Source: Stephen Lovekin / Getty
UPDATE: TMZ is reporting that Singleton is still with us, despite earlier reports from family stating that Singleton had passed.
“Reports that director John Singleton has died are inaccurate, his rep tells me. “John is still on life support,” Ryan Parker of The Hollywood Reporter tweeted.
ORIGINAL STORY: Sad news to report as multiple family friends and sources are confirming that Boyz N The Hood director John Singleton has passed away. He was 51.
Born in 1951, Singleton became the first black director and the youngest director ever nominated for Best Director for his work on his landmark 1991 film. A Los Angeles native, Singleton’s early films such as Boyz N The Hood and Poetic Justice focused on coming of age in the the early ’90s California. In 1992, he directed another landmark in entertainment and film, Michael Jackson‘s “Remember The Time” video.
Singleton returned from Costa Rica earlier this month and complained of problems with his legs. He checked himself into the hospital and suffered a stroke on April 17. Family originally characterized the stroke as mild but Singleton’s mother Sheila Ward, is asking for a judge to appoint her temporary conservator because he’s “unable to properly provide for his personal needs for physical health, food, clothing, or shelter.” It was revealed Singleton had been in a coma on April 25.
Singleton’s filmography includes Rosewood, Higher Learning, Shaft, Baby Boy, and 2 Fast 2 Furious. He was also instrumental in a number of projects such as FX’s Snowfall. He was an advocate of black directors throughout Hollywood and dared Hollywood to green light more films and black stories told by black directors.
He is survived by his mother and five children.
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Report: John Singleton Still On Life Support Amid Conflicting Reports was originally published on theboxhouston.com
