John Singleton‘s publicist has disputed reports that the film director has died at the age of 51.
The Oscar-nominated director, writer, and producer had suffered a stroke while in hospital, having fallen ill on Wednesday, 24 April and been placed “under great medical care”.
On Monday, 29 April, FOX4 reported that Singleton’s family had informed their film critic, Shawn Edwards, that the director had died.
However, a publicist for the director told The Hollywood Reporter‘s Ryan Parker that the report is inaccurate, adding: “John is still on life support.”
Born in Los Angeles, Singleton graduated from USC’s Filmic Writing program, before going on to direct his 1991 debut, Boyz n the Hood.
The film saw him become the first black nominee for the Academy Award for Best Director, while also becoming the youngest nominee in the category, aged 24. It has also since been deemed by the United States Library of Congress as “culturally significant” and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.
He later directed a series of commercial hits, including the 2000 remake of Shaft, with Samuel L Jackson in the title role, and 2003’s 2 Fast 2 Furious.
Singleton also directed episodes of the critically acclaimed TV series, Empire and American Crime Story.
