photo credit: Featureflash Photo Agency // Shutterstock
John Singleton, director of Boys N the Hood, Poetic Justice, Baby Boy & more, has passed away after having a stroke about 12 days ago. He was put in a medically-induced coma, being non-responsive and was not getting any better. His family has released a statement, “It is with heavy hearts we announce that our beloved son, father and friend, John Daniel Singleton will be taken off life support today. This was an agonizing decision, one that our family made, over a number of days, with the careful counsel of John’s doctors.”
Adding that John “quietly struggled with hypertensions. More than 40% of African-American men and women have high blood pressure, which also develops earlier in life and is usually more severe.”
John checked himself into the hospital 12 days ago because of a pain in one of his legs, and had a stroke while at the medical center.
Singleton was nominated for 2 Oscars with Boys in the Hood, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. The youngest filmmaker to get nominated in these 2 categories. And the first african american for best Director. He directed & screenwrote for Poetic Justice with Janet Jackson and Tupac, Baby Boy he directed, produced, and wrote. He directed Shaft, Fast & Furious 2, Four Brothers, and more. He also directed music videos including Michael Jackson’s “Remember the Time”. John Singleton has also been teaching a course titled, film & culture, at his alma mater, USC.
Written by Clarke Jones