multiple NAACP Image Awards and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In addition to his work in film, he has also taken on television roles, notably portraying O.J. Simpson in the acclaimed series *American Crime Story*. Despite his successes, Gooding's later career has been marred by controversies, including allegations of sexual misconduct, leading to legal challenges in recent years. Throughout his career, Gooding has demonstrated versatility, taking on a wide range of characters, while also showcasing his talents behind the camera as a producer and director. His journey reflects both the highs and lows of a prominent Hollywood career.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Cuba Gooding, Jr.
- Born: January 2, 1968
- Place of Birth: Bronx, New York
Actor
After establishing himself in the entertainment industry with a number of memorable roles, Gooding won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1997. He went on to make more than one hundred film and television appearances in addition to taking on some production work behind the camera. His star appears on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Area of achievement: Film: acting
Early Life
Cuba Gooding Jr. was born on January 2, 1968, to professional singers Shirley and Cuba Gooding Sr. Cuba Sr. was the lead vocalist for the group the Main Ingredient, which recorded the gold single “Everybody Plays the Fool” (1972). After his recording success, the family moved to Los Angeles, California.
Cuba Sr. left the family soon after the move, and Gooding attended four different high schools. However, he loved California and the entertainment world. He played football and served several terms as class president. Gooding also entered talent shows, acted, and danced at every opportunity. During the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, the sixteen-year-old debuted as a break-dancer and a member of Lionel Richie’s entourage.
A friend’s parent, who was a talent agent, saw Gooding perform in the play Li’l Abner and began to advise the aspiring actor. With the agent’s help, Gooding got work in commercials for Sprite and Bugle Boy Jeans and secured a supporting role on the television series Hill Street Blues. After hiring an acting coach, Gooding found more television work and a role in the Eddie Murphy film Coming to America (1988).
Life’s Work
First-time director John Singleton hired Gooding for his urban crime drama Boyz N the Hood (1991). Gooding won widespread critical praise for his role in the acclaimed film. The young actor’s next roles, however, were more minor, or the films were unsuccessful. In 1994, Gooding married Sara Kapfer. They had three children: Spencer, Mason, and Piper. The couple divorced in 2017.
Gooding was determined to succeed. He began a physical training program to prepare for a role as football player Rod Tidwell in Jerry Maguire (1996). The film, where he costarred with Tom Cruise, won Gooding considerable popular and critical acclaim. His line “Show me the money” became a pop culture phenomenon. That year, he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, as well as the Critics' Choice Award and the American Comedy Award for the Funniest Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture. People magazine named him one of its 50 Most Beautiful People in the World in 1997.
Gooding went on to play a variety of roles, including Navy master diver Carl Brashear in Men of Honor (2000). In 2002, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Gooding’s role as a man with intellectual disabilities in the film Radio (2003) earned him an Image Award from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and a CAMIE Award (Character and Morality in Entertainment). With more than forty film roles and more than forty television credits by 2007, Gooding was a well-recognized actor. During the late 2000s, he worked more frequently in television and independent film, appearing in the made-for-television films Harold (2008) and Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story (2010). He won another NAACP Image Award for the latter film.
In the second decade of the twenty-first century, Gooding continued to earn roles on both the big and small screens. In addition to starring in the action-thrillers Sacrifice (2011) and One in the Chamber (2012), he had a role in the historical dramas Lee Daniels' The Butler (2013) and Selma (2014) as well as Freedom (2014); for the latter, he also served as an executive producer. After appearing as himself in six episodes of the Comedy Central series Big Time in Hollywood, FL, in 2015, he earned critical praise for his portrayal of O. J. Simpson in the dramatization of the real-life figure's highly publicized murder trial in the first season of the FX anthology series American Crime Story. For his role as Simpson in the series titled The People v. O. J. Simpson (2016), Gooding was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie. Returning to the television anthology format, he also appeared alongside Sarah Paulson in the sixth season, titled Roanoke, of FX's American Horror Story in 2016. Making his directorial debut, he then starred in the crime-drama Bayou Caviar (2018). That same year, he took to the stage as part of the cast of a production of the musical Chicago, both in London and on Broadway.
In the early 2020s, Gooding continued his film career, starring in For NYC and Life in a Year in 2020. In 2023, Gooding starred in The Weapon. Unfortunately, the early 2020s were also a time of controversy for Gooding, who was accused of sexual misconduct by a number of women. In 2022, Gooding pled guilty to some of the charges in a New York court, avoiding jail time. In 2024, Gooding was named as a co-defendant in a sexual assault and sex trafficking lawsuit against hip-hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs.
Significance
Although he has dozens of roles in film and television to his credit, Gooding remains best known for his role as a high-strung, swaggering sports star in Jerry Maguire and his ecstatic Oscar acceptance speech. The role was a far cry from his first noteworthy role, in Boyz N the Hood, as a young man struggling to resist violence and temptation in South Central Los Angeles. Over the course of Gooding’s career, he has played a wide range of roles, from broad comedy to drama.
Bibliography
Barboza, Craigh, ed. John Singleton: Interviews. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2009.
Bennett, Joy T. “Cuba Gooding Jr.: Still Passionate About His Craft.” Ebony 63, no. 2 (December, 2007): 40.
"Cuba Gooding Jr." IMDb, 2023, www.imdb.com/name/nm0000421/. Accessed 21 Aug. 2024.
“Cuba Gooding Jr. News & Biography.” Empire, 2023, www.empireonline.com/people/cuba-gooding-jr/. Accessed 21 Aug. 2024.
Mapp, Edward. “1996: Cuba Gooding, Jr.” In African Americans and the Oscar: Decades of Struggle and Achievement. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2008.
Rose, Steve. "Cuba Gooding Jr.: 'I Had 10 Years in the Wilderness.'" The Guardian, 31 Mar. 2018, www.theguardian.com/film/2018/mar/31/cuba-gooding-jr-10-years-wilderness. Accessed 21 Aug. 2024.
Saad, Nardine. "Cuba Gooding Jr. Added As Co-Defendant in Lil Rod's Lawsuit Against Diddy." LA Times, 26 Mar. 2024, www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2024-03-26/cuba-gooding-jr-diddy-lawsuit-lil-rod-sean-combs-sexual-assault#:~:text=added%20as%20co%2Ddefendant%20in,mogul%20Sean%20%E2%80%9CDiddy%E2%80%9D%20Combs.&text=02%20PM%20PT-,Oscar%20winner%20Cuba%20Gooding%20Jr.%20has%20been%20named%20as%20a,mogul%20Sean%20%E2%80%9CDiddy%E2%80%9D%20Combs.. Accessed 21 Aug. 2024.