(PR Photos)
John Singleton will be taken off of life support at some point today. He suffered a major stroke 13 days ago in Los Angeles.
“It is with heavy hearts we announce that our beloved son, father and friend, John Daniel Singleton will be taken off of life support today,” a spokesperson for the family said in a statement to Deadline. “This was an agonizing decision, one that our family made, over a number of days, with the careful counsel of John’s doctors.” (Read the family’s full statement below.)
Singleton, 51, had struggled with hypertension, the spokesman said, and that “his family wants to share the message with all to please recognize the symptoms by going to Heart.org.”
“We are grateful to his fans, friends and colleagues for the outpour of love and prayers during this incredibly difficult time,” the spokesperson said. “We want to thank all the doctors at Cedars Sinai for the impeccable care he received.”
Here is the full statement from the family:
It is with heavy hearts we announce that our beloved son, father and friend, John Daniel Singleton will be taken off of 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.
John Singleton is a prolific, ground-breaking director who changed the game and opened doors in Hollywood, a world that was just a few miles away, yet worlds away, from the neighborhood in which he grew up.
John grew up in South Central L.A with a love of cinema that showed itself early on. He went on to become one of the most lauded graduates of the USC School of Cinematic Arts. Within months of graduating, John returned to South Central to shoot his debut feature, Boyz N the Hood. The movie, which was unusually shot in sequence, masterfully captured a story of friendship, youth and the peril of hard choices in a community marred by gang violence. The film earned special honors at its debut at Cannes and Singleton went onto become the youngest director and first African-American writer-director nominated for the Academy Award. Two decades later, the film was placed in the Library of Congress, a marker of its cultural and historical significance.
