Cuba Gooding Jr. and Omar Gooding. On the Boat Trip DVD trivia track, it was stated that he was going to appear in the 2003 romantic-comedy The Fighting Temptations, which stars his son Cuba Gooding Jr., but he is not in the movie. Gooding appeared on the Beach Music Super Collaboration CD, performing the Charles Wallert composition, "Meant To Be In Love". This led to the duo's project, “Never Give Up” (Bluewater Recordings), which debuted at the 2009 presidential inauguration. Personal life and death Gooding moved from the Bronx to southern California in the 1970s. Gooding and his wife, singer Shirley Gooding (née Sullivan) had four children: actors Cuba Gooding Jr., Omar Gooding, actress April Gooding and musician Tommy Gooding. Gooding Sr. later became a minor actor himself. Gooding Sr. separated from his wife in 1974. In 1995, the Goodings remarried. In 2011, he had a residence in Rosarito Beach, Mexico where he performed at least one charity concert. He also had a residence in Flagler Beach, Florida. On April 20, 2017, one week before his 73rd birthday, Gooding was found dead in his vehicle while parked on a street in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles. CPR was performed by the fire department but they were unable to revive him. An autopsy determined he died of natural causes. He is interred at the Trinity Church Cemetery in Manhattan. References Notes BBC News gives the year as 1977. NPR gives the year as 1978. Citations External links 1944 births 2017 deaths 20th-century African-American male singers American male singers American soul musicians Motown artists American expatriates in Mexico American people of Barbadian descent Singers from New York City Burials at Trinity Church Cemetery 21st-century African-American people