Career
His first job as an entertainer was as a breakdancer 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), Amen (1988) and MacGyver (1988, 1989 and 1990). 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 who portrays his love interest. That particular film also marked his first (and to date, only) appearance in a musical film.
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 catch phrase. In 1997, he had a notable supporting role in As Good as It Gets (1997). The next several years, his films were inconsistently successful. He has also appeared in a series of films which were not as critically or commercially successful, such as Boat Trip (2002), Norbit (2007), and Daddy Day Camp (2007), all of which had received extremely negative reviews and, with the exception of Norbit, performed poorly at the box office. Gooding also starred in A Murder of Crows, which he co-produced with his long time friend and business partner Derek Broes (who also managed Gooding for many years). It was his first attempt at producing.
Since then, he has had a 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 science fiction action film 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. A role in the World War II film, Red Tails (2012), produced by George Lucas and with other prominent actors such as Terrence Howard, marked his first appearance on the big screen since American Gangster.
He appeared on Channel 4's Chris Moyles' Quiz Night on 5 August 2011; closing the show dueting Bad Romance with Lulu.
In 2002, he was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Read more about this topic: Cuba Gooding, Jr.
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