Cuba Gooding Jr is an American actor. Cuba Gooding Jr is perhaps best known for his Academy Award-winning role in Jerry Maguire, and his critically acclaimed performance in film Boyz n the Hood.

Cuba Gooding Jr is the son of Shirley, a lead vocalist of soul group The Main Ingredient. He has two brothers, musician Tommy  and fellow actor Omar, and sister, April.

During his appearance on The Howard Stern Show, Cuba Gooding Jr revealed that after his father had left, his family lived in hotels throughout Los Angeles. He was raised by his mother and attended four different high schools. Cuba Gooding Jr served as class president in three of them.