Cuba Gooding, Jr. Biography

Early Life and Education

Cuba M. Gooding Jr. was born on January 2, 1968, in  The Bronx, New York City under the birth sign of Capricorn. He was born son to Shirley (Sullivan), a singer and Cuba Gooding Sr., was a lead vocalist of the soul group The Main Ingredient. He has three siblings: April Gooding, Omar Gooding, and Thomas Gooding. 

Regarding his nationality, he is American and belongs to the African-American ethnicity. At the age of 13, he became a born-again Christian.

In 1972, his family moved to Los Angeles after his father's music group had their hit single "Everybody Plays the Fool". Later his father left him and his mother raised him.

Gooding 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 and he served class president in three of the class. 

Career

Cuba Gooding Jr started his professional entertainment career as a breakdancer and performed with Lionel Richie in 1984 Summer Olympics. He initially played guest roles in TV shows such as; Better Days (1986), Hill Street Blues (1987), and MacGyver (1989).

In 1991, Gooding got his first significant role in Boyz n the Hood. After the success of movie he was offered with many movies in a supporting role, A Few Good Men (1992), Judgment Night (1993), Blown Away (1994), As Good as It Gets (1997), What Dreams May Come (1998), Snow Dogs (2002), Linewatch (2008), The Hit List (2011) and many more.

In 1996, he hit the silver screen with sports drama film, Jerry Maguire along with Tom Cruise which was a huge hit. He earned the Academy Award for the Best Supporting Actor for the movie. 

He has also appeared in many TV shows, most of which were guest appearances. In 2016, he did an important role in The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story. The show was a success and received several awards.

Personal Life

Cuba Gooding Jr. has been married and divorced and is currently single as far as the news in the tabloids is to be taken into consideration. He was married to his high-school sweetheart, Sara Kapfer for about 26 years and has three children with her.

The couple has been divorced citing irreconcilable differences and since then he has not been known to be dating any girlfriend from the acting fraternity.

Gooding is a skilled hockey player and he loves playing in his free-time and even has a rink in his backyard.  He also loves vacationing with his family in Hawaii. 

Net Worth 

Cuba Gooding Jr. has succeeded to earned an impressive sum of net worth from his acting career as his estimated net worth $15 million. His 1996 movie, Jerry Maguire earns more than $273 million worldwide and became the ninth highest grossing film of 1996.