About Cuba Gooding Jr.
Cuba Mark Gooding Jr. (born January 2, 1968) is an American actor. After his breakthrough role as Tre Styles in Boyz n the Hood (1991), he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor playing a football star in Jerry Maguire (1996). His other notable films include A Few Good Men (1992), Judgment Night (1993), Lightning Jack (1994), As Good as It Gets (1997), Men of Honor (2000), Pearl Harbor (2001), Snow Dogs (2002), Radio (2003), Norbit (2007), Linewatch (2008), and he played Dr. Ben Carson in the film Gifted Hands (2009). He played in Red Tails (2012), and The Butler (2013). He has done voice acting in Home on the Range (2004) and The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends (2007). For his portrayal of O. J. Simpson in the FX drama series The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story (2016), he earned a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie. He also co-starred that year in the FX series American Horror Story: Roanoke (2016). Gooding made his Broadway debut playing Ludie Watts in the 2013 revival of the Horton Foote play The Trip to Bountiful. In 2018, he played Billy Flynn in the musical Chicago in both the West End and on Broadway. Gooding's 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. Gooding's first major role was the lead in John Singleton's inner-city crime drama Boyz n the Hood (1991), in which he played Tre Styles. The film was a major critical and commercial success and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture; Gooding won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.