Cuba Gooding Jr. Parents: Meet Cuba Gooding Sr., Shirley Gooding

American actor Cuba Gooding Jr. is the son of  Cuba Gooding Sr. and Shirley Sullivan

His father Cuba Gooding Sr., born on April 27, 1944, in New York City, was an American singer and actor. He was the lead vocalist of the soul group The Main Ingredient, known for hits like “Everybody Plays the Fool” and “Just Don’t Want to Be Lonely.” Gooding Sr. had a successful music career and also appeared in a few films and television shows.

Cuba Gooding Jr’s mother Shirley Sullivan is Cuba Gooding Jr.’s mother. Not much information is available about her publicly. She has maintained a relatively private life away from the entertainment industry.

His family relocated to Los Angeles in 1972, following the success of his father’s music group’s hit single “Everybody Plays the Fool”; two years later, the elder Gooding left the family.

Cuba Gooding was raised by his mother and attended four high schools in Los Angeles: North Hollywood High School, Tustin High School, Apple Valley High School, and John F. Kennedy High School in Granada Hills. In three of them, he was class president.

At the age of 13, he became a Christian for the first time. His father passed away on April 20, 2017, at the age of 72.