A gregarious actor with a smile that lights up the screen, Cuba Gooding, Jr. experienced the highs and lows of show business growing up as the son of his famous singer father. As he explained to the Los Angeles Times on January 5, 1997: "We lived in a big house and had chauffeurs, we'd go backstage at the concerts and then in the fifth grade . . . bang! Rock bottom." When his parents divorced, he moved with his mother, brother and sister out of the limelight and began facing financial hardships, which included stretches of being evicted and living in a car, as well as time on the welfare rolls. While the family was staying in a cheap motel in suburban Orange County, Gooding befriended future personal assistant Shawn Suttles and production company partner Derek Broes, and the three perfected their breakdancing moves, christening themselves the Majestic Vision Breakdancers.
Actor, writer, and director Ben Affleck hit the Hollywood radar in 1997 as the co-writer and co-star of “Good Will Hunting,” earning an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay along with childhood best friend Matt Damon. In fact, the seemingly overnight ascent to stardom in tandem with Damon, became one of the great “Hollywood” stories” of all time – right up there with Lana Turner being discovered at Schwab’s Drugstore.
An intense, precise and authoritative performer, Alec Baldwin went from being an often uninspiring leading man to being a highly sought-after character actor, whose breezy charm and sharp comic timing allowed him to often elevate mediocre fare. Born on April 3, 1958 in Amityville, NY and the eldest male in a brood of six that included actors Daniel, Stephen and William as well as non-actors Carol and Elizabeth Baldwin was interested in politics prior to acting, attending Georgetown University where he studied political science and ran a failed campaign for student body president.
